Brit's shooting in South Africa

F

finchy

Well-known member
Hey guys,

I have a few questions regarding shooting in South Africa and the logistics of us traveling from the UK to do this....

4 of us are hopefully heading out to Port Elizabeth in November time to shoot a drama/dance video (Vague description) and we are wondering if anyone can shed any light on the logistics of doing this....

We are hoping to ship out our camera's (5D and EX1r, w/ adapter etc possibly) from the UK, and the lighting, grip and sound will be provided out in SA.
What are the rules with shipping kit... (I have heard that you need special permits for taking equipment into certain countries etc...?)

We really just need some insight from people in the know about how to go about taking a production over-seas.

Any input would be fantastic!!

Many thanks


Tom
 
I have traveled between the USA and Europe for the past 12 years with production gear. I have always carried my cameras with me on the plane, and checked in the rest of the gear. I have a couple of large and very good hard cases for the production gear. This includes a lighting kit w/stands and tripods. I use a large Pelican case for my monitor, lighting fixtures, mics, batteries etc, and all the stands, tripods go into a 50" tall x 15" wide Fiberbilt cylinder case. Never had a problem with customs or any damage. I've been asked a few times, and I told them that I am a serious hobbyist.

I don't know how much equipment you or planning to take with you, but it may be as easy as just taking it with you, as I have done for many years. If you have more than one person traveling... split up the equipment.
 
Thanks a lot for your reply Tommy!
We are planning on traveling relatively light although my EX1 is in a large 1650 Peli case which would be too big to carry on...

If anyone has ad any experience with actually entering SA with kit and would like to share any do's and don'ts then that would be fantastic...!

Many thanks


Tom
 
Don't have any direct experience with SA in what you're looking for but you ought to look into obtaining a Carnet to travel on. It's essentially an internationally recognized bond issued in your home country that guarantees the equipment is for your use while in-country, that it will not be sold or disposed of while there and guarantees you're taking it out again when you leave. It can greatly speed clearance of customs on both entry and exit and serves in lieu of posting the cash bonds at the port of entry which some countries otherwise require, especially if you appear to be traveling with professional gear.
 
Steve House said:
Don't have any direct experience with SA in what you're looking for but you ought to look into obtaining a Carnet to travel on. It's essentially an internationally recognized bond issued in your home country that guarantees the equipment is for your use while in-country, that it will not be sold or disposed of while there and guarantees you're taking it out again when you leave. It can greatly speed clearance of customs on both entry and exit and serves in lieu of posting the cash bonds at the port of entry which some countries otherwise require, especially if you appear to be traveling with professional gear.
Click to expand...

A Carnet is not worth the time and cost (USA is $450). Especially with just an EX1 camera. Transporting and traveling with cameras, laptops etc in and out of most countries is the norm these days for tourists. Unless you have a suspicious amount of items, 99.9% of the time it will never be questioned.

Out of 27 trips to many European countries. We traveled only once with a Carnet because we had 10 cases full of equipment between 5 people.
 
I was concerned about a Carnet... But at the same time, was only taking an EX1 and a 5D (Stills camera) so we could just appear to be rich tourists haha

Has anybody else had any difficulty traveling without a Carnet, or have traveled trouble free without one..?

Cheers

Tom
 
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