Transporting a 500 f4 (1 Viewer)

[Tully]

How do you users of large lenses such as the 500f4 carry your lenses with other equipment. Can you get it into anything which will carry other stuff such as bodies and still travel as carry on handluggage for air travel

 

[Clive Watson]

I had a soft canvas bag made by Wildlife Watching Supplies. The camera case or one of those Lowepro-style rucksacks are too big (I've got a 600mm, so the rucksack is a large size one). I pad it out with jumpers etc for some protection, but the main protection is never let it out of your sight! Camera bodies go into coat pockets which can be awkward but better than putting them in the hold. You could carry a smaller shoulder bag with bodies in as well but be warned that many carriers still have this ridiculous 1 item of hand luggage rule.

I once heard that a well-known wildlife photographer carries his prime through airports in a normal plastic carrier bag! As long as you keep an eye on it, it shouldn't need huge amounts of protection but I'd prefer to use a bit more than that!

 

[Chris Galvin]

Tully,

I carry mine in a LowePro Computer Trekker AW. The dimensions of which are legal for cabin baggage. In my bag as well as the 500/4 I have a 70-200/2.8, a 17-40/4 three TCs a 550 EX speedlite a 1DMK2N with two spare batteries and 40D with Grip. In the rear laptop compartment I carry my laptop too and a portable USB hard drive. The whole bag weighs in at more that 17 Kilos. The key is to not let the check in staff weigh your bag. With the no frills airlines they actively encourage you not to have hold luggage and place no weight restriction on your cabin baggage as long as it fits their reqd dimensions. I have not had a problem at all when flying abroad with this bag.

 

[vkalia]

When I travel with my 500, I also usually take a shorter tele (300/4, 400/5.6 or 100-400, depending on what I am doing), 2 bodies, 2TCs and a flash.

I used to pack it all in a Lowepro Photo Trekker, which - barring its weight - is one of the nicest, most robust bags in which to carry fragile camera gear. However, it is quite heavy and visually quite large as well, and has been targeted for weighing a few times just because of its size.

So now I have switched to a Think Tank Airport Ultralite. It is quite a bit smaller, but less padded and square shaped, so I can fit everything listed above - except 1 body - in it. The extra body, maybe a wideangle lens and my general travel paraphernalia (media player, binos, Macbook) all go into a small laptop-style bag or a National Geographic shoulder bag (my man-purse, as my wife has dubbed it).

Anything which is not fragile - battery, chargers, cables, etc. gets put in check-in, along with tripods, heads, etc.

As of right now, this is the most optimal travel - as in flying - setup for wildlife photography that I have found. The biggest advantage of the Ultralite is that it is so small... no one gives it a second glance. And the bag (or bags) dont contribute much to the overall weight.

My only complaint about the TT is that it doesnt have locking clips to hold the opening flap in place in case the zipper fails or isnt properly closed. I solved that by getting a simple locking cam-band at a travel shop - after packing, this wraps around the bag so that even if the zip fails, my gear doesnt come crashing out.

Vandit

 

[vkalia]

Another thing - if you are going to be significantly over the limit, it is best to carry a photo vest and stuff as much as possible into the pockets in order to bring the weight down.

A well-known wildlife photographer actually carries a 600/4 and a 300/2.8 in his vests (!!!). I dont know about that, but certainly, a body and a lens can easily fit in the pockets and can be replaced later. Certainly, books, ipods, etc. all get stuffed in pockets where they dont count towards the weight limit. It can make a 2-3kg swing, which, combined with the almost 3kg weight saving in the bag, is a HUGE difference.

Vandit

 

[Overread]

a camera round your neck with a lens on it can also sneak through sometimes

 

[Clive Watson]

Another thing - if you are going to be significantly over the limit, it is best to carry a photo vest and stuff as much as possible into the pockets in order to bring the weight down.

A well-known wildlife photographer actually carries a 600/4 and a 300/2.8 in his vests (!!!). I dont know about that, but certainly, a body and a lens can easily fit in the pockets and can be replaced later. Certainly, books, ipods, etc. all get stuffed in pockets where they dont count towards the weight limit. It can make a 2-3kg swing, which, combined with the almost 3kg weight saving in the bag, is a HUGE difference.

