Is it a good idea to ship cameras via sea freight?

I am moving from US to Asia.

 

I have more than 20 lenses and several Leica, Contax, Nikon cameras.

 

Is it a good idea to ship all of them via sea freight? It will take 2 months to arrive Asia.

 

Will it cause any damages?

<p>I wouldn't. Too much potential for environmental damage, humidity and temp extremes.</p>

<p>Rick H.</p>

<p>Carry them with you...ship your clothes.</p>

<p>How do you think Canon and Nikon ship all their cameras and lens to the US?</p>

What Doug said. Packaging is important. For the rest it's a matter of having or not having enough patience. Can you wait two months?

<p>I shipped a bunch of lenses from Australia to Poland via sea. I put each lens in a plastic bag with silica-gel packets and then packed the lenses into one of <a href="http://www.vanguardworld.co.uk/index.php/pv/products/photo-video/list-1-2-33.html">these</a>. It was then packed in a standard shipping box amongst clothes and other soft items. They arrived in perfect condition.<br>

However you can never predict every eventuality so check out shipping insurance.<br>

Laurie</p>

<p>I would guess that while they ship on the water they use some very specialized packaging systems that most of us don't have easy access to. And I would not want to wait two months either.<br /><br />Rick H.</p>

<p>I will carry a camera and few lenses with me. I can wait for 2 months. I just don't want the lenses being damaged by humidity or salt.<br>

I wrapped each camera/lens with bubble wrap. Silica gel plastic bag is a good idea. </p>

Get a fast freight estimate from DHL and determine what air freight and insurance costs will be. It may be not as bad as you might imagine. Maybe you can have sea baggage accompany you via cruise ship or steamer even. No, my camera gear does not go by sea freight. My digestion does not allow. Advice is just advice and we are all different and have different evaluations on photo gear.

I once got a small electronic piano on a transpacific flight with me from Osaka and it was handled well enough..a really..big Yamaha as excess baggage.

Talk to freight forwarders and ask them for more insight on shipping modalities, ..If this is a company sponsored move, they may well pay for an air shipment of your optical instruments as household goods, arguably, so check on that too. Aloha and happy voyage.

<p>I used the US Postal Service to ship a bunch of stuff to my son in Japan this past year. It took about 2 weeks to arrive, but the price was reasonable and it was all insured. So long as you pack it well in a sturdy box I think the postal service would be a reasonable choice. </p>