Traveling with a digital camera

[CTurtle]

I will be leaving tomorrow for vacation & need to know how to handle my digital camera at the airport. I plan on putting it (& my strobe light) in my carry-on bag, but just need to know...

1)Should I take the batteries & card reader out of the camera?
2)Is it okay to put everything through the security xray machine or should I have them manually inspect it?

Any input would be appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Cindy
:sunnyday:

 

[raxafarian]

I've had no problem sending it all thru the x-ray machine. I leave the batteries and CF card in... also have spare batteries and cards in the bag. They see that stuff all the time... the thing that usually makes 'em look twice (or 3, 4, 5x) is regulators.

 

[miked]

Hi Cindy,
In August, I took my first trip with my digital camera gear. I had it all in the carry-on,along with regulator, computer, etc. and everything went fine. The bag went through the "regular" carry-on security without problems, although one operator asked me if the bag contained scuba gear. The batteries were in place, and I had a card in the camera,and several spares in the bag.
Coming home,to be safe, (not sure if it was necessary), I did hand the "full" media cards to the agent for manual inspection.
If you are going through an airport that has some of the newer, more powerful(?) bag scanners, you might want to checkyour camera's manufacturers website for the latest info.
Another tip I had gotten from a "more experienced with digital" traveller was to not keep the housing tightly closed. Evidently,there is a chance of the pressure differentials creating a hard to open situation. [ I don't know if the logic is valid, but this guy has been correct on other things,and there is really no harm if he is wrong].
Hope this has been helpful.
Enjoy your trip,
Mike

 

[CTurtle]

I'm taking an uw photography class while in the Cayman's & hope to have some wonderful pictures to post when I get back. I didn't want to come home only to find out that all the pictures had "disappeared"!
Never thought about carrying on the regulator though..


Cindy
:tree:

 

[uwdigital]

Hi C turtle,

1. Are you travelling with a complete setup i.e. housing, tray, arm and strobe? If so, you might want to consider getting a pelican case for your equipment instead of a carry on bag. The Peli case will protect your valuable equipment from getting damaged. You can also use it to transport your equipment from your hotel room to the boat and vice versa.

It's okay to leave the camera inside the housing but make sure to take the o-ring out and pull the control dial cap out. Speaking of o-ring, I hope you have an extra one handy just in case Also, you could leave the batteries inside the camera but put your spare batteries in your check-in luggage. I got stopped one time in Mo Bay Airport for a battery that I had in my Peli case.

Hope this helps and good luck!!!

 

[CTurtle]

I'm traveling with the whole setup!! I've got a hard case that I got when I bought the camera & a soft case when I bought the strobe. Hadn't thought about the extra batteries, but I'll put all of them in the check-in bags (sure don't want any more hassles at the airport than necessary)!

Cindy

 

[cmdasia]

re travelling with the camera in the housing - as others have said you can do it so long as you take out the Oring or place a spacer (I use a bit of foam) in the back to ensure the housing does not close.

The reason you have to do this is due to the pressure change in the aircraft - a few weeks ago I ignored this advice and spent 20 minutes trying to prise the back of my housing open - I had to use a screwdriver in the end and have the marks on my housing to prove it.

 

[Finesse]

Like it or not .....well at least they did with us.

We had the Housing and Regulators/computers in the carry on and I got stopped and held in Newark and in L.A.

The regulators stirred interest on the east coast ...... and the Housing caused the stir on the west.......luggage was swab tested .... asked for my shoes..and then I had to "step away" as they inspected the bag. They were not to crazy about the tray and the arms , and they discussed the housing for a bit , as it was all apart, but it all worked out.

Like raxafarian says no problems with batteries or card (with or without pics) through the x ray. If you’re worried about the cards take them out and have them passed around the xray.

 

[Cecil]

The one warning I've heard is do not put any memory cards in your checked luggage. They use a much higher power x-ray on checked luggage and this can frap a memory card.

 

[reefrat]

A few months ago I went through the security at Chicago airport and the scanners completely wiped my 256 memory card clean, it was in the camera at the time.
Dosen't appear to be a problem outside of the states.