What do you carry your camera rig in?

[Lewis88]

After years of heavy backpacks, I switched to a pelican style case. Wheeled and fits in all international carry on limits (except weight). 
 

in it goes:

- housing with camera and fisheye lens and port installed

- macro and standard zoom port (same port with extension rings)

- macro lens

- standard lens

- diopter

- 2x strobes with dome diffusers and snoot

- focus light

- shearwater wrist unit

- vacuum pump

- all camera batteries, dive light battery, and 16x AA batteries

in my checked bag goes all my wife and I’s other gear: 2x sets of fins, 2 wetsuits, 2 bcd’s, 4 masks, chargers, camera arms and clamps. 
 

regs go in our backpacks, and we use one checked and one carry on suitcase for all our clothes. 

Edited April 29 by Lewis88

[Kamaros]

I have a Cinebags Grouper XL that I use for transporting my rig when diving locally. I also found it useful last year when I was on a photo workshop in La Paz where we were schlepping our gear between a hotel and our boat every day, and where the boat's camera table was too small to fit everyone's gear.

 

I used to carry a "minimum viable setup" (camera, housing, viewfinder, vacuum system, one lens + port, strobes and cables, a pair of clamps to mount the strobes directly onto the housing, batteries and chargers for all the above) in a ThinkTank Airport Commuter backpack which I could just barely squeeze under airplane seats if I took out my laptop and headphones and shoved them in my seat pocket. It wasn't very comfortable and always felt like I had a brick pressed against the small of my back, so I've decided to try switching over to a hiking bag with a camera insert. I haven't tried flying with it yet, but I've picked up a Decathlon Quechua MH500 40L backpack (based on recommendations from this megathread) and a Lowepro Gearup Camera Box XXL II which seems to fit snuggly.

 

Here's a sample loadout for the A7RV + Nikon 60mm macro on Monster adapter as an example. I'm waiting on Backscatter to get the FCP and 10mm extension ring back in-stock to see if other lens + port combinations will fit the insert.

 

 Here's the backpack with the insert loaded.

 

I don't actually know if this would fit under and airplane seat, but in the worst case I could probably take the insert out and use it as my personal item, then try to shove the empty backpack (which flattens down reasonably well) into an overhead bin like you might do with a jacket. I also didn't bother to unscrew the mounting balls on the housing here, which could be removed to decrease the required depth by another inch or so.

 

Aside from the backpack with the minimum viable rig, I like the Tenba Roadie Air Case Roller 21 as a carry-on roller for all the other gear that doesn't fit in my bag - it's rugged like a hard case, but looks like a normal roller bag instead of screaming "STEAL ME" like a Pelican case. I'm also a fan of the internal organizer pockets, which I stash things like my remaining arm clamps, spare cables/batteries, etc into.

[Jim Laurel]

Karin and I each use these ThinkTank Logistics Manager rolling cases. They're alot lighter than our old Pelican cases, and they attract alot less attention. We pack all the underwater parts of our kit in these. Karin has to carry her WACP in a carry-on because it puts the ThinkTank over 50lbs.

https://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/logistics-manager-30-v2

 

We'll have all the dive gear in large duffle bags, and carry both those and the Thinktanks on Porter cases. Inside the Porters, we have our regs, camera bodies, lenses, lithium batteries, etc. Those get hand carried. They're the maximum size allowable for carry-ons to/from the US, and they're heavy. Often airline staff will ask us to check them, and we just say they've got a lot of lithium batteries in them and that's the end of discussion.

The Porters aren't made any more, but you can still find them on eBay if you watch for them. Best travel product ever made!

[RomiK]

My wife and I cabin luggage. 2x10ish kg 50x40x20 + 2 personal items

 

Laptop bag carries 

- camera body

- 28-60 + 90mm lenses

- EMWL

- laptop duh 😂

 

Housing by itself as a personal item my wife carries

 

Blue suitcase

- WWL-1B

- Shinobi monitor and housing

- 2 flat ports for the lenses

- 2 Retra Pro X + superchargers

- Retra LSD

- dive computer

- batteries

 

Red suitcase

- 3x Weefine Smartfocus 10000

- Divevolk Seatouch 4Max with floats

- 4000 lumens dive light

- 2x Nauticam 200/70 and 300/50 float arms

 

The rest like clamps and hardware and floats goes into dive bags checked. 
 

