Taking Camera Equipment through Airport security

Canonfodder24

Canonfodder24

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Peter
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Hi, I'm off on holiday next week and have never travelled through an airport since I've had my camera bag full of gear. Although I don't intend to take every bit of kit, I want to take the rucksack and camera with lenses on as hand luggage. Does anyone know if there is any particular security check when carrying a rucksack full of electronic stuff through? Appreciate it sounds like a daft question, but I don't particularly want to put my camera in my suitcase and leave it in the lap of the Gods. Any thoughts? Thanks!
 
I had my gear searched in India twice. They were mainly interested in my 70-200 but once it was searched everything was fine.
 
The only thing they asked me to do was to take my laptop out of the bag to scan it apart from the rest of my gear.
 
No problems. Don't worry about it. :)
Pack your spare batteries in your hand luggage (not hold luggage).
 
Same here, traveled lots of times with rucksack full of gear and never had problems. I wouldn't take a tripod as hand luggage as some airlines don't allow them.
 
I've had my gear swabbed for explosives (!) once but not a problem - the swab was clear. Did have the bag weighed last year (first time ever) and it was well overweight, so I had to put a couple of lenses in pockets until I got round the corner from the check in desk and put them back in the bag.

I ususally put things like chargers and tripod in the hold baggage
 
If you haven't already done so, check and double-check the carry-on allowance with yur airline. They vary hugely in terms of what they'll allow.

HERE is a super photographer-centric guide to the baggage policies of many airlines.[/QUOTE]
 
I always end up getting my dive camera kit checked, both on departure and arrival.
"Open the case Sir, what's this, that, what's a strobe" etc etc.

Waste of everyone's time as they've not got a clue what half of the stuff is..lol
 
As a side note, if you can, have a look at the xray screen as your bags are going through, you can see the glass elements inside the lens clearly on the screen, quite interesting :)
 
Thanks for all the replies, really helpful! Hope I'll have a few decent photos to post when I get back.
 
BandyQuill said:
ive never been questioned about the weight of my hand luggage, all the flights ive been on they seem to be of the opinion that if it fits in the little box things then its fine...
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They checked the weight of mine in Cuba made me put it on the scales with our suitcase and then charged for excess baggage.

Cost me 20 CUC's cash in hand not the 60 he should have charged I know it was a scam but my camera bag came in at 15 KG on it's own so I know I was taking a risk as the allowance for hand luggage was only 5kg per person.
 
Camera, laptop and lenses in Kata 3N1-33, tripod in suicase in hold lugage, have to take laptop out to scan seperately otherwise no problems.
 
I dont intend to take all my kit, just the body, standard lens and my 70-300, hope to use the rest of the space for the usual stuff to get through the flight, aolng with any junk I buy at the airport! See you all in a week or so!
 
Nod said:
I ususally put things like chargers and tripod in the hold baggage
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You shouldn't ever put anything in your hold baggage that you could not do without if your suitcase failed to turn up. Your holiday photography may come to an abrupt end without a charger. And could be costly to replace with an OEM one too [disregarding how effective your travel insurance is].
 
StewartR said:
If you haven't already done so, check and double-check the carry-on allowance with yur airline. They vary hugely in terms of what they'll allow.

HERE is a super photographer-centric guide to the baggage policies of many airlines.
Click to expand...

That ^ should be put in a Info sticky if we had one!!

Excellent post.
 
Had bag searched in Kenya and France recently. Kenyan guy looked confused about what it was and the French guy thought I was a photo journalist. Both fine in the end.
 
Agree with all of the above, but also make sure your spare batteries have the terminal covers on, some airports can be picky about that..
 
Never had any problem on my monthly trips to Spain etc.

Once in Germany they took it all out and tested the 300mm F2.8 due to not being able to see it in detail. However it was not a issue and I went on my way. They were very friendly about it.

You have nothing to worry about and as said above don't put it in the hold. I just put the chargers, accesories in the hold. Glass, camareas with me all the time
 
Had my 500 f4 confused with a thermos twice....big thermos!!
 
I also have never had a problem with travelling. Always take the valuables on board with me, for both reasons mentioned above - a. if the suitcase never turns up - b. and if it does, no guarantee it will all be in one piece.

When returning from Austria I had to spend about 2 mins explaining what was what, and they just had a bit of a poke around in all the pockets etc.

Make sure your bag conforms to guidelines and all should be fine :)
 
The only time it's ever been an issue was years ago when I had a Canon G3 with a wide angle lens adapter. The lens adapter was what confused them, so I had a full bag search, including an explosives swab, turning on all the gadgets etc. They sent the bag through several times, still seeing something metal in it... turned out it was a Tiffany necklace I thought I'd lost. Yay for airport security!
 
