travelling with gear

[geesbert]

How do you travel with your stuff? and waht do you do with it when you stay in a hotel while you're not at work? leaving the value of a decent car lying around in your hotelroom is probably not a good idea...

When i have to fly to an assignment my cameras and my lenses with my laptop stay with me in a peli roller case, the flashes get checked in, but then at the hotel i don't really know what to do...

and yes, i do hava a good insurance.

[Graham Mitchell]

Many hotels have a safe for valuables but nothing is 100% guaranteed. What kind of flash equipment do you travel with? It is quite easy to hire in most locations so you could perhaps rent that at the location rather than travelling with it.

[geesbert]

I use Profoto D4 and 7b, but it's tough to find that in Malta...

i guess the best thing is to put the most valuable stuff in a small bag and keep it in the hotel safe, when you're not able or wanting to go out eating and clubbing with a peli case

[NBP]

To be honest, you sound a little paranoid. (no offense   )
Nothing's 100% safe no matter how many measures you put in place. There will always be - very rarely, simple bad luck.

I just use common sense.

Unflashy plain black bags or peli’s, not flashing kit about, etc.
If I'm in a hotel I'll stick the back & body with a lens attached to it in the safe, if there is one.
Always empty the car of the important bits and make sure you pull the security cover over etc.

I think you have to realise that you are actually the only one who really knows the contents and value of what's inside your case, and that to anyone else it's just a back pack or a case  - Aside from other photographers, you have to remember that it won't even cross most peoples mind as to what the case/backpack is - that's if they even notice it at all.
I carry my core kit in a LowePro computrekker, and to anyone but us lot, it simply just looks like a black bag. Period.

In the incredibly rare event of the worst happening, which is genuinely out of your control - well, that's what proper insurance (kit and indemnity, re shoot scheduling etc) is for.

[thsinar]

I do absolutely agree. A hotel is actually and usually quite a safe place, unless you really take the lowest class. I do even sometimes let all the gear simply in my room, and never anything happened, although I would not recommend to do like me!

Once I had a simple ball-pen which had been stolen from my room, during make-up. I called the housekeeping responsible, explained him what happened and told him that I gave him and his team exactly 1/2 hour to have it back in the room. It took less than that to have somebody bringing it back to me.

So yes, use common sense and don't be too paranoiac.

Thierry

To be honest, you sound a little paranoid. (no offense   )
Nothing's 100% safe no matter how many measures you put in place. There will always be - very rarely, simple bad luck.

I just use common sense.
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[stevesanacore]

How do you travel with your stuff? and waht do you do with it when you stay in a hotel while you're not at work? leaving the value of a decent car lying around in your hotelroom is probably not a good idea...

When i have to fly to an assignment my cameras and my lenses with my laptop stay with me in a peli roller case, the flashes get checked in, but then at the hotel i don't really know what to do...

and yes, i do hava a good insurance.
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I travel with all my gear (many cameras, lenses and lights),  two to three hotels a month on average. All of it stays in hotel rooms. I usually keep the camera bags in mine or with my assistants rooms at night, where as the lighting and grip equipment get their own room.

Hotel rooms are usually very safe in good hotels with electronic locks. The plastic magnetic card type locks that modern hotels use, keep track of each key that goes in and out of the rooms.

The only things that sometimes wind up missing are ipods, and other small valuable items left laying around.

Be careful and smart and have insurance just to be sure.

[Nora151]

But don't choose just a cheap backpacker travel insurance. There are plenty of good insurance companies which provide pretty good coverage.

[Mort54]

How do you travel with your stuff? and waht do you do with it when you stay in a hotel while you're not at work? leaving the value of a decent car lying around in your hotelroom is probably not a good idea...

When i have to fly to an assignment my cameras and my lenses with my laptop stay with me in a peli roller case, the flashes get checked in, but then at the hotel i don't really know what to do...

and yes, i do hava a good insurance.

One simple thing you can do is simply put out the do not disturb sign when you are out of the room (don't laugh). That keeps the cleaning staff out of the room, and they're the most likely people to be tempted by something they see lying around.

Obviously, when you're not in the room, I think it's also a good idea to keep all the gear in their bags, out of sight. That doesn't mean someone can't snoop, but anything you do to make the casual thief's job a little harder will reduce the chances of your stuff being stolen. The more time it takes to find something, the more risk the casual thief will perceive, and the less likely they are to take a chance. This doesn't work with the pro theives, of course, but they usually don't have easy access to your room.

[Carl Glover]

I usually put the cases under a massive tangle of T-shirts and underwear in the bottom of a wardrobe - they don't want to go there!