The idea is that should the shxx hit the fan whether at check in of gate we could have Red suitcase or it’s content checked and split electronics and optics among ourselves. 
 

If I would travel myself I would have had extra checked bag for hardware, video lights and monitor as I dive sidemount and my bare dive bag is 18kg. But if I would go on single cylinder the bag would be 15kg (one reg and lighter wing) and the rest of my photo gear would fit in. 

[aeweems12]

Oh boy, here goes:

 

Pelican Air 1615:

• Aquatica AD7000 housings (x2)
• Aquatica 8 inch glass dome port
• Aquatica Mini Macro Port
• Inon Z-330 strobes (x2)
• Aquatica +5 diopter
• Aquatica +10 diopter
• Kraken +23 diopter
• Kraken Hydra 8000 lights (x2)
• Kraken Hydra snoot & aperture cards
• Dive Rite CX2 lights (x2)
• Ultramax Helium buoyancy arms (x5)
• Muck sticks (x2)
• Remote lighting stick
• Atomics T3 regs
• Olympus TG-6 housing
• Tray/handles for TG-6
• Tons of tools, handles, extra o-rings, fiber optic connectors, ball mounts, etc

Samsonite hard sided case:

• Fins
• Booties & socks
• Mask
• Spool
• DSMB
• Wetsuit
• Hood
• BCD
• Rash guards
• Personal stuff & any extra camera stuff that didn't fit in the Pelican (clamps, battery chargers, etc)

LowePro Pro Trekker RLX450:

• Nikon D7000 bodies (x2)
• Nikon 105mm lens
• Nikon 60mm lens
• Nikon 18-300mm lens
• Tokina 10-17 lens
• Olympus TG-6
• ALL THE BATTERIES, so many batteries....
• Extra memory cards, jump drives, usb cables, etc
• Shearwater Perdix computers (x2)
• Personal stuff (sunglasses, portable phone charger, etc)

Samonsite oversized purse:

• Computer, mouse, charger
• Kindle
• Phone, wallet, passport
• Water bottle
• Pajamas for long haul trips
• Dive logbook

 

Should have gotten a picture of my bags on my last trip. Both checked bags came in right under 70lbs. Lowepro bag was about 40lbs & shoulder bag about 15lbs. I do not know, nor do I understand, the concept of travel light lol

[Troporobo]

Ashley, I think you win the abundance of caution sweepstakes.  I’ve seen many people with a backup camera body.  But three complete bodies and housings may be a record for multiple redundancy. Good on you!

[aeweems12]

1 hour ago, Troporobo said:

Ashley, I think you win the abundance of caution sweepstakes.  I’ve seen many people with a backup camera body.  But three complete bodies and housings may be a record for multiple redundancy. Good on you!

By no means am I saying that level of redundancy is necessary, but I just know that I'm going to do something stupid when I am on the other side of the world & I refuse to end a vacation because I kill a camera/housing 😂

 

Though I will say I don't tend to take the TG out a lot. I much prefer my D7000s. But I've been indoctrinated by my tech diving community that two is one & one is none. Hence the backups to the backups!

 

Oh & I just landed a backup set of Z-330s. Can hardly wait to figure out where they're going to go 🤔🤣

[TimG]

Airport porters must love Ashley. 🤣

[aeweems12]

10 hours ago, TimG said:

Airport porters must love Ashley. 🤣

 Probably not as much I love them! 🤣

[ChrisH]

I have found my perfect solution for me in two ThinkTank items: a Airport Advantage XT roller and a Retrospective bag. I use them as Carry on Luggage and my personal item. 
 

For my trip to Anilao (macro) I have the following items:
 

in the roller bag fits my Nikon Z8, Seacam Housing, Seacam Fisheye Macro port, two Seacam 150d strobes, my Nikon 8-18 Fisheye with FTZ Adapter and Zoom Gear, the 105mm Z Macro lens, the 60mm Macro lens, the 1.4 Teleconverter, Weefine +13 diopter, Seacam 45 viewfinder, 4x power pack for the strobes, some batteries, cables, adapters and my Laptop. 

