Flying with camera gear doesn’t have to be hard. Whether you’re a professional photographer traveling for a job or a hobbyist traveling home to see the family over the holidays, these tips can make your next trip fly by with ease.
I estimate I flew over 25,000 miles for photography jobs last year alone, so when I saw this terrific video by Joe Edelman, I knew I just had to write an article about it. The first part of the video has some good advice concerning how to pack to fly with your gear. Like Edelman, I prefer to have my cameras and lenses in a carryon backpack. For me, I put this under the seat in front of me. I like the Canon Delux 200 EG and have been using it for years. It’s very inexpensive, carries two Nikon D500s, a 70-200mm, 24-70mm, 10mm, MacBook Pro, two hard drives, two speed lights, remotes, and lots of little things like card holders, AA batteries, charges, camera batteries, and my iPad. By carrying my gear in a backpack, I can have both hands free.
While the packing tips in the video are great, I think the best part of the video is where Edelman gives his tips for traveling. Traveling can be tiring and stressful at times, so anything I can learn to make it a little more comfortable and more enjoyable, I’m all in for. I’ve already started using one of Edelman’s tips for a travel app. My 2019 travel season begins the first weekend in January, and I’m honestly looking forward to using some newly gained knowledge.
That pack looks nice but if I put my Nikon gear in one, they'd probably go on strike! ;-)
Nice to know someone is more organised..........then the Government.
Great advice. I have been known to take the piss when it come to carry on bag weight. I always carry the closing plate for my phase one digital back just in case I need to shove the back in my jacket pocket... On a trip back from Australia recently I had a close call where they were weighing all hand luggage. Standing inline panicking and prepping for my bag to be checked in... my hand luggage was 16kg :-D so I went in blag mode saying it had my laptop and lithium batteries... the agent didn't care, I think he was having a bad day and just wanted to go home... and I got away with it.. I always get a bit of stress when checking in...
Matt Granger's tip is to wear a jacket/vest with lots of pockets. If somebody says your carry on is overweight, start popping lenses, etc into your jacket pockets.
I always enjoy Joe's videos. In chatting with him in the past he always provided me with good, no bs info. Actually one of the better photography teachers on Youtube without all the drama that others like to stir up for clicks and views.
Well…the first 7 min of the video is all about gear (which looks more like advertising); it is only on 7th minute that he starts talking about tips, and these are very obvious and generic ones.
A Canon bag full of Nikon gear... talk about irony!