Safe Luxury

Are digital cameras safe to take through airport security?

I was just wondering is it safe for a digital camera and mainly the memory card to go through the x-ray scanners at US airports? I remember film was a problem at one time unless a special container was used.

Public Comments

1. I have had mine through a dozen times without any problem.
2. The digital camera will be fine. The way film works is it gets exposed to light and imprints the image on the film. So the problem is when it goes through the x-ray machine, all the film gets exposed and your pictures would come out completely black. Digital cameras work by storing the information on a memory card. There is no film to expose, so you will be fine.
3. With both digital cameras with flash memory and old fashioned SLR cameras with 35mm film, carry on luggage is the way to go, since they use a stronger x-ray machine on checked luggage. There is a small chance that flash memory can be erased by x-rays, so it's a good idea to upload your pictures onto a website like Webshots or Flickr before you travel. This also means you'll have a backup of your pictures if your camera gets stolen, which is the more likely way you'd lose the images.