Africa - Entering with lots of equipment

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jmc41

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Not sure where this belongs, but I'm going to Africa at the weekend for two weeks.

I, along with the friend I'm going with, tend to travel with quite a lot of gear. Having been speaking to a friend at work who used to live in Kenya - albeit about 15 years ago - I'm wondering if anyone has been and has any experience with getting through while carrying a lot of camera equipment, specifically any tips other than being very clear that I'm not a journalist and not being paid :)

Flying into Nairobi, and will be crossing into Tanzania for week two as well.

Thanks
 
I'll dig out the paperwork thanks; I'd rather not travel with just a single body for Africa given all the dust, which is the major concern. Then I've got four lenses I want to take to ensure I get the ranges I want for different parts of the trip.
 
jmc41 said:
I'd rather not travel with just a single body for Africa given all the dust, which is the major concern.
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I can understand it being a concern - because so many people make it sound as if the whole of Africa is permanently covered in huge dust storms. In fact, apart from the dust thrown up by vehicles, most of the time there will be less dust in the air than in any major city in the world.

As long as you're sensible, dust is hardly any problem. The only precaution I take is when driving around in an open vehicle. Then I have my main camera (with the big lens) on my lap, with a fleece over the top to keep the dust off. My secondary camera will be in a closed bag on the floor.
 
If your just going in as a tourist there should be no problem,if your worried just list all your items and declare them.

I used to travel as a pro years ago,and travel with 4 bodies & 7/10 lens didnt have to many problem,but in some countries had to declare my stuff :)
 
hi
I went to kenya last year & South Africa the year before with no bother about my gear...2 bodies & 4 lens plus filters etc, tripod & monopod went in the hold luggage, rest was hand luggage & no-one even glanced at it .

I did however find Niarobi airport possibly the most scariest place I've ever been to...keep a tight hold on your hand luggage :eek:
 
Never had a problem in Africa, just carried it through! Only thing without trying to sound negative is I took a peli case padlocks and chains so I could secure to something secure in hotel/lodge rooms.
 
I went to Kenya in November and had a body, grip, 3 lenses, monopod, and a few other things and travelled through Mombassa airport which is a military airport. The only issues I had was coming home when they wanted to check ALL of my luggage and I had to unpack it but luckily my gear was in a camera bag which was inside my hand luggage bag.
 
blondie606 said:
I did however find Niarobi airport possibly the most scariest place I've ever been to...keep a tight hold on your hand luggage :eek:
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Strange. We found the airport at Nairobi to have a very safe feel (and we've been through there around a dozen times). That's partly because of the excellent security - your bags are scanned before they even allow you into the airport building. And I've always found the staff very friendly.
 
The only photo related problem I encountered on my only trip to Africa was being plagued
by hoards of children all wanting their photograph taken!
 
Thanks all, now in tanzania and had no problems though the dust has been pretty bad especially in the mara my 24-105 seems to have some dust in the focus ring :-(

Nairobi airport seemed fairly safe if odd with all the small shops, and last visit there was yesterday with the election!
 
Hope so! Am using the wet flannels they give but is not always enough and cant shoot above f9 on the 60d anymore :-( at least not without major dust spots, didnt bring sensor cleaning stuff :-(
 
jmc41 said:
Hope so! Am using the wet flannels they give but is not always enough and cant shoot above f9 on the 60d anymore :-( at least not without major dust spots, didnt bring sensor cleaning stuff :-(
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I'm never leaving the country without at least a rocket blower, got a giant hair or something on th 5d sensor this summer in Argentina that showed down to f4 and wouldn't budge until I got home and then it went with the first puff
 
Yeah even tented camps had flannels.

Very miffed with this weather sealed 24-105 now filled with dust, it hadn't come off the body all holiday and yet a hair made it onto the mirror, huge it was.

The hama won't shift the focus grit, hopefully the giottos rocket at home will have more luck :-(
 
Actually the 24-105 is on a 3 week old 7D :-(
The 60d with the 70-300 is fine, well the lens is dust free just the sensor and not convinced the main dust isn't something I missed before the trip.

Any suggestive on the best way to clear focus ring? Just blowing into it albeit with the smaller blower so far hasn't done anything :s
 
odd jim said:
No, don't use a canister! Always use a rocket blower.
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This

if you use a canister it can blow little blobs of propellant all over your sensor :eek:

canned air is fine for cleaning lenses etc , but rocket blower only for sensor cleaning

(not to mention that airlines can object to cylinders of compresed gas)
 
Yeah, I have a air can that I use for computer and stuff and wouldn't dream of using that on camera stuff as I know it isn't just "air" is expels, what I mean is where exactly can/ should I blow the air from the rocket to try and clear the focus ring? I'm concerned that blowing it "in" will just drive it deeper.

I'll defo be giving the mirror and sensor a clean too, at least on the 60d, the 7D may escape with a quick brush off the mirror as there are still some smaller spots I've lived with, but have some green swabs and fluid for the sensor so not overly concerned having done that before.

This cropped image isn't as sharp as the original and missed out the full hippo and second lion but best I can do from a tablet (plus Flickr still won't return my access)...
60D, 1/250th, ISO500,f11, 300mm.

IMG_0350-4.jpg
 
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