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Post by ppaaoolloo on Apr 30, 2009 5:54:21 GMT
Last week was my first time I've brought my gear to Leyte and it was my first time to be charged overweight of 10kg!  Now I would like to ask how you all travel with your gear? What's your packing/traveling strategy? |
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Post by Edu Lorenzo Jr on Apr 30, 2009 8:12:38 GMT
well.. you can start by reducing the "other" stuff that are not needed, like the ones you can buy at a mini-mart. soap, shampoo etc. Then reduce the carry on baggage. I do my best to carry my camera and lens with me, I can't get myself to trust airline baggage handling. And oh yeah, I have only a 300mm  |
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Post by Romy Ocon on Apr 30, 2009 9:03:11 GMT
When taking domestic flights, the longest I can carry is my 500 f4 in a backpack, plus a couple of bodies. The rest of my smaller lenses and my laptop are in another backpack carried by my birding buddy. The chargers, tripod and head all go into check-in luggage.
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Post by ppaaoolloo on Apr 30, 2009 23:40:54 GMT
Thanks for the tips! ;D Now have you guys tried and were successful in hand carrying your super teles? If so what lens was it and what bag did you use?
The 800's case is 3 inches too big for PAL economy class and 3kg too heavy at a combined weight of 10kg. I sometimes wonder why the case is heavier than the lens. I wish Lowepro made a lens bag that fit into PAL carry-on standards that weighed only 1.5kg
On my trip back I left the tripod, clothes and toiletry at home and just packed the small bodies and lenses into the backpack while the super tele + camera/computer wires are checked in. I came in underweight by 1kg. ;D
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Post by Romy Ocon on May 1, 2009 0:29:47 GMT
Easy.... check in the case and hand carry the lens (with strap, front and rear caps). You can place it on your lap for short domestic flights. Once you get your check-in luggage at your destination, put the lens back in its case. The problem with the Sigmonster, 800 IS and 600 f4 IS is that they're too big and will exceed legal hand carry dimensions/weights in most domestic flights when they're put in cases/padded bags. You can check in these big boys if you have a bullet-proof Pelican case which is airtight and with a pressure regulator. I wouldn't expose a finely tuned and sensitive optical instrument in its original case to rough baggage handling and to temperature/pressure extremes of unpressurized cargo hold. Thanks for the tips! ;D Now have you guys tried and were successful in hand carrying your super teles? If so what lens was it and what bag did you use? The 800's case is 3 inches too big for PAL economy class and 3kg too heavy at a combined weight of 10kg. I sometimes wonder why the case is heavier than the lens. I wish Lowepro made a lens bag that fit into PAL carry-on standards that weighed only 1.5kg On my trip back I left the tripod, clothes and toiletry at home and just packed the small bodies and lenses into the backpack while the super tele + camera/computer wires are checked in. I came in underweight by 1kg. ;D |
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Post by ppaaoolloo on May 1, 2009 1:05:31 GMT
Good point! Many thanks! ;D Easy.... check in the case and hand carry the lens (with strap, front and rear caps). You can place it on your lap for short domestic flights. Once you get your check-in luggage at your destination, put the lens back in its case. The problem with the Sigmonster, 800 IS and 600 f4 IS is that they're too big and will exceed legal hand carry dimensions/weights in most domestic flights when they're put in cases/padded bags. You can check in these big boys if you have a bullet-proof Pelican case which is airtight and with a pressure regulator. I wouldn't expose a finely tuned and sensitive optical instrument in its original case to rough baggage handling and to temperature/pressure extremes of unpressurized cargo hold. Thanks for the tips! ;D Now have you guys tried and were successful in hand carrying your super teles? If so what lens was it and what bag did you use? The 800's case is 3 inches too big for PAL economy class and 3kg too heavy at a combined weight of 10kg. I sometimes wonder why the case is heavier than the lens. I wish Lowepro made a lens bag that fit into PAL carry-on standards that weighed only 1.5kg On my trip back I left the tripod, clothes and toiletry at home and just packed the small bodies and lenses into the backpack while the super tele + camera/computer wires are checked in. I came in underweight by 1kg. ;D |
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Post by Neon Rosell II on May 1, 2009 12:07:55 GMT
Thanks for the tips! ;D Now have you guys tried and were successful in hand carrying your super teles? If so what lens was it and what bag did you use? The 800's case is 3 inches too big for PAL economy class and 3kg too heavy at a combined weight of 10kg. I sometimes wonder why the case is heavier than the lens. I wish Lowepro made a lens bag that fit into PAL carry-on standards that weighed only 1.5kg On my trip back I left the tripod, clothes and toiletry at home and just packed the small bodies and lenses into the backpack while the super tele + camera/computer wires are checked in. I came in underweight by 1kg. ;D When I went to Palawan last time, December 2008 I brought along the 600mm inside a Lowepro Trecker 600 AW and hand carried it. The bag went inside the overhead compartment on an A320 plane. Don't know whether it will fit in the 737 overhead bin. I wore a vest that I was able to carry a backup body and extra lenses. The tripod went inside my divers bag which has another camera bag inside, this bag was checked in. I think the 600 is heavier than the 800 so depending on the plane it is possible to put the bag in the overhead compartment. In case they did not allow the bag to be hand carried I was ready to take the lens with a mounted camera out of the bag, sling it on my neck and hand carry it. ;D |
