Airport Security Help!

[RP33]

I will be going on a business trip but I will be taking my camera. Can I carry it on or will they tackle me for it? What is the current procedure for taking a camera (DSLR and lenses). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[BeccaNH]

Check with your airline, but most US carriers allow one carry-on plus one personal item (i.e. briefcase or purse) As long as your camera bag can fit in the overhead compartment, you should be fine.

[tsw910]

i've always carried my camera bag with me (everything in my sig) and they dont bother me about it .. but of course it'll get x-ray'd ... there's no way in hell i'll check in my camera bag .. and my bag usually fit right underneath the seat in front of you. but if your camera bag is the size of the luggage, then it'll be a problem due to one carry on and personal bag for domestics

[lostdoggy]

At least JetBlue, Rec. that you carryon you photo equipment especially if it contains batteries.

[kkaimiv]

you know.....maybe if I check it, and they break it, or lose it......I can afford the new Mark III......

[sunbeast]

Just don't do what a friend of mine did and have a lens attached. The security person didn't know how to take it off when he wanted to examine it and a fist fight almost ensued.

I've carried three bodies and multiple lenses on board without problem.

[ssim]

I am on a trip right now and this trip I have been through seven airports in Canada and the US. I have a AW Trekker bag that fits in the overhead compartment on most large airliners. The balance of my gear, tripod, 500 and 300 lens and a whole bunch of accessories all go in a hard sided suitcase and they are checked. I have used this method for years and never had any problem except when we were running late and my baggage didn't make a tight connection but came in the next day. I prefer this method over a case such as a pelican which just screams, "I've got expensive gear in here". There are so many people that have access to the baggage makeup areas that don't actually work for the airline. Theft rings are common place in the large airports.

In most cases the security will swab your gear without ever taking it out of the bag. If they do want to though they are well within their rights to do so. I always tell them I will repack it so that I know it is in properly.

My word of advice, having worked at an airline for 30 odd years, is don't try and carry on more than you are allowed. If they catch you, and there are so many more opportunities for this, then you are going to be asked to either check a bag that was originally to be carried on or not travel. I've seen people get left behind because they would not part with their carry on. On some flights there are the new smaller Canadair or Embraer jets which do not have the overhead space that the larger Airbus and Boeings do. You will be asked to surrender anything over sized for that particular aircraft as you board. This is put into the cargo hold last and taken off on arrival and given back to you. Again, done this dozens of times and never had an issue.

The best advice given here is check with your airline's website to see what their restrictions are. It used to be fairly standard across all airlines but now it is not the case as some of them change at a whim.

It is not all that difficult to travel with your gear as long as you take the appropriate precautions.

[Jon]

It's a perfectly acceptable carry-on, domestic or international. Just make sure your total carry-on load is within your airline's limits for size and weight.

[JAZZ D.P.G.]

Like SSIM, I travel often.

I use a Roots case similar to the computrekker with a good assortment of gear and I carry on along with my computer case. If it is a smaller plane, it fits under the seat and the computer goes above, I just make sure I do not have a bulkhead!

Or I use a LowPro pack with two lens pouches, depending on where and what I'm doing.

I offer to handle my equipment if security is interested in viewing it, and stay close by the whole time. They have "cleaned" my equipment often.

I find a reasonable and friendly attititude makes for a much smoother time through security. In slow periods I've spent time with security, and immigration, talking about the gear.

[samnz]

Slightly off topic here sorry but, Americans crack me up when passing through the airport. 'You' seem to have the process down packed, for example ... LAGs bag (Liquids, Aerosols and Gels) is ready to go, the shoes, belts and jackets are off before we can even say "Good morning!"

But ... you guys talk too much :p Love yas though!!! :) :)

[Wazza]

You shouldn't have any issues going through, as long as it's under the general 7kg weight, and approx 115cm total dimensions. (some are 125cm)

[Checkers Fan!]

I've flown about 30,000 aeronautical miles during the past eighteen months and traveled four continents. Depending upon the airline, your camera bag will draw little attention.

Charles DeGaulle has opened my camera gear and gone through everything very carefully.