 

the Retrospective holds the Seacam Macro Port, my Trioplan copy, Tablet, headphones, 2xdive computers,  and some personal stuff but has plenty of space left. 
 

The rest of the equipment is in the check-in luggage (strobe arms, extension rings). But even if my check-in luggage would not arrive, I could start shooting with the gear that is in my carry-on. 
 

Now lets hope they will not check the weight 😬 (16-17 kg) at check in. But usually if they do, I just show them whats inside and how fragile and expensive it is and had never had a problem. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 6 by Davide DB
Missing photos

[ChrisH]

Somehow the pictures don‘t load/show?

 

Next try…

 

 

[canislupus]

On 12/27/2023 at 7:43 PM, atus said:

What I do for travelling is to put the camera inside the housing with the macro lens and its port and I carry it with a lanyard hanging from my shoulder. The rest of the equipment, strobes, arms, batteries, dome, lenses, laptop...in a cabin suitcase with me all the time. Since  I do that I have a less problems in the airport filters and my cabin suitcase is much less heavy so I have less issues with the airline. 

If I’m understanding right, you mount all the housing and camera and put a strap no and simply say that is your camera?

And you don’t have problems at all?

Mmmm I would have to think about it for doing it myself, the image in the cue with the housing on the shoulders must be epic. 😁

By the way, good staff in this post.

[bghazzal]

4 hours ago, canislupus said:

If I’m understanding right, you mount all the housing and camera and put a strap no and simply say that is your camera?

And you don’t have problems at all?

Mmmm I would have to think about it for doing it myself, the image in the cue with the housing on the shoulders must be epic. 😁

By the way, good staff in this post.

This is also something I'm considering for my upcoming heavily-loaded move from Indonesia to Japan...
I've never done it, but the NALX10 is compact enough and would save a few cabin-luggage kilos.
Especially with all the stuff we can fit in two pockets-vests...
 

Back to luggage itself,  thecabin luggage I use is a super lightweight Japanese two-wheel roller that I've has since 2012 or so, combined with a thinktank backpack as a personal item. The roller usually gets weighed on check-in.

This is the roller along with our 3 Decathlon 120/100L dive / life treckking bags mentioned earlier, having traveled from Japan for a season in Maldives, and about to hop from Europe to Japan and then Palau for work
 

2x Cabin luggage + 2x "personal items" leaving Palau in 2023...


 

Edited September 7 by bghazzal

[TimG]

I do like the look of that Think Tank bag. Tempting…..   Time to move on from my Pelican? Hmmmmm……

[fruehaufsteher2]

4 hours ago, canislupus said:

If I’m understanding right, you mount all the housing and camera and put a strap no and simply say that is your camera?

And you don’t have problems at all?

I had a similar experience: Travelling from Malé to Fuvamulah they asked me to put my backpack (14kg, looks quite similar to that of @ChrisH, but is cheap from Rollei) on the scale. „Too heavy“ - „Look, my camera gear. I can take it out, put it together and take it in my hand“ - „Okay, camera….“ and after very short discussion with his colleague it was no problem. 

[Troporobo]

I’ve been using a Pelican case for years as I was fortunate enough to be able to drive to dive.  Now that I’m making a major move and anticipating more frequent flying to dive in less developed locations, I wanted something lighter and more agile.  Ashley’s mention of the Lowepro RLX450 AW II was the winner.  I just configured and packed it and am very happy with the package!

 

I am a m4/3 user so of course the gear is smaller and lighter.  In here I’ve got the camera body in the housing, strobes, a lot of batteries and tools and cleaning supplies and o-rings, fisheye and macro ports and lenses, a 12-40 zoom for topside, one diopter and flip adapter, flash trigger, dive computer and transmitter, and miscellaneous hardware.  I’ve got some spare room at the top that could be better configured and have not used the side pocket or outside attachment options.  Arms, clamps, floats go in the scuba duffel.  The front compartments are well designed and easily hold a laptop, tablet, phone, and all the travel necessities like chargers, glasses, tickets, etc.  Things I love about this case are the “tool tray” which replaces the function of the Think Tank lid organizer in the Pelican, its depth which allows many compartments to be dual layered, and the choice of rolling or carrying as a backpack.  Total weight is about 12 kg so very manageable. 

 

Thanks all for the tips!

