How to lug 35mm kit around and be able to fly with it...

Hi all!

I was looking into getting a backpack to lug the 35mm stuff around. I must be able to take it with me on airplane (carry on)! That stuff isn't leaving my sight!
Could you blame me w/ that much kit that could be stolen?

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for suggestions.

I have currently:
EOS 10D, w/ BG-ED3
extra battery.
Canon EOS 50E
Canon T90
35-70mm FD lens
75-200mm FD lens
Sigma 120-300mm lens
a rather decent sized flash
28-80 mm cheapie Sigma lens
16-35mm Canon L (enroute)
2x 512MB CF cards
card reader (USB)

looking into:
CF to CDR/RW burner
replacing 28-28 cheapie Sigma lens
50-500mm Sigma lens
who knows...need room to grow.

Cheers,
Canuck

I just got back from a vacation. I have a small lowerpro backpack. I carried my 10d and 4 lenses, a teleconverter, and filters in it. I put my other lenses, dvd burner and flashes with my laptop in a rugged gym bag. I carried these two items on. I put a monopod and anything else in my checked suitcase. It worked out well. The gym bag was heavy though. I think this is the way to go, because no single bag will carry all of my camera stuff and laptop etc.

Hi Canuck,

I have a Lowepro Mini Trekker that I take overseas fairly often. I usually pack it out with my G3, EOS 50E, 420ex flash, cheapie 100-300 Canon zoom, Canon 28-70 F2.8 Lens, Filters, Film and my X-DriveII. It's a tight squeeze, but everything fits nicely along with a couple of manuals for the absent minded like myself =).

You may want to try some of the larger Lowepro backpacks with the straps for a Tripod at the back or side.

Rgds,

Kev.

I have a large duffle bag with wheels and handle. I put my camera bags inside of THAT and then carry the duffle on board. That way I can lug it easily and it doesn't leave my side.

Smiles,

Holly

I think the secret is multiple bags for different occassions.

If you have a lot of equipment to move between cities then a full size roll-around back-pack combo is nice but make sure it will fit under an airline seat.

I agree: Never check your camera with your bags at the airport.

Use a medium back-pack or shoulder bag for outdoor walk-around shoots. Indoors use a small shoulder bag or vest.

I don't remember the brand or model but I did see a medium sized shoulder bag that had an optional back-pack harness for it. Looked like a pretty cool idea but I don't know how practical it is.

If it were me, I would just lug everything down to my favorite camera store and check the fit before buying. That way you know for sure.

Just my 2½ cents.....

Check out Tenba:

http://www.tenba.com/c​amera/backpack3.htm

I normally put my camera gear (in its bag) into my large, locked hard-cover suitcase.

I used to fly to my job every week for about five years and haven't had many bad experiences so far (most travels in Europe, some in Asia, Middle East and very few in the USA).

Once my suitcase got delayed one day on a holiday flight, but that was about it.

Again, that's my personal experience ... so don't blame me if your gear gets lost on a flight

Regards,
Andy

Have recently bought the 5259 from Tamrac http://www.tamrac.com

It holds 2 bodies, loads of lenses and other equipment, and has a slot in the back for a laptop. Am well pleased with it for when I am carrying all my kit.

On the odd occasion when that is just too bulky, I trim down what equipment I take, and use a smaller Lowerpro camera bag.

HTH,


Alex

I use a Tamrac 612 Pro bag for most of my camera equipment, but I also have a Lowepro minitrekker backpack for "light" travel.
Both can fit in the overhead bin of most aircraft (although the 612 has issues with the Dash-8's (a puddle jumper) overheads).

On my recent trip to Jamaica, I put my lowepro backpack with D60, 28-135, 75-300IS, and other backup stuff in one of the two suitcases and carried my Tamrac on the aircraft. The backpack went unchecked in Jamaica, but got looked at by TSA in US on the second leg of return trip. I know this because the backpack was unzipped when I got home and opened the suitcase and I know it was zipped when I left Jamaica. I got the TSA note in my other bag though.

In Jamaica, when I left the resort, I usually reconfigured by lens kit into the backback to take just the lenses I felt I needed. Was very glad I had 28-135 and 75-300IS as they are very light compared to 28-70L and 70-200/2.8L IS.

While not a backpack, the strap on the Tamrac 612 is very confortable, but given the weight of what I put in it, it does get heavy afterwhile. The backpack was better for traveling light, but I was essentially limited to one long lens, if I wanted to carry a flash, picture pad and a pair of wider lens.

Cool, thanks to all who replied!

I will be looking into the Tamrac/Tenba/etc bags and see what I can get. A laptop holder can prove very useful! I was looking at one w/ a 16 in screen, and huge hard drive so when I get bored in wherever I am, I can try to manipulate the pics I've taken and learn more about the various modding programs I have.

Cheers from England,
Canuck

Slightly OT, but I carry the laptop in order to offload CF cards on to it, and to view pictures taken, but I would never do any post processing of shots with it as laptop screens, IMHO are no where near up to the job.

Don't get me wrong, the displays are fine for ordinary use (I use one all day every day at work!), and I don't have a fully calibrated desktop system anyway, but find post processing more reliable with a decent screen.

Just my 2p worth

Alex

I've had a medium sized Canon 200EG backpack on order for some time now and it just came in today. I bought on Amazon for $50 so I didn't get to see it or touch it before buying.

It's OK for a Chinese product but I was expecting a little better quality. They use small zippers which aren't the smoothest opening and closing. They layout is much the same as everyone else's backpack. The canvas is a little on the thin side but will probably last. I do like the green & black color scheme.

I think a medium sized back pack made out of balistic nylon with leather trim, big zippers, good layout, and a 1 liter water bottle pocket would probably make me a little happier.

Still looking for the perfect pack........