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Post by ppaaoolloo on May 1, 2009 13:01:21 GMT
No kidding! They actually allowed the 600AW as handcarry? Have you done this again after the Palawan trip? I will try this with the 600AW II next time I fly. If ever they decide not to accept the 600AW II I hope they'll allow me to carry the lens without bag.  When I went to Palawan last time, December 2008 I brought along the 600mm inside a Lowepro Trecker 600 AW and hand carried it. The bag went inside the overhead compartment on an A320 plane. Don't know whether it will fit in the 737 overhead bin. I wore a vest that I was able to carry a backup body and extra lenses. The tripod went inside my divers bag which has another camera bag inside, this bag was checked in. I think the 600 is heavier than the 800 so depending on the plane it is possible to put the bag in the overhead compartment. In case they did not allow the bag to be hand carried I was ready to take the lens with a mounted camera out of the bag, sling it on my neck and hand carry it. ;D |
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Post by Neon Rosell II on May 2, 2009 1:44:38 GMT
No kidding! They actually allowed the 600AW as handcarry? Have you done this again after the Palawan trip? I will try this with the 600AW II next time I fly. If ever they decide not to accept the 600AW II I hope they'll allow me to carry the lens without bag. Nope, just this once to try if I can bring the lens on an airplane around the country. ;D Yes, as long as you're carrying one piece they won't notice, most of the local travelers don't have that much to carry unlike the international ones where sometimes I don't have any more space for my things to go in the overhead compartments.  |
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Post by Ivan Sarenas on May 2, 2009 13:17:21 GMT
I have traveled a lot in the past few months with the 500 f4 L in a backpack to be brought as a carry-on, with a laptop in its padded compartment. When accosted about the weight of my handcarried, I always show the contents and tell them that the counter refuses to be held accountable for this piece of sensitive equipment (which is true). This set-up will fit in most overhead bins but not those of the turboprops. For those, you will have to entrust it with the crew for safekeeping near their seats or special cargo bins.
With PAL. I was once asked to just carry my lens on my lap and not put it overhead as they have had lawsuits with instances of falling baggage.
The total weight of my carry-on is close to 12 kilos so I mostly never incur excess baggage charges.
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Post by ppaaoolloo on Sept 20, 2009 19:19:10 GMT
Hate pushing up old topics but is there an authority outside check in counter that can OK the bag before check in? A bit of a hassle to repack.  |
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Post by JP Cariño on Sept 22, 2009 1:49:20 GMT
what i always do is that i pack everything (500mm, 70-200mm, D300, tc's and notebook) into my tamrac expedition and bring it as carry on. if they ask me to weigh in my hand carry i always give them the line that " im carrying insured photographic equipment and its only insured as carry on if i check it in are you willing to take responsibility for anything that happens to it?" that usually does the job already but if not i take out the lens strap of the 500 and put it on and carry the lens around my shoulders. i recently ordered the kiboko bag from www.guragear.com which i hope would make things easier as it is big ( can take 2 600mm lenses) and is accepted as carry with most airlines. hth |
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Post by ppaaoolloo on Sept 22, 2009 4:43:54 GMT
Greetings from Mactan. I talked to the check in counter person and he said the 5-inch and 1kg excess is OK so long as I mention I am carrying camera gear. So I can now retire the Canon Lens Case.  The Canon Lens Case on the other hand cannot be hand carried. ;D I like the Gura Gear Kiboko and asked Andy Biggs why they didn't push the dimensions to US-standard 45-inches and he says some European airlines are more strict hence the conservative construction. But in light of the answer I was given I may not go for it unless I can sell my other camera backpacks and my priority's a 18kg-capacity tripod. It isn't published on the website but the interior dimension is the following. Internal Dimensions: 7” D x 13” W x 19” H 16.5 x 33 x 48 cm But my concern with the Kiboko is that it needs at least another inch of length as the 800 is a lengthier than the 600. If I had to do it all over again I'd go with the Gura Gear. Video review wildnaturephoto.com/2009/09/08/hands-on-with-the-kiboko-photo-backpack-by-gura-gear/ |
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The Canon Lens Case on the other hand cannot be hand carried. ;D