Traveling by plane with camera gear

jjb4 · May 25, 2012

Looking for suggestions for how to pack camera gear for a flight. I have the Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm and 100-400mm lens along with tripod and head. I currently carry the camera and lens in a Lowepro backpack. Planned a trip to Alaska this summer.

SCraig · May 25, 2012

My camera bag is my carry-on bag. There is no way I'd allow it to be checked baggage. If I need to take a tripod it goes in my checked luggage.

WesternGuy · May 25, 2012

jjb4 said:
Looking for suggestions for how to pack camera gear for a flight. I have the Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm and 100-400mm lens along with tripod and head. I currently carry the camera and lens in a Lowepro backpack. Planned a trip to Alaska this summer.

I have travelled to Florida and New Mexico from my home in Western Canada a few times in the last couple of years. I have also travelled to Africa, but that's a different story. When I travelled to Florida, etc., I pack all my camera gear into a backpack, with the exception of my tripod. I seperate the legs from the head, put the legs in my checked and locked (TFSA) baggage and so far, I have never had a problem, in fact, the Homeland Security guys opened the bag with my tripod in it and it came through okay - didn't lose the tripod legs. The rest of my gear goes into a backpack and is carried aboard the airplane. I usually take my 5D C, 100-400mm, 24-105, 100mm macro and a 16-35mm wide angle, plus a flash and the usual array of filters, extenders, etc. That is how I do it - it works very well for me and so far so good. Also, I have everything insured 24/7, against all losses, anywhere in the world, so if something does happen, I simply phone the nearest State Farm office, get a claim number and authorization to replace and carry on. So far, I have not found it necessary to do that. HTH.
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WesternGuy

TCampbell · May 25, 2012

I have a Tenba carry on backpack with wheels. If you need a hard shell case, a Pelican iM2500 is an excellent case for airline travel (I use these for my travel telescopes.)

tirediron · May 25, 2012

Pelican cases, double-locked and shipped by UPS.

DorkSterr · May 25, 2012

They will only ask you to put the Tripod in the checked baggage(s). At least that's what the Canadian airports do with me. The more important stuff such as lens, camera body can go into the overhead compartment.

Chris R · May 25, 2012

Typically you're allowed one carry on bag and one personal item / small bag. They'll more than likely let you through if the tripod is snugly attached to the side of your carry on bag... If they do say something just explain to them that it's very important/expensive and they'll probably let it slide or at worse make you gate check it along with all the children's strollers.I have a small camera backpack that is just big enough to hold a body, a lens (maybe 2), and a flash that I've carried onto airplanes along with my primary carry on rolling bag. It doesn't offer much protection but it fits under any seat. I can pack well over a week worth of clothes and still have room for an extra lens or misc gear in my primary bag as well.

TCampbell · May 26, 2012

I know one photographer who always wears a "photo vest" when he travels through airports. He said he had run into an incident where the flight was full, the over-head bins were full, his camera bag wouldn't fit under the seat, and they were going to make him check it. Fortunately he had a photo vest, so he put all his lenses in the over-sized photo-vest pockets, and let the airline check the empty bag while he kept the camera and lenses on him. Every since then, he always makes a point of just wearing the vest (without the lenses) "just in case" he has to use it.

jjb4 · May 26, 2012

Thanks for the advice everyone, I plan on buying a slightly larger backpack, one that will fit my gear and a laptop. I will put the tripod in my checked bag

Steve5D · May 26, 2012

I've been told that a tripod can be attached to the outside of a camera bag and carried on, but I've never tried it...

marmots · May 26, 2012

i was once in the denver airport for hours before my flight left, so i talked to one of the store workers. at one point a friend of his who worked in the baggage screening area, checking bags, came over and showed us the things he had taken from bags in the past hour. i recognized one of them as a high end flash light, that costs over $200.

he said he only took things that he didn't think people would notice, but im pretty sure they noticed that was gone.

Buckster · May 26, 2012

I went to this place a few times when I was working just up the road in Alabama: Unclaimed Baggage Center

It cured me of the idea of EVER checking ANYTHING of value and letting it out of my sight when flying EVER again. It's bad enough that I've had stuff wrecked by baggage handlers, and delayed so long because it went to some other destination that I didn't get it until I got back home, but the idea that sometimes, they just completely lose your stuff, never to be seen by you again, and it ends up in a department store in Alabama filled to the GILLS with "lost" stuff, and more coming in every day is outrageous to me.

My gear goes in the overhead, under the seat, in my hands, or it don't go on the plane at all. Shipping to the destination via a reputable carrier if far more favorable to me than trusting it to airline baggage claim jerks.

rpm · May 26, 2012

marmots said:
i was once in the denver airport for hours before my flight left, so i talked to one of the store workers. at one point a friend of his who worked in the baggage screening area, checking bags, came over and showed us the things he had taken from bags in the past hour. i recognized one of them as a high end flash light, that costs over $200.

he said he only took things that he didn't think people would notice, but im pretty sure they noticed that was gone.

whaaaaaaaaat?!