Checking a large lens on an airplane

[slimenta]

I need to bring a 400 mm, 300 mm and 200 mm lens as well as other equipment on a trip. It is physically impossible to carry it all on in my thinktank roller. I have been looking at a pelican case eg 1560 with foam insert to check the 400 mm and 300 mm but wanted to hear from others about how this went if anyone has tried.....thoughts??

[Lowner]

I'd not trust baggage handlers with mine. My tripod is the only thing I allow into the hold, even that gets well protected in my case AND I keep the ballhead with me.

How about getting a coat with "poacher" pockets (big and very deep) and carry what you cannot stow in your camera bag like that?

[FlyingPhotog]

Professional equipment is shipped world-wide, 24/7/365 with very few issues.

Get a suitable, solid case (Pelican is a good choice .. I'd go Pick/Pluck foam yielding a very snug fit), be sure you have insurance, pay the freight and ship it.

In the TV industry, we ship $85,000 lenses and cameras all the time via FedEx and other 3rd party shipping companies and rarely have one go missing.

[advaitin]

Check the size limitations of the particular airlines. Use a backpack that fits their requirement, like the Lowe Trekker, fit your two biggest lenses in the bag, one up and one down, carry the smallest on your camera around your neck. Wear a vest with whatever else you don't dare lose in the pockets. Everything else in checked luggage.

[Lowner]

Jay,

Do the same village idiot baggage handlers load your TV stuff onto the plane? Or is it done with the shippers in attendance to make sure those same village idiots are more careful than usual?

[Wilt]

Professional equipment is shipped world-wide, 24/7/365 with very few issues.

Get a suitable, solid case (Pelican is a good choice .. I'd go Pick/Pluck foam yielding a very snug fit), be sure you have insurance, pay the freight and ship it.

In the TV industry, we ship $85,000 lenses and cameras all the time via FedEx and other 3rd party shipping companies and rarely have one go missing.

And if some crooked baggage handlers, as have been stealing and later arrested at some signficant airports, do steal the $85k lens, one has to wonder what market to fence such a lens would be, compared to consumer dSLR camera lenses!

[SuzyView]

I have taken my white lenses in my Think Tank cases as carry ons. The airport handlers have special equipment to sense explosive stuff so they pass it over the gear and that's it. So, I don't mess around. I take it on with me always. But on small planes, I insist I take my case to the plane and watch them put it onto the compartment. They've done that for me every time because I act like a nervous photographer and they generally respect me for that.

[CyberDyneSystems]

I've only taken my Big White lenses as Carry on.. but I've never needed to take more than one monster at a time :)


... is shipping Via Fed-ex or UPS an option?

[Tdragone]

I have taken my white lenses in my Think Tank cases as carry ons. The airport handlers have special equipment to sense explosive stuff so they pass it over the gear and that's it. So, I don't mess around. I take it on with me always. But on small planes, I insist I take my case to the plane and watch them put it onto the compartment.

Exactly what I've done with a 400. I brought to security; opened it up.. showed them a big @$$ white lens and told them I'd gate check it.

They did the explosives swabbing and said have a good trip. As long as you tell them up fron you're going to gate check it to prevent rough handling; they're pretty cool with it in my experience.

[Wilt]

I've only taken my Big White lenses as Carry on.. but I've never needed to take more than one monster at a time :)


... is shipping Via Fed-ex or UPS an option?

For destinations which cross national boundaries, I would check into the issue of customs duty payable as the result of such shipment into the temporary destination country...you need to somehow deal with proof of round trip of the lens so that duties wouldn't be payable! You might be required to leave some money as a 'deposit', which is later refunded after proof of exit of that same item...in some cases this is done later via post, not via immediate refund at the airport!

[slimenta]

So when I have seen these discussions before it always seems to divide among two camps. Don't check anything, figure out a way to carry it on. The other camp is that you can figure out a way to check it. It is physically impossible for me to carry everything on, so who has actually had experience with the pelican system and checkin?

[Wilt]

So when I have seen these discussions before it always seems to divide among two camps. Don't check anything, figure out a way to carry it on. The other camp is that you can figure out a way to check it. It is physically impossible for me to carry everything on, so who has actually had experience with the pelican system and checkin?


Keep in mind the issue is not how well the Pelican can protect its contents from shock, the issue is whether or not the contents will actually arrive for pickup (or you end up with an empty case)...you cannot lock the item except for using a TSA lock which the baggage inspectors have the means to open!

[advaitin]

Physically impossible for you? Then your only alternative is to insure and ship. That would be my second choice.

Out of curiosity, how do you manage all that equipment on the job?

