C300: travel time

[New_Zealand]

this been talk about awhile back but now we are in a different world with travel I wanted to see what others do? I wonder about getting a bigger case that will carry my camera along with three lenses and all the attachments all in one case but the issue is it will have to go as check baggage. My gear is much bigger then it was a year ago where I could carry the lens and camera as carry on.

 

[New_Zealand]

I do have the C300mkii Jason case but maybe a over shoulder case that could carry my laptop and lenses? Lens are big and heavy. 10lb just for one lens.

 

[Run&Gun]

Always hand carry your camera/expensive glass when flying, whenever possible. I don't trust the luggage monkeys. Your case/bag is just another piece of luggage full of clothes to them.

If it's within a seven or eight hour drive, I will drive instead of fly. Much easier all around, especially when dealing with gear. Another option, if feasible, good shipping cases and shipping your equipment with a dedicated shipping company ahead of you by a few days to your destination. This was always my preferred method when having to fly. Dealing with gear at the airport and on a plane is a form of torture. Of course, flying on an American airline is a special form of torture in and of itself. F*****g Greyhound buses in the sky. But with more people and less comfortable seats.

 

[puredrifting]

I second Run & Gun. NEVER check cameras or lenses as long as you have a choice. That's just asking for problems with theft, damage, etc.
Do whatever you have to to hand carry your camera and keep it under your control.

 

[khanhamza]

If it's within a seven or eight hour drive, I will drive instead of fly. Much easier all around, especially when dealing with gear. Another option, if feasible, good shipping cases and shipping your equipment with a dedicated shipping company ahead of you by a few days to your destination. Always hand carry your camera/expensive glass when flying, whenever possible. I don't trust the luggage monkeys. Your case/bag is just another piece of luggage full of clothes to them.Thank You!

 

[Clermond]

this been talk about awhile back but now we are in a different world with travel I wanted to see what others do? I wonder about getting a bigger case that will carry my camera along with three lenses and all the attachments all in one case but the issue is it will have to go as check baggage. My gear is much bigger then it was a year ago where I could carry the lens and camera as carry on.

what camera and lenses are you talking about?

If you are alone because of budget and maybe COVID limitations and you cannot bring an assistant here's what I would do. Take the camera and the most expensive lens in cabin luggage. For the two others get cheaper lenses and put them with many many layers of bubble wrap in your suitcase. And here's something important: get a sturdy and cheap looking suitcase. I have two hard shell Samsonites from the 90s. Rocksolid but cheap looking. Nobody would suspect sth of worth in them. You can spot them immediately on the luggage belt and in the crowd. You will need some self-confidence though because you will look like a refugee They only have two wheels which isn't too comfortable. That worked out very well for many years.




I like the idea of driving by car too and here in Europe in current COVID times it's definitely the safer way. There are some assignments when a flight makes most sense also in a 7hrs car drive reach. For example I had an interview and got an early morning flight and a late flight back and could do the job within one day.

If Zeiss master primes or Cookes are mandatory for your job I'd insist on an assistant and share the gear for cabin luggage.
my 2cts

 

[stewhem]

I have the very same case, Clermond! Tough as nails and totally nondescript.

Some good advice above but one thing you have to watch: hand luggage is getting weighed far more than just a couple of years ago. Most carry on limits are about 7kg which soon gets used.

 

[Clermond]

I have the very same case, Clermond! Tough as nails and totally nondescript.

Some good advice above but one thing you have to watch: hand luggage is getting weighed far more than just a couple of years ago. Most carry on limits are about 7kg which soon gets used.

it's my experience too that hand luggage gets weight very often. The standard limit is 8kg mostly.

1st: get a light cabin luggage bag. Avoid a case with wheels as they add 2kg and more. Think Thank Airport Accelerator serves me for many years.

2nd: get a backpack (like TTAA) and put it on your back. Up to now I never got asked to put it off for weighing. I guess they just overlook it at checkin. You're allowed to have cabin luggage and a bag for documents. If they weigh your cabin baggage and it's over the limit you need one piece that brings it under the limit which you can put in the document bag. I use one of these shoulder bag from freitag,ch made of used truck tarps.

(Did I ever mention that I never understood why the Pelis are so popular? The are heavy. They don't have much space neither. Maybe it's good to know if your plane crashes into the ocean the camera will survive?)

