Can airline travel damage camera electronics?

I took my 7D to Maui. Suddenly; AF Mode doesn't work properly. I can't select AF point. Also; my battery failed. Long story; but I didn't use it there - it sat in the hotel room all week.

I've tried resetting all settings; all different modes. Still no luck.

Otherwise the camera works well; I just can't select my AF point. Since I always shoot that way; it's debilitating. Especially for Sports.

I did put it in my check-in luggage on the way there. I'm wondering if I should have kept it in the pressurized cabin. If so; what an embarrassing (and expensive) lesson!

Anyone know if air travel can cause this? Could TSA inspections have something to do with it?

I would be more worried with the way the checked luggage is handled over it being in a non pressurized hole because the airlines are brutal on bags. So yea, there is a very good possibility of it being damaged during your travels. I never have any issues with gear and I travel quite often, but I also never put any gear in checked luggage.

NBEast wrote in post #16315303
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Could TSA inspections have something to do with it?

Yes! Very possible & some spying device might insert into the camera during the inspection.

Big brother is watching

No, TSA inspections can result in your camera being stolen, but they don't break them. I suppose its possible one of their employees took it out of the bag to try it out before stealing it, somehow broke and decided to wait for one that works but I doubt it.
Did your bag have one of those short letters inside it explaining TSA opened it for inspection? I fly quite a bit and get a lot of them, for some reason they enjoy rumaging thru my stuff.

Wasn't worried about theft - excuse for modern replacement. It was well packed in durable luggage.

Its either a strange coincidence or the X-Rays, extreme cold, or depressurization caused it.

The battery was dead upon arrival. I'm thinking the extreme cold caused some chemical short. I should have removed the battery from the camera. Either that or the X-Rays (or other rays they use now like maybe ultra-sound) can damage electronics.

Just looking for some kind of definitive confirmation about proper packing procedure.

The xrays are not in any way going to damage your camera. Millions of cameras go through airport x-ray machines every day.

If it was the flight then it was the rough handling by baggage handlers or possibly the cold. Or it might just have been that the battery was going to fail and you just happened to go travelling at the same time.

How old is the battery? Do you use the camera regularly? If you don't use it for extended periods do you remove the battery or make sure it is fully charged before leaving it?

Are you sure luggage is depressurised? Just from design standpoint it costs less money to seal a cylinder including baggage rather than passengers alone.

At high altitudes I've heard there's some cosmic radiation that may damage microprocessors...

Typical commercial flights from SoCal to HI would have a pressurized cargo area (not at sea-level, but generally at less than 10,000 feet level). Damage from pressure changes is unlikely.

Best guess would be due to rough handling.

Always carry on your gears.

-alex

NBEast wrote in post #16315303
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I did put it in my check-in luggage on the way there...

You just answered your own question.

rick_reno wrote in post #16315412
No, TSA inspections can result in your camera being stolen, but they don't break them.

Correct TSA inspections aren't likely to break your camera.

What is likely to break your camera is the way your luggage is treated by the baggage handlers. VIDEO

is it the same serial # camera? could one of the handlers swapped out a dead 7D for your working one? never know....

DisrupTer911 wrote in post #16318416
is it the same serial # camera? could one of the handlers swapped out a dead 7D for your working one? never know....

That's somewhat far fetched.

DisrupTer911 wrote in post #16318416
is it the same serial # camera? could one of the handlers swapped out a dead 7D for your working one? never know....

Really...?
So you think that some baggage handler is going to be standing there with a dead 7D and randomly open a passenger's bag to find a working 7D and make the switch...
Yeah right...
Dream on champ.

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #16316622
Are you sure luggage is depressurised? Just from design standpoint it costs less money to seal a cylinder including baggage rather than passengers alone.

You are probably correct. One of the earliest DC-10 crashes (Paris, 1974) happened when a cargo door failed and caused instantaneous depressurization of the cargo hold. The pressure in the passenger area blew out the passenger deck (down into the cargo hold), which caused major structural damage to the tail section of the aircraft and ejected one row of passengers, seats and all.

JeffreyG wrote in post #16319493
You are probably correct. One of the earliest DC-10 crashes (Paris, 1974) happened when a cargo door failed and caused instantaneous depressurization of the cargo hold. The pressure in the passenger area blew out the passenger deck (down into the cargo hold), which caused major structural damage to the tail section of the aircraft and ejected one row of passengers, seats and all.

Such an interesting way to die. It's always fascinating how complex systems go down.