My Bag on the island of Jolo, Philippines.
I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to several different countries on humanitarian photography assignments. On long trips I bring a large camera backpack and a laptop backpack. On each trip I make little refinements to what I pack in each bag. I also take a smaller “on location” camera bag, but that gets packed in checked baggage. In this article I’ll tell you about my current configuration of my camera backpack I carry on the plane.
Choosing the right bag
Your ‘walking around’ or location camera bag, if you use one, may not be the best for travel on a plane. I have the largest bag or backpack possible that will fit under a seat. I say under the seat because many US domestic planes overhead bins are pretty small. International flights usually have larger overhead bins that will usually hold your ‘legal size’ camera backback. If you do have a domestic flight before an international, yes you may be cramped for an hour or two, but it’s better to cram as much of your gear into that bag rather than it disappear under the plane.
I use the Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW to carry my gear on the plane. I can fit a Nikon D700, Canon HD
video camera, shotgun mic, a smaller video camera, video and camera batteries, and a camera battery charger. I also carry memory cards and MiniDV tapes in the pouches. I use a pair of socks to carry the video batteries and protect the shotgun mic. I do not carry a video battery charger in this bag because I can charge straight from the camera.
Basically if my luggage is lost or late I can still shoot and have an extra pair of socks!
The CompuTrekker AW does not have wheels so it’s pretty heavy to carry through airports but I found the wheeled version is a bit larger and would be tough to fit under the seat.
Practice!
Guess what? At some point you will probably have to pull out all your gear at a security checkpoint so be ready. I pack my camera backpack the same way every time, and, make it easy to see items in my pack by just unzipping. Most of the time they leave the cameras alone and have a look at the video batteries in the sock. Anyway, the point I am stressing here is make sure you can pack and unpack quickly. Practice it a few times at home before leaving, you will thank yourself.
I mentioned that I also bring a laptop backpack on the plane as well which I will cover in the next article. I will point out though that I pack my camera backpack so that I do not have to get to it on the plane. I store it and leave it until the flight is over. You might ask why would you want to get in either bag. Well on a 14 hour flight I do cram a few things in my laptop bag to make the flight….uh…. manageable.
Get a system down and refine it on each trip. My system certainly changes. If you are serious about your photography when traveling make sure you have everything you need to shoot in your carry-on camera bag.
Feel free to leave any travel tips you’ve come up with in the comment section.
Happy travels.
In tight quarters hanging packs from the bed is the only choice!
Me and Michael's (my helper) gear for 3 days on a military base in the Philippines. All gear seen came with us as 'carry-on' on a helicopter to the island.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
What do you use for your walking around bag? I need to buy one to use as my regular camera bag. Right now I have a Rebel DSLR body, the regular lens that comes with it, a zoom lens, flash, and filters, etc. I need to buy a backpack style bag that is big enough to carry the above plus room for 1 or 2 lenses I might buy in the future. Any advice? Thanks.
John-
I usually carry a LowePro SlingShot AW 200. I can hold Nikon D700 camera, 2-4 lens, small video cam, batteries, filters etc…
It’s a shoulder style sling bag instead of a backpack type. Velcro padding lets you configure the camera compartment for your gear. The camera compartment also has a little pouch with velcro flap to keep several memory cards.
It also has places on it to attach extra gear. I attach a small camera bag on the strap via velcro to carry a small point and shoot. The top compartment has a mesh type pouch that I use to hold “good batteries”. There is another flap compartment that I put used batteries, keep small notebook, pen etc…
The strap is wide padded and comfortable. There is also a way to secure the strap a little differently for long hikes. Personally I just carry it over my shoulder most of the time.
As far as holding up it it top quality. I’ve dragged, dropped and everything else and no problems. As far as traveling I have used it as a carry on bag and had no problems storing in overhead bins.
The Lowepro Fastpack series is more like a backpack but has an easy access flap for your camera. I haven’t used it but it looks similar.
One thing though, the SlingShot AW is an All Weather (AW) which means it has a rain cover. The rain cover is tucked neatly away
with a zipper but pulls out quickly and covers the pack. I actually had to use it the other day.
NOTE: I also carry the ultimate rain gear protection with me everywhere I go…. A trashbag. Works every time!
Your biggest decision may be backpack or sling type bag. Personally the sling type bag has worked well for me.
Hope this helps!
Links below have videos about both packs.
Lowepro Slingshot 200 All Weather Backpack (Black)
Lowepro Fastpack 250 (Black)
thanks! right now i just have a small one that barely fits my small lens, camera body, and flash. I definitely don’t want a huge bag, just a medium one. Thanks for the help and input. Plus great tip on the trashbag. Going to amazon now…
That’s a great detailed ‘walk through’. I would dare suggest going for the “sling type bag” because it forces you to choose and travel light. You will always occupy the full space you allow yourself, even if you could very well do with less.
But of course, if you are going on ‘business’, then you might NEED the backpack for all the glass and gadgets in the day’s work.
Thank you for trying to explain the terminlogy to the beginners!