[ed rader]

my buddy checked his 500L in the OEM hard case and there were no problems except security busted the locks on the case because of course they didn't have a key.

ed rader

[slimenta]

I don't. I decide what three lenses I will set up before a game and at times shoot a 300 and at times a 400. My 200 2L is always on a body because it is such a great lens. I often change what I am doing depending on the flow and what part of the field I want to shoot as well as where I can reasonably be based on the sun and other factors like location of fans. I also will change this up a lot if I am shooting in poor light. My most common current combination is 70-200, 200 and 400.

[yoyoboy]

go read flying with fish's blog, and then pack a gun along with your lens in the pelican case. It wil get white glove treatment, and you get to lock it with a non-TSA approved lock.

[SuzyView]

Let's not get into the gun discussion here. We're talking lenses, please. :)

[DeaconG]

No way would I trust an airline baggage handler with that kind of gear. Go ask Dave Carroll and the Sons of Maxwell what happened to their guitars with United:

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2009/07/08/united-breaks-guitars.html

Either FedEx, UPS or leave it!

[irispatch]

Ditto. If you ever watch baggage being transported and loaded you will understand. First no rolling suitcase with an obvious top side is ever loaded top side up they are always flipped . Bags go flying off the carts and get run over and left behind. Baggage handlers regard luggage as a shopping mall lifting anything they think they can use or sell. Unfortunately those 2.8 lenses are heavy and bulky. If you must check then pick the lens you can least afford to loose and carry that with you. you will run a 50/50 chance of what is checked being either missing or wacked out of alignment. And by all means make sure you have adequate insurance on all of your gear. One thing you can try is a pacsafe wrap . I would wrap the lens case with the pacsafe then lock cable it to the inside of the checked bag so if someone tried to remove the lens case they will have the suitcase dangling from it drawing a little more attention to their activity.

[Wilt]

Ditto. If you ever watch baggage being transported and loaded you will understand. First no rolling suitcase with an obvious top side is ever loaded top side up they are always flipped . Bags go flying off the carts and get run over and left behind. Baggage handlers regard luggage as a shopping mall lifting anything they think they can use or sell. Unfortunately those 2.8 lenses are heavy and bulky. If you must check then pick the lens you can least afford to loose and carry that with you. you will run a 50/50 chance of what is checked being either missing or wacked out of alignment. And by all means make sure you have adequate insurance on all of your gear. One thing you can try is a pacsafe wrap . I would wrap the lens case with the pacsafe then lock cable it to the inside of the checked bag so if someone tried to remove the lens case they will have the suitcase dangling from it drawing a little more attention to their activity.

Superb idea...cable lock the lenses to the inside of the case, so baggage handlers can open the case after seeing the contents with CT scanner, but not steal the contents. Of course, that still does not cover the problem of the whole case and contents disappearing..."Oh, sorry sir but your luggage was mistakenly sent to another destination. We'll try to find it and hand deliver to you if we can find it, but no guarantees"

[jhom]

You might want to consider a separate carrier for the 400 along with the TTAS. Pack your 400 in a TT Streetwalker Pro. Use the TTAS for the 300 and 200 and other gear. Roll on the TTAS and carryon the TTSW Pro.

[JohnnyEgo]

Without wishing to run afoul of our esteemed moderator, the OP asked about people with actual experience checking camera equipment. I am a competition shooter, so I travel about once a month with both guns and camera equipment. I have a Pelican 1510, which is the carry-on sized Pelican, and a 1750, which is designed to accommodate rifles. On more then one occassion, I have put camera and laptop equipment in the 1750. I have also checked the 1510. I have yet to have any issues with either. Both are very tough cases.

In my youth, I worked at a UPS distribution center. It would be disconcerting for most folks to see how their delicate electronic equipment was 'handled' while trying to maintain a load rate of 700 packages per minute in a 120' trailer in August. And these are things typically packed in cardboard boxes with Styrofoam peanuts for cushioning. This tends to inform my perspective on airline baggage handling. Consequently, I do not hesitate to put expensive camera equipment or expensive firearms in Pelican Cases and entrust them to baggage handlers who will most likely attempt to do a lay-up or a three point shot into the cargo hold. On the off chance they do become damaged, I am sufficiently insured via Personal Articles policies.

I have yet to have an issue either way. Between coverage and quality cases, my mind is left perfectly free of concern for my baggage safety, and with ample opportunity to worry that my pilot hasn't just polished off a 5th of Jack or recently taken up World of Warcraft.

[Lowner]

A ex share club treasurer of ours was the head honcho at Bisley for a time. When flying off to foreign competitions, they only ever flew BA, and NEVER checked any guns - it always flew as hand baggage. Enough kit to start WW3 and they fret about me with a pair of navigation dividers!

[Metolius81]

I wouldn't trust checking those kind of lenses for anything. I agree with other posters... just FedEx it.