Had no problems either. My laptop almost always has to go through out of its sleeve and has been swabbed for explosives on about 80% of occasions. It worried me the first time it happened but now it's just a normal part of travel.

All my kit (with exception of my tripod) goes in my hand luggage. Coming out of India at Christmas when they weighed it (only time I've had it happen!) and found it overweight. Like the previous poster I had pockets full of camera bits for a while.

Leaving Tokyo in December 2008 was a bit of a pain as EVERY single object that contained electronics had to be taken out of it's case / packing and put through separately. It got to the ridiculous stage with camera kit, iPod, phones, PSP etc etc that even the airport security guys were seeing an amusing side to it.
 
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When i take my canon weather sealed lenses in the aircraft cabin i loosen the end cap to release the pressure, don't want to rupture the seals, although this may be an oversight. do other people do this?
 
excellent responses to my original thread. I've been taking all the other redundant stuff out of my bag today to make space for a book and my Ipod. More importantly now that I'm all in the know about taking my camera kit through, any tips or thoughts on pics I should be looking to do. We're going on a Nile cruise so I'm hoping for some pretty good opportunities to finally get my 7D doing its job.
 
do you have any bombs in your bag? was asked by a security guard while in egypt! he wasn't joking.
be sure to take a long lens for the nile river banks and the mud huts with satellite dishes on them! fantastic photo opportunities there my friend. the Egyptians dont like there picture taken unless you give them 50pence.
Stuart
 
Ive never had any problems really, a few times theyve been rescanned and then hand checked and swabbed, he he the best one was coming back from kenya, I had my Arthur and Martha, (PG tips monkehs) stuffed in with my 500mm lens along with quite a few packets of tobacco, (stuffed in to protect it of course LOL) the security guy opened my long lens bag looked in pulled out Arthur and Martha, he saw all the tobacco, but proceed to show all his colleagues Arthur and Martha, he just laughed put them back in zipped it up, and waved me on, it was really funny :lol:
 
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stuart anthony said:
do you have any bombs in your bag? was asked by a security guard while in egypt! he wasn't joking.
be sure to take a long lens for the nile river banks and the mud huts with satellite dishes on them! fantastic photo opportunities there my friend. the Egyptians dont like there picture taken unless you give them 50pence.
Stuart
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Actually a few years ago we were going through the channel tunnel and we had a full swab check on the car (which was about a week old):bonk: which showed traces of fertiliser, apparently useful in bomb making. The security guy asked if I'd ever used a gun to which I said yes due to the fact I was in the forces some 10 years before. He did finally accept that the golf shoes in the boot may have traces of fertilizer on them and let us through. Tip of the day, never be first in the queue at the Tunnel security early in the morning! Or for that matter play golf!
 
MisterE said:
You shouldn't ever put anything in your hold baggage that you could not do without if your suitcase failed to turn up. Your holiday photography may come to an abrupt end without a charger. And could be costly to replace with an OEM one too [disregarding how effective your travel insurance is].
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I have a friend in Crete who uses Nikon and whose charger will charge my batteries. With 2 batteries, I have around 2,000 shots which is enough for most of the holiday anyway.
I can live without a tripod - a bag of rice makes an excellent beanbag and wouldn't break the bank.
I suppose I could put a spare charger in the camera bag and leave the lead in the suitcase (it's a figure 8 lead, so easy to replace if necessary).
 
Is it possible, if you wear cargo pants, to put some items in there like a lens or body to reduce weight of baggage? Or is that not allowed?

Have people been okay taking wired shutters with them in the hag. Always have had that fear that security could think it's a trigger for bomb. I may fly to Spain in March from Manchester for first time with gear, so I hope the OP lets us know the outcome of hist trip :)

Those body scanners look awesome.
 
Last year, I took both wired and wireless shutter releases in the camera bag and they didn't get a 2nd look. Also, as I posted a couple of posts up, I lightened my bag by putting a couple of my heavier lenses in a fleece pocket. Fleece is dead handy on and after the flight, especially on the way home. After a fortnight of Med sunshine and warm nights, arriving back at Bristol airport at midnight is a bit of a thermal shock and is much less shocking with a fleece on!
 
I regularly use jacket or trousers pockets to 'lighten' my hand luggage. Just make sure you take them out before the metal detectors lol.
 
jpwild said:
Is it possible, if you wear cargo pants, to put some items in there like a lens or body to reduce weight of baggage? Or is that not allowed?
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Yes you can. What's on your body they have no say over. Although I'm sure Ryanair will look at this aspect one day. Once when they had their bag size crackdown at Heathrow after the liquid scare, my bag wouldn't quite fit in the cage. Being ready for this, I had one of those photographers jackets on, with all the pockets. Took a couple of things out, bag fitted ok, then put them back once I was through.
 
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