Top Travel Camera Tips - 4/27/09

Protect your gear, and your pictures

Summer’s almost here, and that means one thing. To quote the immortal words of The Go-Go’s, “Vacation. All I ever wanted.” Alas, Belinda Carlisle probably wasn’t traveling with a camera. If she were, her lyrics surely would have contained more practical advice on protecting such sensitive equipment and important images. Traveling with a camera can be tricky, but these lyrics… er, tips… can help make it a bit easier.

• If you’re leaving on a jet plane, make sure you carry your camera with you. Don’t check it—especially if you’re packing film. High-power x-ray is used on every stowed piece of luggage, and it will fog anything in sight. If you’re packing digital, keep it with you for more practical purposes (such as never letting your camera bag out of your site) and don’t hesitate sending it through the x-ray. For film, the TSA allows it to be hand checked, but for slow-speed films, though, it’s probably not necessary. 


• Papa may have a brand new camera bag, but he might be better off to leave it at home. Nothing screams “expensive camera equipment in here” like a spiffy and spotless camera bag. Think subtle, and carry your camera in a bag that looks more like it might hold magazines and socks instead of the things that thieves just can’t wait to get their hands on.


• Back that stash up. Whatever’s in your kit, you’ve got to protect it from loss: batteries, CF cards, cameras, computers… If it can go wrong, it will—especially when you’re traveling. The more of a backup plan you have—for equipment and batteries and even your finished image files—the more likely you are to return home still in possession of all the great pictures you made. Utilize the Internet to upload essential images while you can, and cover every other base too—from running out of battery power to having the right international adapter to make sure you can plug in for a charge.


• You may like to think of yourself as Mother Nature’s son, but she’ll turn on you in a heartbeat. If you’ll be roughing it—camping in the elements or even traveling out of doors for an extended period—plan for protection from everything she can throw at you. Waterproof cases are a necessity for extreme environments, but plastic bags and redundant protection go a long way to keeping camera and computer gear warm and clean and dry. Fight condensation in cold climes by leaving your gear in a sealed bag to acclimate to room temperature when it’s time to come inside. (Don’t forget to plan for power issues too if you’re traveling in the outback. Solar chargers might be a necessity if you won’t have access to an electric grid for days at a time.)


• If you were born a ramblin’ man, you’ll have to think about practicalities to stay that way. Probably best that you travel light. Nobody likes to ramble when they’re laden with lenses and other heavy equipment. True, it’s a contradiction to travel light and bring backups, but that’s why traveling is such a challenge for photographers. Walk that line between redundancy and mobility with smart planning. If your 28-85 zoom will do the job, you can probably leave your 28, 50 and 85mm lenses at home. If a few extra CompactFlash cards will provide the backup you need, you can probably afford the added weight. Sacrifice a full-size tripod for a minipod, or sacrifice that minipod for a balled up jacket. Just remember that everything you pack into your bag before you set out is going to get a little bit heavier with every step you take.

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