USA airport inspection experiences

Where did you hear about gamma ray damage to sensors?

jbzspace said:

Where did you hear about gamma ray damage to sensors?

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Story here

http://www.petapixel.com/2011/07/07/does-bringing-a-camera-onto-an-airplane-damage-its-sensor/

and other thread here

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1018&thread=38803464&page=1
Probably a load of rubbish!

Aaron Hvidston said:

Hidden secret of the industry. No digital camera is shipped via air, all done by the slow process of ocean travel. High altitude exposes the digital sensor to gamma rays that have the potential to damage the sensor. I still take my cameras by air but just wanted to share that 2 cents.

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Probably because ocean travel is much cheaper rather than a real aversion to flight.

Did Bruce Banner put you up to this?

If it were true, then all the microchips on an aeroplane would be destroyed after a few months of flying.

I had my Oly 4/3 gear in a camera bag under the seat in front of me. I forgot to take the bag and got off the plane. Fortunately I remembered the camera quickly and we were able to get back on the plane once all the passengers were off. Scared me so much, I switched to m4/3 so I could carry it all in my large purse and lose the camera bag. I had thought I could put the lenses in my suitcase, but now after reading this thread, I might be back to the camera bag. (sigh)

That's complete BS

Some airlines are more picky about carry on size than others. The last few times I have flown they had specific sizes posted everywhere so people knew but nobody actually bothered to check it.