If there's a safe; it's where I stash the back, bodies and lenses I couldn't exist without. It's all dictated by the size of the safe, they seem to come in a variety of dimensions. Everything else goes under the clothes.

Keeping your gear out of sight is probably the simplest approach.

[James R Russell]

I usually put the cases under a massive tangle of T-shirts and underwear in the bottom of a wardrobe - they don't want to go there!

If there's a safe; it's where I stash the back, bodies and lenses I couldn't exist without. It's all dictated by the size of the safe, they seem to come in a variety of dimensions. Everything else goes under the clothes.

Keeping your gear out of sight is probably the simplest approach.
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It all depends on where you are traveling, what level of hotel you are staying in and how careful you are.

In Japan there is little to no problem, in cities/countries that cater to tourists the problems increase.

One trick I used for years was to run chargers into each case and a sign on each case that said Warning High Voltage, Do Not Touch and had that in 3 languages.

The best way is to just be aware.  Most casual theives don't know that that digital back is worth 20x the cost of a camera body, or the price of a profoto pack or what to do with it if they did.

What they usually look for is I-pods, cash, small cameras likes dslrs, things that are easy to recognize and sell.

Since we mostly do large production and book out a lot of rooms, by the time we check in we have built some realtionship with the hotel which helps with special requests like locked storage for gear.

There is no easy or absolute for moving, storing and securing equipment.

JR

[rainer_v]

i am more afraid from loosing luggage in the plane, cause this happened already twice to me,- forunately not with photo equipement in the cases.

so i put my mf camera together with most lenses and the backs in a hand luggage and take the laptop together with chargers and some other important things in a second bag.
it did not happen to me yet that these bags were rejected, but i am not able to reduce the weight of the camera bag under 10 kg although the size fits the maximum allowed,- but the second bag has also its 6 or 7 kg so together i enter the planes with app. 16kg hand bags.
cause 1 piece with 6kg is legal only in the plane i am always little bit afraid that i will be rejected me with my hand luggages.


do you guys put your cameras in the normal luggages?

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I will put a tripod in regular luggage, but nothing else.

I use Michael's technique of wearing a photographer's vest with many pockets. I stuff excess lenses, etc., in the vest, which I take off to send through the xray machine, separately from my camera bag. As soon as you are through the checkpoint, you can stuff the lenses back in the case.

Works for me.

[marcwilson]

Never in normal luggage...except for some (not camera or lenses) gear in a peli case...but I always make sure my body/(back)/one lens has a strap attached and travel with a jacket with deep pockets so if need be the main gear can go around my neck and other lenses etc in my pockets.

This way, even if the one bag could not go on for some reason, the main gear is good to go with me!

[203]

Has anyone had luck with shipping equipment to the location in advance?

[godtfred]

Pack digital bits in plastic bags that are sealed from the outside air. In particular if you are not carrying the digital cameras inside the aircraft cabin, but send it in the cargo hold (depends on the aircraft.)

When you get to the hotel, unpack the cameras from the cases, but leave the plastic on until they reach room temperature.

I have seen two cases of condensation inside the glass that covers camera sensors, near impossible to get rid of.

(I have no idea if this works or not... I have just seen the sensors/images from the two cameras with the condensation trapped inside, and it seems the likely solution.)

[Shedaoshai]

* powerpacks (7a, 7b, D4, A4, Grafit) and flashheads into Tenba Aircases (check-in baggage)
* additional reflectors etc. into hardcases (check-in baggage)
* camera and lenses into peli case (onboard carry)

it's all locked within the hotelroom, so a thief must brake the cases or getaway with the whole case

[Ken Bennett]

The new Think Tank Photo roller cases have integrated locks in their zippers, and cable locks that will go around a desk, bed frame, or even the toilet (as a last resort).

[MarkKay]

I travel all the time and bring various amounts of gear with me.  I do alot of traveling that is work related and then there is vacation. I have not taken trips with the sole reason of doing photography.  Sometimes if i am going to an interesting place, I take my F64 backpack full of gear.  I have everything insured and just take my chances. Sometimes if i just take my 35mm DSLR and lenses, I hide them within in my clothes.  If i have my backpack I just leave it out and try to make sure it is closed so as not to advertise.  

I am less worried about the hotel staff stealing than i am about mistakes.  I always make sure my door is slammed locked when I leave.  Two weeks ago,I was staying at a hotel and  the housecleaners had left my door ajar (I had noticed the door was a little harder to lock shut than it should have been), which I do not believe was to be deliberate. I had my Hasselblad and 1DsmIII in there along with lots of goodies.