American Cinematographer - August 1990 - 14

As

BB^

by David Heuring
Ask

a silly question and you get another
question. Herewith:

A#spections
The questiohasn ofbeen
airportsurrounded
X-ray in¬

"Some fathers teach their sons

by controversy since the inspections
began. The following facts regarding air¬
port inspections may be of interest.
1. Exposure to X-ray is addi¬
tive. Therefore, the number of inspec¬
tions will have an effect on the degree
of fog produced.

how to gap a spark plug or tie a fly. My
father taught me how to read a menu and
wear a cummerbund. (I suppose he ex¬

pects me to attend the Academy Awards
day.) The proper way to wear a

some

The Bogen
Professional
Cine/Video
3191 Tripod

stamps out
rock and roll.
When you're ready to

roll, the

Bogen Professional Cine/Video
Tripod delivers rock-solid sup¬
port all the way, thanks to tan¬
dem legs.
It weighs in at 11 lbs. But it's

lightweight. It holds cam¬
to 22 lbs. when used
with a Bogen 3066 Cine Video
Fluid Head. And greater weights
no

eras up

when fitted with other heads.
There's more. A 100mm di¬
ameter clawball leveller. Vari¬
able leg angles with two click

cumberbund is with the ridges pointing
down and the smooth part facing up. The
other way would make the ridges act as
little shelves, therefore becoming "crumb
catchers." One thing my father never told
me

though: What IS the

cummerbund?"

(David
Malverne, New York)

a

of

3, No. 3, Page 183, section title 'Gentle¬
man's

Wedding Formal Wear'

-

Q:

Which way should the pleats of the
cummerbund face? A: The cummerbund

pleats should always face up." So there
you have it, the definitive answer (try to
calm yourself.) And as we all know, it's
not what you do, but how you look while
doing it." (Steven R. Martyniuk of
Orlando, Florida)
♦ ♦ ♦

Q# Manyundeveloped
traveling filmstock
makersthrough
hand
airport checks. Most of these have
*

per inspection signal. Cumulative dosage
several times higher than 1 milliroentgen
can be tolerated by most non-processed

photographic films without notable
damage, provided that the film orienta¬
tion relative to the X-ray is changed. Each
inspection and an individual exposure is
less than 1 milliroentgen.
The combination of a film can
and lead foil wrap is usually sufficient

protection against fogging. Tests con¬
ducted several years ago at three U.S.
airports using a penetrameter on several
exposed films indicated that .013" thick
aluminum was sufficient protection for
all films tested. A good practice for those
who wish to avoid fogging is to keep your
film and cameras in your carry-on lug¬
gage and request a
whenever possible.

hand inspection

carry

no¬

tices

(201) 818-9500.

fogging

saying that the check is not danger¬
ous for undeveloped film, but I have
always taken the extra precaution of
wrapping the film cans in lead foil. How¬
ever, I'm not sure this is actually very ef¬
fective. I have never had any problem
with cine-film, but I have had definite
on

stills film that had

^0

We don't
sell anything
wouldn't buy ourselves.

August 1990

Q# I have been searching for some
*

time now, and have been unable

to find out what the initials HMI and CID

stand for

on

lights.

A# M-
H - Hydragyrum
Medium
length
arc

*

I

-

Iodide

-

Compact

-

Iodide

-

Daylight

gone

through several airport checks in differ¬
ent countries. Does anyone have any
hints, solutions, ideas?

we

12

Panoe

Or:
"To research this query I
looked high and low, hither and yon.
Okay, I asked my fiancee, and in her copy
of 'Southern Bride', June/July 1990 Vol.

stop positions. Stainless steel
fittings and enamelled cast¬
ings. Quick-flip lever leg locks.
And built-in leg straps.
For more info, see your dealer
or write: Bogen Photo Corp.,
565 E. Crescent Ave., PO. Box
506, Ramsey, NJ 07446-0506.

bogen

of

purpose

2. There are at least seven
different manufacturers of airport secu¬
rity X-ray devices. There is general agree¬
ment that these devices should produce
an absolute maximum of 1 milliroentgen

C
I
D
American Cinematographer - August 1990

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