Travel advisory

Hi,

If you travel abroad for business, do you take your DSLR with you. If you do, and that's the main question, what do you do with it if you spend the whole day in meetings etc. How do you protect your cam in such a situation.

Thanks

When I have my camera with me on my travels (business or otherwise), I always take it with me. I used to be able to fit my SLR camera in my attache case when I was shooting film but now I just take my camera backpack along with me. I would never leave my camera in the hotel room unless there was a lockable safe in there.

That's exactly what I'm asking. What do you do if there is no lockable safe in the room(assuming you are traveling for business not holiday).

Take your camera bag with you...

Best regards,
Andy

So far the trips where I had to leave my camera behind the in room safe was big enough to fit the camera and lenes.
If not I would probably have taken the camera bag to the hotel desk and asked them to lock it up and show them a list of what is in the bag.

Me, I obtained insurance (for professional photographer), so it doesn't matter. When needed, I leave it in the room, it goes into my clothes bag in the closet. otherwise into the trunck of the rental car, because I can't take a camera into most of the offices where I go to meetings at.

Never had a problem to date at least in the US or Jamaica. I should point out though that I tend to stay in the better hotels.

Haven't left my 1DsMkII in a hotel room yet, but have in the trunk and felt perfectly comfortable.

I keep my camera, lens and other stuff in my backpack and I just take that with me whereever I go. It can get to be a painn sometimes, but I'd rather put up with the inconvenience than worrying about the camera the whole day long.

"When needed, I leave it in the room, it goes into my clothes bag in the closet".

That's what I was thinking about.

" should point out though that I tend to stay in the better hotels".

Same here.

I travel way more than I like and just about all of my stuff goes with me.

More often than not, I end up leaving my gear in the hotel. In hundreds of hotel nights I have never had a problem but I pick my hotels carefully and given that my company is paying I tend to stay at something above the Motel 6 level of establishments.

I have piece of mind in doing this as I have my stuff insured to the hilt.

Where in the hotel do you keep them, in the room? if so, where in the room.

Believe me, I've been traveling all my life, since I was a kid, but I never had an SLR or DSLR during that time (just small film P&S), so I'm a bit clueless about big cams with big lense(s).

I normally put them in a closet if there is one. I just spent two weeks in at a hotel in Dallas but it didn't have a closet with a door on it. I simply kept my camera bag by the desk.

As I said previously I've never encountered a problem. I suppose one could have problems if they chose to stay somewhere seedy.

I have to admit that I've been a bit careless recently ... taking my camera (G2 with additional lenses only) with me and leaving it in the hotel.
I think I left the camera openly vislble on the desk at least 20 times.

I have been travelling 5 days a week for about 7 years now, and nothing has happened to me so far ... but then, I'm in Germany which is considered to be one of the safer countries.

Hotels normally are in the 100$/night category (company rate, the figured rate in the room is higher, of course)... not extravagant, but not cheap either.

Still, when I get my 20D, I'll put it in a backpack in the closet, too. Don't tempt people too much...

Best regards,
Andy

Hey Andy, when will you get your 20D. Next week? you deserve one man, you've been waiting too long.

I guess this all depends on where you are staying - I do not in terms of the quality of the hotel, but the country/region.

If you do leave it in the hotel safe, have a pre-printed list ready of exactly what you are depositing and ask the hotel manager (or someone senior) to sign it as a receipt. A guy I work with left his camera gear in a hotel safe in Kenya and when he went to claim it back his CF cards were gone! The hotel claimed they had never been deposited in the first place.