Neither Gatwick nor Heathrow has ever opened my bag. Interestingly, the last time I traveled through Gatwick, there was a second security check before boarding. I was not stopped or inspected, and interestingly, bearded men were not stopped. There were some bad guys who were under surveillance and were believed to be on the run. Guys who were 20-30 years old with had short hair were stopped and their carry-on bags searched.

Shanghai Pudong, Beijing Airport and Nanjing Airport never batted an eye coming or going (though I was asked to fill out a declaration form when departing Pudong Shanghai airport. I lost the copy of the form that I filled out when I entered). My camera bag was scanned and nobody paid much attention going in or going out, despite the fact that I brought in and brought out more than one body and more than one flash. China specifies ONE OF EACH item for electronics. Why I don't know. Some of the electronics that you can buy in China is better than what you get in the west. (Not Chinese cameras).

Charlotte Douglas Airport wanted to look at CAMCORDERS only. SLRS were not inspected except for the usual X-ray scan.

Pittsburgh is another story. Airport Security there has been pretty tough, though my camera equipment has drawn no unusual scrutiny.

Most airlines are allowing ONE carry-on per person on the international flights I been on. British Airlines allowed only one checked bag per person and one carry-on at Gatwick. This came as a surprise because I understood that I could have two checked bags. The people at the counter waived it quite cheerfully. For the rest of my itinerary for that trip, I had only one checked bag because one bag was full of gifts that werer given away at my destination. Air China allowed me two checked-in bags.

I haven't heard of swabbing the interior or exterior of bags (camera or otherwise) except when someone has been detained. O'Hare had a beagle sniffing bags as the the bags circled on the conveyor for pickup. I guess it depends upon where your coming from. Like maybe Thailand or Singapore where people import bad things.

One thing that I notice is that at almost every airport, those things that your sposed to put your bag into to check its size, is different.

Has anybody noticed how grumpy American stewardesses have been lately?

[Mark_Cohran]

I haven't had any problems traveling with my camera's lately. I've got a trip back to Atlanta in a couple of weeks, so I'll be packing my cameras and lenses as a carry-on. I've not had any significant issues. A couple of times, I've had to open my bag for inspection after the x-ray, but that's no big deal.

Mark

[themirage]

I'm going on a trip in a month and I'm about to order the ThinkTank Airport International Camera Bag. It's supposed to meet all airline carry on specs. Has built in tsa lock, additional cable lock if you have to teather it to something.

[Mark_Cohran]

I'm going on a trip in a month and I'm about to order the ThinkTank Airport International Camera Bag. It's supposed to meet all airline carry on specs. Has built in tsa lock, additional cable lock if you have to teather it to something.

Got a link to that?

Mark

[Wazza]

Had a google for that bag. OUCH!, $300

[RP33]

I have a back pack camera bag will it be too big?

[StewartR]

RP33, I can't emphasise enough the need to check what is allowed by the specific airline you will be using. They vary more than you'd think.

I've recently been looking at buying a decent bag that I can use as a carry-on for my camera gear plus whatever, so I researched what various airlines will allow as carry-on. It turned out that there's so much variation, I don't think there's a universal solution.

At one end of the scale, First Choice (UK holiday airline) allows 1 carry-on bag, maximum dimensions 45x35x20cm, maximum weight 5kg. That's it. Absolutely everything has to go into that one bag. (In fact, if you're flying out of the UK, you're only allowed one bag whichever airline you use, though the size and weight limits vary from one airline to another.)

At the other end of the scale, most US airlines are broadly similar; for example American Airlines allows one bag with overall dimensions (length + width + depth) 114cm, maximum weight 18kg (!!!), plus a small bag or purse or briefcase or backpack with overall dimensions up to 91cm, plus a coat and other outer garments, plus reading material, plus a small bag of food for in-flight consumption.

So make sure you check.

[Sledhed]

I use a Pelican 1510 hard case, it's legal size to fit in the overhead compartment. I have never had any problems with it going through security. Calico recently did a review of it here (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=2583573).

[StewartR]

I use a Pelican 1510 hard case, it's legal size to fit in the overhead compartment.Ignore him. It's not legal on all airlines. Check with the specific airline you intend to use.