Relax: No SLR check at airport security
Recent experiences notwithstanding, airport security doesn't have a new rule to scrutinize your SLR.
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
I read about some recent teeth-gnashing and eye-rolling by photographers who were distressed by airport security personnel who required them to pull their SLR cameras out of carry-on bags for inspection, as is required for laptop computers, but the official word is that there's no new requirement to do so.
National Association of Photoshop Professionals President Scott Kelby and photographer Richard Wanderman both were required to pull their cameras out for the airport security checks in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Los Angeles, respectively, according to their blogs. Wanderman in particular was concerned because he had two camera bodies and feared that the operation might be a fruitful opportunity for theft.
But it appears their experiences were the exception, not the rule.
"There is no hard and fast requirement for cameras to be removed from bags, though we do reserve the right to ask a passenger or photographer to remove the camera to get a better look at it," said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Administration and an SLR owner himself.