 

[hedonist222]

On 12/27/2023 at 1:41 PM, Davide DB said:

Here in Europe you can't find coolers as sturdy and affordable as American ones. The only ones I found got holes in them after a few months and the zipper became a stalactite.

I do exclusively local diving and for the RHIB I use a box with hard plastic handles. While unloading the RHIB I put the water hose in it and let it soak.

 

When I do this, I line the bottom of the box with this cheap folding foam. It reduces rattle and vibrations. 

 

Here, they sell it in Italy too. 

 

https://www.amazon.it/Foldable-Folding-Cuchion-Kneeler-Camping/dp/B00B70MJG0/ref=sr_1_7?__mk_it_IT=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=4550NR0UHMAH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8TtwLWRJVZelEmyD4Hs8oABmnVByCCqWOREWXgc7OPv6wARLDvuqTK6qf3EdTo5ccReWvbUULOpEryHIWDYgNAevdITRS0ZldEvTSnGC15xo7EcHtFxR01eAZ2fZ4ucuP04m4W7xrszZ2R0tOHUAg_nZLzo-5IS9ziU1YficVTpOp7LVX5qKnvd0_lz6RIrKWikJrgKSNHKhrq8cwTS8RX0wzNhUlMldfGXepJZ6fsr_aR6Qj7MMagrN4bnLsdjvtoKrwvoD64A5PblKpVviQqpQwiB4KFTvmcOvfDGNup8.gXKVhLAHjZph2VAMqPQ2WOmx37zLoc7AuQ6MKTpMcFw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Folding+foam&qid=1725810642&sprefix=folding+foam%2Caps%2C297&sr=8-7

[Davide DB]

1 hour ago, hedonist222 said:

When I do this, I line the bottom of the box with this cheap folding foam. It reduces rattle and vibrations. 

 

Here, they sell it in Italy too. 

 

Now I'm using a spare car rubber carpet I had in my garage. Exactly the same box's bottom dimension but this is a good idea. I didn't know they exist.

Thanks 

[hellhole]

can i deviate a little and ask what is the cloth used for the foam pads?

 

i am trying to do a project 

[Davide DB]

56 minutes ago, hellhole said:

can i deviate a little and ask what is the cloth used for the foam pads?

 

i am trying to do a project 

 

Closed cells PVC, Polyurethane or Polyethylene foam. 

Foam pads/mattresses mostly of Polyurethane I guess.

 

[hellhole]

44 minutes ago, Davide DB said:

 

Closed cells PVC, Polyurethane or Polyethylene foam. 

Foam pads/mattresses mostly of Polyurethane I guess.

 

hm... you know the padding that you get when you buy a camera bag?  what cloth is that?  that enable a velco to get stuck to it.  i made some trekpak style dividers and i am thinking if i can wrap them with those cloth as well

[Davide DB]

5 minutes ago, hellhole said:

hm... you know the padding that you get when you buy a camera bag?  what cloth is that?  that enable a velco to get stuck to it.  i made some trekpak style dividers and i am thinking if i can wrap them with those cloth as well

 

Ah so I misunderstood you. IDK exactly. A fabric store (haberdashery?) or even a tailor might help you.

[hellhole]

8 minutes ago, Davide DB said:

 

Ah so I misunderstood you. IDK exactly. A fabric store (haberdashery?) or even a tailor might help you.

i should say sorry.. i think i didn't describe it well.. if anyone know.. i will be grateful... 

back to the thread!

 

 

[atus]

On 9/7/2024 at 10:03 AM, canislupus said:

If I’m understanding right, you mount all the housing and camera and put a strap no and simply say that is your camera?

And you don’t have problems at all?

Mmmm I would have to think about it for doing it myself, the image in the cue with the housing on the shoulders must be epic. 😁

By the way, good staff in this post.

Exactly. And not only myself, my two others photo-dive partners are doing the same. Guess what happens when we travel together. Everybody looking at us at the airport queue. It's funny

[canislupus]

11 hours ago, atus said:

Exactly. And not only myself, my two others photo-dive partners are doing the same. Guess what happens when we travel together. Everybody looking at us at the airport queue. It's funny

Lol, thank you. It has to be funny for sure.😁

I will do it for sure in a couple of months. Let’s hope for the best.