Vandit

Couldn't agree more. I use a photo vest for exactly this purpose. It can be awkward to walk around and sit in an aeroplane seat with it full of stuff, but it always amazes me that hold and hand luggage weight matters so much but passenger weight doesn't seem to matter. I'm quite thin so I always think of it as balancing out the 'extra' allowance that someone much bigger on the plane is entitled to.

 

[Ragna]

I use a Lowepro photo trekker to carry a 500 f4 body bins converters etc weighs about 13kgs it just fits in the size of most airline carry on luggage ive never had any trouble getting it through.

 

[Robert_Scanlon]

I never had any trouble transporting my 600 through various airports. It went into a black 30 litre rucksack, which was just long enough to accomodate it, and also camera body, bins and other bits and bobs. There's no cushioning in the bag, so obviously you need to be careful and wrap things up well, but rather that than let it face the baggage handlers.

 

[dogfish]

I think there's a big difference between scheduled flights and charter flights on carry-on baggage. In my recent experience of charter flights (eg First Choice to Cyprus and Lesvos), large-looking baggage WILL be weighed at Gatwick. And the limit is 5kg. When I went to Cyprus the check-in guy gave the impression he was doing me a huge favour by letting my 5.3kg bag through.

Sean

 

[Gary Jenkins]

Hi Tully,
Like Chris my 500mm f4.0 gets carried around in my LowePro Trekker AW II rucksack.The lens will fit in attached to my 1D MarkIIn.Also in the sack is 1.4 and 2x converters,my binoculars,cards,charger etc.It always goes above my head in a locker whenever I fly abroad, and next week thats exactly what im doing.

 

[Chris Galvin]

I think there's a big difference between scheduled flights and charter flights on carry-on baggage. In my recent experience of charter flights (eg First Choice to Cyprus and Lesvos), large-looking baggage WILL be weighed at Gatwick. And the limit is 5kg. When I went to Cyprus the check-in guy gave the impression he was doing me a huge favour by letting my 5.3kg bag through.

Sean

Sean,

I have flown, Charter, No-Frills and Scheduled without ever having my bag weighed.

 

[hollis_f]

Sean,

I have flown, Charter, No-Frills and Scheduled without ever having my bag weighed.

Me too. There are several things I do to try and keep this run of luck going. I'm pretty big, so even a large rucksack looks fairly small on my back. When asked about hand luggage I swing the rucksack off my shoulders and hang it by a single finger (trying to ignore the sound of tendons snapping) to make it look light as a feather.

I've also found that draping a coat over the back helps hide the bulk of it.

 

[Clive Watson]

Sean,

I have flown, Charter, No-Frills and Scheduled without ever having my bag weighed.

I haven't. Last October when flying Heathrow to Sumburgh (BA) when going to Fair Isle I had to pay a surcharge because the hand luggage (which was basically the aforementioned 600mm f4) was over the limit. It was only about a fiver but still annoying, and I think that limit was only 5kg. Personally I would urge caution if intending to travel with one of these 17kg things that were mentioned earlier.

 

[vkalia]

I haven't. Last October when flying Heathrow to Sumburgh (BA) when going to Fair Isle I had to pay a surcharge because the hand luggage (which was basically the aforementioned 600mm f4) was over the limit. It was only about a fiver but still annoying, and I think that limit was only 5kg. Personally I would urge caution if intending to travel with one of these 17kg things that were mentioned earlier.

I agree. All it takes is being weighed and having your bags off-loaded *once* to ruin your trip (and possibly your gear). I have never had a problem taking my Photo Trekker as carry on either, but my logic is, why tempt fate? Better to reduce the weight and have backup options in case sod strolls over for a chat.

V.

 

[Tully]

Thank you all for your input. I will sift through it and try to identify which is the best option for me as I have just taken the plunge with a second hand 500f4
Cheers

 

[Chris Galvin]

Clive,

I always have a back up option either by arranging for my wife to carry some of my gear or by looking like an complete anorak and pulling out a photo vest (God I hate those) from back of the bag and putting some lenses into it

 

[simon]

I used a Kata 205 bag when i flew to Poland this year. 500 f4 was a tight fit with 2 other lenses and bodies but numerous bits and bobs were in my coat, nightmare getting thro customs as they decided to check and unpacked everything but it didn't explode. Ryan air now have a 10 kg hand allowance and easy jet a no weight limit provided you can comfortably lift the bag into the locker above your head, they suggest approx 20 kg as an upper limit.