Equipment suggestions & State of Affairs

[brad_smith3]

Greetings all,

 

I'll be traveling to Germany towards the end of this summer for two weeks for both pleasure and

business. I'll be working during the middle portion of the days, with the mornings and evenings free. I'd

(obviously) like to have my camera with me at all times. I have never been out of the U.S. (with the

exception of a quick jaunt to Victoria, BC) and am unsure of the current state of affairs as far as the

airlines go.

 

I like to have the most options available to me while I'm there, but would rather not have to bring every

last piece of equipment I own. Here's what I have:

 

Canon EOS 30d (w/ battery grip, remote release, 2 batteries, 8Gb)

EF-S 10-22 3.5 Lens

50mm 1.8

75-300mm 3.5

35-80 (kit lens)

(24-70 or similar to be purchased between now and then)

 

Canon EOS Rebel 35mm film camera

w/ above lenses (minus the 10-22)

Quantaray 19-35 el cheapo lens

 

Lightweight aluminum tripod

 

Canon P&S 2.1mp digital camera

 

Minolta SRT201 MF 35mm film camera

w/ assorted primes, 50mm, 28mm, 200mm

 

Yashica 124-g TLR w/ standard lens

 

Holga 120n

 

other assorted 35mm "toy" cameras (plastic body, no frills)

 

 

I am definitely going to bring the 30d kit, as well as the lightweight tripod, but what else would you

bring? If this were you, taking into consideration: traveling/carrying, x-raying film vs. ease of digital,

and options once you got there, what would you take?

 

I'd like the option of taking a camera besides the 30d if there's a real messy situation, i.e.. boating or

something similar. I am interested in taking landscapes, people, architecture, possibly some night

shots.

 

Where do the airlines stand on everything as of now with international travel? I know my brother went

through london right after the scare over there and couldn't take anything aboard but his passport and

wallet.

 

Sorry for the long post,

Thanks for reading.

Brad

[evan_goulet]

I would probably bring the Holga and the P&S. Holga is light and unique (and cheap if damaged). Keep your film with your carry on (if that is allowable). The P&S fits in the pocket, has a flash, good for going out or whatever.

[bruce_margolis]

When I went to Alaska last year, many people pulled out their point-and-shoot to capture a photo of a bear maybe a thousand yards away. Yeah, I know, the digicams have zooms so I'm sure they got real good head shots. :-)

 

But for them, it was capturing an image to share and that's okay because that was all they wanted. If you want to travel light, just pack the little guy and forget the rest.

 

I am heading to Europe in a few weeks and I will pack my digicam. But I also plan to take one body (digital) and four lenses, along with flash, tripod, t/c, etc. In other words, I want to capture images that are more meaningful to me. YMMV. No right or wrong, just personal choice.

[stephen_w.]

30D, 10-22, 50, P&S digicam.

 

KISS

[lheusinkveld]

Your airline ticket will tell you how much you are allowed to carry on. Generally here in North America it is one carryon size bag and one "personal item" that can be as big as a brief case. In my experience, you can also get away with stuff in a shopping bag, but you can't always count on it. Carryon requirements usually include weight, but if you have your stuff in a camera bag or backpack and you don't huff and puff and make it look heavy they are unlikely to weigh it. A very good option if you think your carryon is overweight is to wear a vest with large pockets, you can put heavier lenses and even a camera into the pocket to get the weight down (if you are so unfortunate to have your bag weighed), and then just replace the stuff when you get on the plane. Very important, arrive at the check-in with a confident look...do NOT ask tentatively if you are allowed to take this etc! If you are flying Business Class you will get away with a lot more than Economy, and Charter/Discount flights have much reduced allowances.

 

If I was going to phone the airline to ask about allowances I would not be giving my name...just in case it gets flagged in your record to tell them to measure/weigh your bags. You can usually find the information you need in the fine print of your ticket or on the airline's website.

 

European check-in counters will be more strict than American ones, but there again, I have never been challenged as long as my bags don't look heavy and I have carried a shopping bag aboard in addition to my carryon allowance many times. Just try to leave yourself with options, and put things like tripod heads that are heavy and won't be damaged by x-rays into your checked bags. I put my tripod into the bag as well, if it has a hard side.

 

Film is not a good option these days compared to digital. If you must take a film camera etc, above all don't put the film into your checked baggage. Take all new film out of the boxes and ask for hand inspection (but don't count on it). Normal ISO film can go through the carryon x-rays quite a few times before you have a problem. I put mine in a leadlined bag, they x-ray it and about 50% of the time they hand inspect it without additional x-rays. The other 50% they just wave me on. Any digital stuff can go through the x-rays just fine.

 

Be flexible, don't stress over this stuff, and get yourself an all-risks rider on your household insurance (good for international), at least for the duration of your trip, gives you peace of mind.

[jrh]

If you do take a film camera, buy and develop the film over here. I have yet to find a security official willing to do a hand search on film.

[brad_smith3]

Thank you everyone for the valuable information. Some good tips, Louise, I appreciate your

thoughts.

 

brad

[cybrpnk]

I took a trip through numerous European airports last summer. All my gear was in a locked Pelican case which I checked for all flights without incident. I hand-carried all the film in lead bags. Hand inspection is always granted by the TSA (in my experience at least). The Europeans generally won't do it, but the lead bags seemed to do the trick. The film went through 6 airport x-rays (in the lead bags), with no visible artifacts. For that trip I was bringing cold-weather gear, so the tripod could get packed in with lots of padded gear. Not sure how I will transport it for my next trip.