 

[New_Zealand]

the camera is the C300mkii and has its own Jason Case. The lenses are Canon 14.5-60mm, Canon 15.5-47mm and Canon 18-80mm Servo. I was going to have two Jason Case made for the lenses but in reality I would never be able to walk on the plane with three pelican cases. so my thinking had to switch to some how having a laptop type looking bag that the lenses can lay in so it can look like just a personal laptop bag. Most airlines will give you one carry-on and one personal bag. Our group is spread all over so unfortunately for me I'm a lone traveler to the destination. The distance I travel can't be done in a car but wish I could drive which would be much nicer.

 

[Clermond]

ok, I wouldn't put these lenses in a case for check-in. I find your challenge hard to solve when your travelling alone. These lenses alone are over cabin luggage weight limit. I can't imagine they fit into a laptop bag.


I never shot with the Canon cine zooms. I there a reason to bring the 15.5-47mm additionally to the 14.5-60mm?

 

[digitalinnovations]

Always hand carry your camera/expensive glass when flying, whenever possible. I don't trust the luggage monkeys. Your case/bag is just another piece of luggage full of clothes to them.

If it's within a seven or eight hour drive, I will drive instead of fly. Much easier all around, especially when dealing with gear.

Run&Gun, in my opinion, nailed this all around. I’ve found myself driving more and more; when time allows of course. So much so, that I finally invested in a grip van instead of the trailer setup I’ve been running for many, many years. The van has just made it so much easier to park in cities, etc.

Another option, if feasible, good shipping cases and shipping your equipment with a dedicated shipping company ahead of you by a few days to your destination. This was always my preferred method when having to fly.

I am a big fan of this as well! I have an almost obnoxiously-large Pelican case that I load with various grip and support gear (that is NOT fragile) and will ship it directly to either my hotel or the location. Just confirm with hotel and/or location ahead of time to see if there are any specific instructions you need to follow. Then all I fly with are the camera bodies and lenses.

If you have proper packaging, you could ship the lenses and/or camera bodies as well - most of us received these items via shipment so it can be done. You would just, obviously, want to use copious amounts of foam / bubble-wrap, mark the package as fragile and insure them appropriately.

I would tend to want to have at least a basic shooting package flying with me so, worst case, I would have a camera, lens, audio and media. It sounds like you are traveling with several large lenses so you could carry on one and ship the rest.

Dealing with gear at the airport and on a plane is a form of torture.

This is one of the truest statements ever made! I will do everything in my power to avoid hauling multiple gear cases through an airport, loading them in and out of taxis, etc.

 

[Run&Gun]

the camera is the C300mkii and has its own Jason Case. The lenses are Canon 14.5-60mm, Canon 15.5-47mm and Canon 18-80mm Servo. I was going to have two Jason Case made for the lenses but in reality I would never be able to walk on the plane with three pelican cases. so my thinking had to switch to some how having a laptop type looking bag that the lenses can lay in so it can look like just a personal laptop bag. Most airlines will give you one carry-on and one personal bag. Our group is spread all over so unfortunately for me I'm a lone traveler to the destination. The distance I travel can't be done in a car but wish I could drive which would be much nicer.

I would ditch one of the wide Canon’s. Too similar to waste space/weight carrying both of them on a plane by yourself. The 14.5 is the “better” lens, but it’s a beast. Twice as heavy as the 15.5 and almost three times as long. Honestly, all of those lenses are similar.

Removing speed and quality from the equation, ditch both the 14.5 and 15.5 and take a wide prime to cover the back-end that the 18-80 can’t, for things like wide scenics and establishing shots. Or if it was me, the 17-120 and a wide prime or wide short zoom like the Tokina Cine 11-20.

 

[New_Zealand]

actually I would bring the 14.5 and leave the other two lens home. I bought the 18-80mm servo first, price not so bad ($3999) and small enough to handheld. When Canon decided to drop the price of the 15.5 by $15k I decide this would be a great opportunity to pick up that lens. Selling the 18-80mm I would lose too much so it stayed in the bag. Then came the deal of the life time on the 14.5 lens which I couldn't past up. I shoot wide but very, very seldom telephoto. I had the Canon 70-200mm 2.8 and also the Sigma Cine 50-100mm T2 and only used those lens a few times over the past four years. If I knew that the 14.5 was heading my way I would have not gotten the other two lens. The producer requested that I bring all the lenses. as she puts it "you never know if you are going to need them and they don't do wonders sitting on your office shelf collecting dust" so here I am trying to figure out the best way to drag the lens with me. But as I write this I think more and more that I should only worry about bringing the 14.5 which I call the 'Parasite' Lens due to it size. I like the visual this lens gives me and I'm slowlyyyyyyy getting use to putting it onto the camera.

