traveling with your camera gear

whitewash

whitewash

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obviously id have to take my camera in my hand baggage, , tripod can go in the hold in my rucsac so thats not a problem.

however im worried about weight and size, im buying a camera rucsac which will house my 20D, 4 lenses, a laptop and associated gubbins, surely this will be far too big for my hand luggage and probably be slightly over the 5kg limit most airlines stipulate

laptop - 3kg
camera - 700g,
flashgun - 400g
lenses im not sure on but 3 of them are plastic and one is metal

thats probably my entire baggage allowance before ive even added cables and chargers however i can probably get away with putting them in my rucsac in the hold.


anyone ever flown with a large quantity of camera gear and had any problems


the rucsac im looking at is more than likely going to be a brians hot tub, crumpler bag
 
My mini trekker takes the laptop as well as the D30, three lenses, flashgun, and assorted other rubbish.....errrr, important stuff! I would imagine it would just about qualify for hand luggage from a size point of view, but I must admit I'd be doubtful whether it would get through the weight restrictions!

All I can suggest is the "how to weigh a dog" method. Pack gear into bag. weigh yourself. Pick up the bag. weigh yourself again. Hey presto - weight of bag!

Where are you off to?
 
wouldnt packing all the stuff into the bag and just weighing the bag be easier? although at the moment thats not an option as i dont actually own the bag or the laptop!

ive just checked the hand luggage dimensions which the brians hot tub fits within so its just the weight thats the problem, and i think id just be slightly over on that, lets face it all i need to take personal effects wise on an aeroplane is a book, my documents, ipod and a bottle of water. so i recon id be looking at 6ish KG's


hopefully going to vancouver for a few weeks in the summer
 
The Lowepro Mini Trekker is small enough to be used as hand luggage and I have travelled with mine many times without any problems. I also have thrown in my laptop to the same bag. To keep weight down I put all accessories in my main case (battery chargers/power supplies/ filters/cleaning equipment etc) and on the one occasion that I was stopped for being overweight in my hand luggage, I just removed the laptop and carried seperately for 5 mins until after the weigh in.

If its a long haul flight you are likely to have very few issues TBH but I would make sure that if you are putting anything expensive in your case in the hold that you have specialist insurance.

HTH
 
i wouldnt put anything of any value in my hold luggage bar the tripod, its just clothes and a pair of shoes! i travel with a big rucsac and lets face it baggage handlers just think "****ing student traveller" and then stamp all over your luggage!
 
Best thing to do is buy something duty free, whatever you can find thats cheap, when you get the duty free carrier bag put some of your stuff in it, trust me they're NEVER bothered on duty free stuff or tell you can't take that 'cause they'll want you to buy as much as possible, more money for them. Learn't this of a friend has worked in an aiport, worked for me a couple of times.
 
Handy to have that confirmation about the mini trekker Steve - thanks for that!

WW - just weighing the bag is fine if you can persuade it to stand upright on the scales!

Taking my old camera bag on holiday last year was a bit of a nightmare......EOS film SLR, two lenses, old Canon Sureshot as a backup, loads of film, all manner of other bits and pieces. Technically the bag was too small for everything I had to put in it (hence the purchase since of the Mini trekker!), therefore it took me an age to pack everything into it, each and every nook and cranny filled. Got to the area where they check your hand luggage and of course it wouldn't scan with the hand scanner as it was too densely packed so the whole thing had to be unpacked there and then! I walked onto the place with EVERY pocket crammed with stuff that I couldn't work out how to re-pack into the bag! :doh:
 
The other thing to do if its a weight problem more than anything is to load the heavy lenses and bits (Batteries, chargers etc) into your coat pockets for the checkin and then as soon as thats over and done with just place them back in the Minin Trekker ;)
 
I noticed in millets they sell a wire mesh security net for rucksacks so people normally equipped to steal cant get in them. May be of use, but for £40 the extra insurance you could buy!!!!
 
anyone ever flown with a large quantity of camera gear and had any problems
Click to expand...

Has anyone ever flown with a large quantity of camera gear and NOT had any problems? :D

Short of getting something like a Pelicase and checking the whole lot through there are no great options.

As said the best bet is to pack as much stuff as you can in your suitcase. Batteries, film, filters, tripods etc. Put camera bodies in your camera case and spread the glass over as many hand luggage bags and pockets as you can.

Travelling with lots of photo gear is nearly always a hassle unless you can get shot of it at the check in and not worry about it.
 
just checked the T+C's for my hols im entitled to 20kg in the hold and 5kg hand luggage and one carry on item such as a laptop or handbag, so im fine, i can simply take the laptop out of the bag and carry it through checking in, and then put it back in :). i dont own 5kg of camera gear so im alright :)


sorted :D
 
Take everything on board - I carry two items of hand luggage despite the warnings of dire consequenses - one with cameras and one with IT and overnight kit. It probably exceeds weight allowances by a long way, but it's never been a drama so far.

Never get seperated from your cameras.
 
Most of the time they never weigh your hand luggage, they go by the size, if it looks too big it must be heavy, if it is the right size it must be light is there mentality a lot of the time.
 
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