I lived and traveled around India for about a year (four years back) with my
photography equipment. Upon arriving in Bombay, Indian custom officials
inspected my equipment and recorded numbers and type but did not record
serial numbers. They also checked how much film I had with me since India
has a restriction (at least then they did) on the number of rolls you can
bring in. Upon leaving by air from Madras, they did not bother to check
anything even though I had sold one of my cameras. They were so taken with
my two black labs that they just waved me through.
One note of caution; customs officials in smaller airports love to
confisficate flashlights, batteries of any kind, and small pocket knives
you may have on you. They may try to intimidate you to get some of these
things. I had one try to take the hat off my head when he took a fancy to
it. Also be very carefull about buying film and even more so on where you
have it developed. I had a number of chromes ruined by bad processing. My
advise is to buy Kodachrome and ship it to the nearest authorized facility
for processing.
India is indeed one of the most fantastic places I have ever visited and I
would go back in a heartbeat. Someone described it as a place with a
million portraits waiting to be taken and that is true. I treasure the
images I made there. Have a great trip.
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Craig A. Whitney
Mayville, Wisconsin, USA
