Traveling through airport with photography equipment.

<p>Hello, I am traveling home for christmas and I am bring my camera body, 3 lenses, extra batteries and cards. I was wondering if brining my camera as my carry on is a bad idea...I always hear of the x-rays doing terrible things to camera equipment (or was this just film days haha??).....Any advice will be great. Thanks.</p>

<p>Items are occasionally stolen from checked baggage, definetely carry on! The airport X-rays won't hurt your digital cameras. I always leave out any accessory that might be construed as a weapon: little tripods, tools, etc.</p>

<p>And make sure you are under the size limit for the airline. I have seen people forced to check slightly oversized bags at the gate.</p>

<p>I heard that x-ray scanners can fog ur memory card...</p>

<p>If ur serious, carry-on is safest way to travel with gear, the x-rays now are even safe for fim in carry-on. Look at TSA website.</p>

<p>I'd much, much rather carry on than check. Only way I'll do it, given any choice in the matter.</p>

<p>just a few days ago I read about a TSA screener that did in fact open and steal laptops and other things from the x-ray machines. He lost his job but incredibly, all he got was probation vs. jail time.</p>

<p>I guess the moral of the story is to examine your carry-on and verify it's all there on the other side of the x-ray machine before you leave the security station</p>

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<p>I heard that x-ray scanners can fog ur memory card...</p>

 

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<p>That would mean that your phone, your computer, your music player, etc. would all be impacted. However, there is no way to "fog" memory anyway, unless you're talking about human memory.</p>

<p>Your digital stuff will be fine. That fogging thing has got to be a joke. Just don't take anything in carry-on that could be used as a weapon (like a tripod or scissors). If your pack isn't crazy heavy or too big, you'll be fine. </p>

<p>The only possible issue you could have is that security can be uncomfortable about lenses. Apparently they can be used to smuggle things. Just smile a lot and make eye contact.</p>

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<p>Just don't take anything in carry-on that could be used as a weapon (like a tripod or scissors).</p>

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<p>This is a really good point, because if your luggage is already checked and they won't let you take it on, you will have to pay a fortune to send it either home or where you are going. Or throw it away, which I doubt you will want to do. My tripod has screw-out spikes, so I always put in a checked bag, but any tripod could be deemed unacceptable as carry-on. The rules aren't consistent and there seems to be some local variation in interpretation.</p>

<p>Also leave that large bottle of cleaning solution home (remember in the US, fluids can only be 3 ounces max)</p>

<p>I travel a lot with photo gear. If you're worried about fogging, the big gun Xray they use for luggage will definitely fog film, but not digital gear. Do carry on your bodies, lenses, memory cards, a spare battery, charger in your carry on bag. Do not carry liquid lens cleaners or other cleaning supplies - check these. Check your tripod and head - could remotely be considered a weapon by a TSA agent. I get my stuff pulled out of line about 1 time out of 3 or 4. No problem, just smile. A fair amount of time in smaller airports the TSA folks are curious about what I'm carrying and where, especially when I've got my 500 mm in the bag. </p>

<p>+1 to Steve Henry's advice.</p>

<p>One more thing - there are rules about carrying Li batteries on aircraft - a battery in the camera body will not be questioned, but spares need to be in separate plastic bags - one per bag to ensure no cross-contact that can cause overheating and a Li fire.</p>

<p>I have travelled in over 15 countries in the past 5 years and I always carry...well, pretty much everything with me: camera bodies, 4-5 lenses (some of them big ones), at least 4 batteries, filters, various cleaning products (they come in tiny bottles anyway), flashes, etc all in my trusty Domke. You get the idea - the works. NEVER had a problem. Got hassled ONLY in Jerusalem, on the way out, when some completely stuypid and insane security guard made me empty ALL the contents of my camera bag so he could scan then each one individually - this of course caused a 45 min delay for EVERYONE else, but it was his fault and his supervisor gave him hell for this...sometimes security CAN become TOO much...</p>

<p>No problem with any cards, ever (and they've gone through some pretty ancient X-Ray machines, I'll tell you that (places like Kathmandu, Sri Lanka, Algeria...). Tripods should go in the checked luggage, as should any Swiss army knives, little screwdrivers, your chargers, etc. Otherwise, you'll be more than fine...</p>

<p>Like Marios, I've also traveled fairly extensively over the last few years, over 10 countries in 2008/9 alone. I always carry my equipment in a dedicated camera bag that's just big enough (to avoid any issues with size). I generally consider this as my "personal bag" in the U.S. I have never had any issues with security in major European airports (exception: occasionally rescanning my camera bag), and I only once had an issue in Morocco where security asked to inspect all of my equipment (note: this was actually the security team for the train system, but it is important to be safe and protected beyong the airport as well).</p>

