Foreign Travel

AJAR

AJAR

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Alun
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Some advice required from those of you who travel abroad with your photographic gear.

How would you transport your photographic and laptop gear ( cameras/lenses/flash/etc ) abroad?
Would you use a hard / soft case?
What recognisable carriage bags do you or would you use?
Would your suggestions vary between European travel and African travel?

Any ideas would be extrenely helpful...
 
It all depends on what your thinking of taking really. When I go, I normally pack everything into my Lowepro Mini Trekker (suitable for aircraft overhead lockers), that's 2x bodies, 17-40, 24-105, 70-200 and a speedlight. This for me is the safest and only way to ensure it all arrives in one piece :thumbs: As for different parts of the world, I tend to put a fair amount of silica gel packets in the bag if I'm off to damp and humid places. Other than that, it's down to personal choice. Hope this helps...
 
I don't have a vast amount of gear, but put my things in a Lowepro soft Rezo camera shouler bag and then put that in my had luggage. I would never put it in the hold.
 
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All my camera and laptop [17in] stuff, accessories etc go in a Lowepro Computrekker Plus as cabin baggage, which is the max size for all decent honest airlines. Anything I don't mind not turning up with me or getting lost forever goes in my suitcase.
 
Canonman II said:
As for different parts of the world, I tend to put a fair amount of silica gel packets in the bag if I'm off to damp and humid places.
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Small packets of silica gel that have almost certainly been exposed to air for many weeks, if not months, in a non-airtight environment, are a total waste of time.
 
I've travelled quite a lot in Africa and I would never trust any valuable to checked baggage. Theft is a serious problem in many places, and the baggage handlers can be pretty rough anywhere. Carry on luggage only.

This may not be practical if you have a lot of gear. I did a series of security briefings for photographers working for an international news agency in South Africa during the World Cup and they all used the metal, Pelican type, cases. These are well padded and pretty secure, and a surprising number of these guys managed to persuade the airlines to let them take the gear on board. The cabin crew managed to find space for it.
 
MisterE said:
Small packets of silica gel that have almost certainly been exposed to air for many weeks, if not months, in a non-airtight environment, are a total waste of time.
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Pop them in the oven on a very low setting for a couple of hours & they are as good as new!

Mick
 
I try to get all my camera gear in a camera bag like a Lowepro Computrekker and take it as carry-on. If size and weight restrictions allow I have everything in there plus a laptop. I never let that bag out of my sight! If the restrictions are pretty severe I put things like flashes and my spare body in a hard suitcase wrapped up in clothes. I've never been to Africa so I can't comment on that part.
 
Any make of cabin friendly bag that you can afford will do the job well...at the end of the day they all do pretty much the same thing, which is transporting your kit safely in a manageable sized recepticle. Main decision is backpack or shoulder bag.

Decide what bits of kit you cannot possibly do without for wherever you are going; lay it all out on the bed, then think again.......do you really need X and Y?? etc etc.

I personally would always take as a bare minimum, one DSLR, one main lens, a polariser, a spare battery, los of spare memory cards and a charger. I back up the body with a good compact, just in case of disasters or places visited where DSLR is inappropriate.

If I have room and weight too spare, then I add extra lenses (eg, one long, one wide), some ND grads plus holder and a speedlite flash.

Airlines generally don't like tripods on the outside of bags, so I wrap one in a towel and put it in my hold case. I rarely need it...but would hate not to have it with me, just in case a magnficent scene presents itself.

When travelling even lighter (on the motorbike), I rely on my compact.

Cheers and have a good trip.
 
Alun, I have a Lowepro fastpack 250 that I put everything in and take it as hand luggage on the plane. I wouldn't dream of sending it hold baggage, in fact I'd rather not take my camera at all then have to do that.

For backup I have a Samsung NC10 netbook that fits easily in the laptop part of the bag.

A tip I read somewhere and I have used is if you are taking stuff on a plane/ship whatever BUT you don't plan on getting it out until you arrive then take the lens off the camera body and put the body and lens in those white plastic/cloth sleeves they came in when new. Just gives them a bit of protection from scuffs and dust but without any extra weight or bulk.

Andy S
 
As all above take your gear as hand luggage onboard with you, tripod in your luggage for the hold. I regularly travel to various African countries and can give one tip: never ever accept help from any local with your luggage it most likely will be gone before you can blink an eye, these "helpfull" locals can be found at most airports in Africa preying on any person that may look like a tourist.
 
I've just come back form a couple of weeks in Brazil.

Rather than take my Lowepro bag I decided to just take a normal day pack that I could use for carry on and then out and about during the day. I took a fair bit of kit with me including tripod (packed in case) but managed to get camera, 3 lens and filters in the carry on.
 
Mickwreay said:
Pop them in the oven on a very low setting for a couple of hours & they are as good as new!

Mick
Click to expand...

Maybe they are. But repeating what I have said - unless they are kept in an airtight container with the item/camera/whatever then you are wasting your time. Just chucking a few packets in a camera bag does absolutely nothing. Silica gel and its use has been discussed here at length in the past.
 
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