 

[rob norton]

The producer requested that I bring all the lenses. as she puts it "you never know if you are going to need them and they don't do wonders sitting on your office shelf collecting dust" so here I am trying to figure out the best way to drag the lens with me. But as I write this I think more and more that I should only worry about bringing the 14.5 which I call the 'Parasite' Lens due to it size. I like the visual this lens gives me and I'm slowlyyyyyyy getting use to putting it onto the camera.

The irony is that the lens sitting on the shelf could actually work wonders by letting you move more efficiently.

Even if (or maybe especially if) it's a documentary some self-imposed limits can improve other areas of the project.

 

[jb.]

Ditch the Pelican style hard cases with bespoke foam unless you’re shipping the gear. They’re just too space and weight inefficient. I travel my C300 MkIII (and C200 and C300 Mk2 previously) and B-Cams with lenses in a smallish ThinkTank roller. I break the cam down completely, wrap most of it and the lenses in Domke padded wraps, and pack them TIGHTLY in the roller. It’s probably over cabin weight, but unless you’re struggling with it I’ve never been weighed for carry on. This goes in the overhead... but in a pinch, it can fit under the seat.

Other essentials go in my laptop bag which goes under the seat.

Big stuff like sticks and lights gets checked in a series of hard and semi-hard cases.

 

[New_Zealand]

Ditch the Pelican style hard cases with bespoke foam unless you’re shipping the gear. They’re just too space and weight inefficient. I travel my C300 MkIII (and C200 and C300 Mk2 previously) and B-Cams with lenses in a smallish ThinkTank roller. I break the cam down completely, wrap most of it and the lenses in Domke padded wraps, and pack them TIGHTLY in the roller. It’s probably over cabin weight, but unless you’re struggling with it I’ve never been weighed for carry on. This goes in the overhead... but in a pinch, it can fit under the seat.

Other essentials go in my laptop bag which goes under the seat.

Big stuff like sticks and lights gets checked in a series of hard and semi-hard cases.

The c300 mkii Pelican hard case is a bit too heavy and due to it design I can only carry what the cuts are made for. I just ordered the ThinkTank case. I think I will be able to get my main lens 14.5mm, C300 mkii, and some of my other gear into that one case to bring onto the plane. I'm thinking of getting the Retrospective as my personal carry on item and that one can carry two of my lenses.

 

[Clermond]

Ditch the Pelican style hard cases with bespoke foam unless you’re shipping the gear. They’re just too space and weight inefficient. I travel my C300 MkIII (and C200 and C300 Mk2 previously) and B-Cams with lenses in a smallish ThinkTank roller. I break the cam down completely, wrap most of it and the lenses in Domke padded wraps, and pack them TIGHTLY in the roller. It’s probably over cabin weight, but unless you’re struggling with it I’ve never been weighed for carry on. This goes in the overhead... but in a pinch, it can fit under the seat.

Other essentials go in my laptop bag which goes under the seat.

Big stuff like sticks and lights gets checked in a series of hard and semi-hard cases.

Have in mind that the Think Tank roller has 2kg more than the backpack version just because of the wheel construction.

 

[jb.]

Have in mind that the Think Tank roller has 2kg more than the backpack version just because of the wheel construction.

It depends on which backpack and which roller, but I'll gladly roll 2kg more to not have to carry this stuff on my back.

 

[Clermond]

It depends on which backpack and which roller, but I'll gladly roll 2kg more to not have to carry this stuff on my back.

off course the biggest that fits international cabin luggage size
Airport Accelerator 35,6 x 52,1 x 22,9 cm (BxHxT) ca. 2,2 – 2,5
vs
Airport International V3.0 35,6 x 53,3 x 20,3 cm (BxHxT) 4,4-5,2 kg

as long as you don't get weighed and don't have to checking-in your bag it's all good.
Count yourself lucky if that never happened to you. I never would go over 10kgs
and the roller needs already 40%. Just my 2cts from experience

 

[jb.]

I use the Airport Advantage. I generally don’t travel internationally, but I do often end up on commuter jets and it’s sized to fit In their tiny bins. It’s only 2.7kg. I can easily load it well past 35 lbs., so I really don’t need more space.

I’ve never had my carry on weighed. As long as you’re not struggling with it, no one cares. The Advantage also has the advantage (ha ha) of fitting neatly under a standard seat in a pinch.

I also gut the bag and use Domke wraps. It fits more and weighs less.

After doing a year of travel using a Streetwalker Hard Drive backpack, my back is MUCH happier putting the heavy stuff in a roller. Especially since ALL batteries have to be carried on.