Camera Equipment In airport

Hey Guys, not sure were to post this so if it needs moving DO IIIIIITTTTTTT:p

Im flying to Sicilly on the 18th, and seeing as this is the first time ive been anywere with a significant amount of gear, (for me anyway), i wanted to ask if theres anything special about having a camera backpack, do they need to check it. Do i need to let them know. Fill me in if theres any special requirments

Thanks

I went to Mallorca in May this year and took all of my equipment with me including a laptop and I didn't have to inform the airline about it, neither did I mention it to the airport security when it was being x-rayed, don't think you have anything to worry about.

Exellent thanks, its just ive seen people in italy not let through xrays because of a bodyboard let alone a load of camera equipment

ur from bournemouth

I just flew from Toronto To Las Vegas,

Took just about all my gear in my carry on backpack, all 35 pounds of it.. lol and got **** at the airport due to the 10 pound limit.. Good thing i was wearing my cargo pants with lots of pockets

Anways, no issues going through they make you take your laptop out and then they did do a chemical test on my gear, they claimed it was just because i had so much they run a dry swab over everything and then put it into a machine to test for something.

3 out of 4 times, My 1DsMkII (or MkIII) gets flagged for extra checking, mostly I suspect because of the battery.

I typically have a 1DsMKIII, 28-70/2.8L, 70-200/2.8L IS, 16-35/2.8L, spare battery, 550EX flash, spare cards, and some misc stuff in my Lowepro mini-trekker backpack and it works well. No problems to date on travel including international, except as mentioned 3 out of 4 times it gets flagged for manual inspection.

Frankfurt was the most humorous as it got tagged twice for full up residue checks and then a third visual inspection on my way to getting on the plane. I think they just wanted to check out the equipment

I've been hearing some reports lately that they don't like extra batteries floating around loose with exposed contacts. That's supposed to be part of the reason that Canon has redesigned them for the last couple of new models.

Don't know if it's anything to worry about though, I haven't flown for a couple of years now.

I went to Mexico with a 45lb backpack and carried it on. No problems, just some chit-chat from an X-Ray tech about what kind of photography I do. All my batteries are either in a camera, flash, case, or have caps. Heck I didn't even take my laptop out in Cancun International. I forgot and they didn't say a word.

Flew from London Stansted to Salzburg and back, no problems. Full camera backpack with two bodies and four lenses, didn't need to notify them or any other extra procedures or anything.

Gear went straight through with zero issues at Stansted, and again with no problems at W.A. Mozart Airport in Salzburg, but they did spend a good few minutes looking at the X-Ray image on the monitor in apparently different modes. Camera bag and gear inside looked quite cool on the xray monitor actually ;P

Your main concern will probably be size/weight restrictions. My camera backpack weighed up as 7.91KG (I made a point to check size/weight before packing) and the limit is 10Kg carry on. I had light gear (40D, 400D, 70-200 f/4L, 17-40L, 50mm f/1.8 II, crappy kit lens just in case), but my main concern was size, it fitted within their restrictions by about 5cm in every direction. That was with a Lowepro Computrekker AW, so size accordingly

not on topic but 2 other bournemouth inhabitants in one thread.. wow!

I had to take all my extra lens out of the pouches so the security could look through the glass in Italy but that was about it. No problem with the Lowepro throughout Europe.

That happens occasionally. Inside the lens barrel is obviously a good place to hide explosives.

I fly on a regular basis from the UK and have never had any problems as yet. They might ask to have a look if you don't lay your gear bag down when going through the xray machine. They like a nice clear image and don't get one when the bag is upright.

Also I know it goes without saying really but always make sure that you carry the expensive stuff as hand luggage, I work at Gatwick and am forever seeing baggage handlers throwing the bags out of the aircraft hold to the awaiting trailer. It is also not unheard of to have your bags gone through and items removed, although it's fairly rare these days.

Never a problem with me.. I've been tripping around SE Asia since 2004..

DItto - just flew domestic, and the only thing they had me do was take out my 70-200 so they could check the glass. 17-40 and 50/1.4 stayed in the bag. And i've never heard of anyone having to give up a CF card or anything like that.