<p>As for my cameras, lenses, cards, batteries, and all of the other odds and ends I bring with me, I have never seen any impact whatsoever from the x-ray and security process on the functioning of the equipment or on the images. Personally, I feel a minor mishap (like a security guard accidentally dropping the camera bag while rescanning it or something like that) would be far more detrimental than the scan itself.</p>

<p>I personally don't use a tripod or carry any tools with me, but commonsense tells me to leave those at home.</p>

<p>Pack your gear well, keep it with you at all times in the airport, and enjoy the trip!</p>

<p>after being pulled out of the line for putting my bag through the scanner, and having the TSA guy hand inspect my lenses and such, i have got into the habit of emptying all items into the bin, so there's not question about my bag or its contents. sound like a hassle? not compared to a one-on-one with the TSA. besides, if you're half-way well organized, you can pack it in a couple of minutes.</p>

<p>once I got told that my camera-bag was too heavy for cabin: I stepped back and loaded the heavy lenses in the back-pack of a friend, got through TSA with a bag within weight limits and loaded the lenses back where they belong right behind TSA...<br>

If you want to take your tripod, put it <em>inside </em>your checked luggage: the travel bags for tripods won't necessarily give enough protection to have the tripod in its travel-bag as checked in luggage on its own.</p>

<p>From experience - if asked what is in your bag, do not refer to your flash as a "flash gun" - it gets some TSA representatives excited.</p>

<p>Allen - hahaha on the flash "gun" comment...so true...! Sad, but potentially true...;-)))) Which reminds me, in my upcoming trip I was planning to take my "wireless remote control" with me...think I should tell them? Or send it with the checked bags? hahaha....</p>

<p>Tripods are totally acceptable as carry on, I always take my Manfrotto 190 with me inside my carry on, an average sized DaKine rucksack. TSA have NEVER had an issue with it, indeed the only people that did, once, were Tokyo, who insisted on measuring it, but after they did they allowed it on board without question. Tripods are not included on the <a href="http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm">TSA list of prohibited items</a>, though <em>"Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) may determine that an item not on the Prohibited Items List is prohibited." </em>So far, the US TSO's, have never given my tripod a second look.</p>

<p>Some tripods, like mine, have spikes that screw out. I seriously doubt anyone would let that on the plane. I've never tried, because I didn't want to have to leave the line and find some way to ship it home.</p>

<p>Most, like mine, don't. I have tried many times and never been refused. I am only recounting my personal experiences, I don't care for untested opinions.</p>

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<p>I don't care for untested opinions.</p>

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<p><br />If you're suggesting that I try to take a tripod with spikes through the airport, well, that's a pretty ridiculous suggestion. Given that I had a nail clipper taken away last month in Seattle, I'm not going to try to take the tripod. However, I do think it is far better to prepare for the worst rather than suggest since I haven't tried to take the tripod as a carry-on than to say my opinion is "untested." </p>

<p>No Jeff that is not what I am suggesting at all. I was offering some real world experience, a dying commodity here on Photo.net, that was contrary to all the "advice" offered by numerous posters suggesting a tripod should be checked, you, at least, had the honesty to say you have never tried.</p>

<p>My experiences are that it is not necessary to check a tripod, my tripod does not have spikes and has never been looked at in the USA by TSO's, for spikes or anything else. If mine did have spikes, I would probably be more circumspect, my solution would probably be to just remove them rather than have to check a bag, I know peoples luggage requirements vary considerably, I, for instance, manage to circumnavigate the world on three month trips with laptop and all photo gear plus essential clothing etc, in one carry on rucksack. No missed connections or lost luggage due to baggage handling problems then.</p>

<p>YMMV, but I have done it many times.</p>

<p>You shouldn't <em>assume </em>that posters who suggests to check in the tripod have never tried taking it as hand luggage: actually I used to always carry my tripod in its travel bag as hand luggage until it was refused by TSA agents in Paris in 2005 (and it doesn't have any spikes) -> I had to get back to check in and there I assumed that my tripod would be safe in its travel bag but when I retrieved it in the arrival airport the head was damaged: the Manfrotto 3 Way head was twisted beyond its rotation limit and got loose. I got a refund from the airport services but I'd have been happier to avoid this inconvenience! Since then I always pack my tripod inside my case. This is my personally tested experience about traveling with a tripod...</p>

<p>Apparently, you can never tell what TSA will do. I was told next time to put my filters flat, not on edge, in their case, so they won't "look like little knives" to the TSA x-ray screener. I had to take each filter out and show them what it was. Got my whole kit dusted for explosives, too. Still, I'd rather have some security than the results of having none.</p>