Packing a Housing for Carryon Travel (?)

Having been able to get my hands on an Ikelite housing for my 300D I am now trying to figure out the best way to get from here (Virginia) to Florida (West Palm Beach) in two weeks.

My plan right now is to pack the housing, port, camera and misc. small supplies into my Lowepro Nova 4 bag. From my testing the housing and port fit nicely into the main section of the bag with one divider separating the two. This does not leave room for anything else large (like the camera) in the bag though.

So, my question is, do any of you put your body in the housing when traveling? The manual suggests not shipping the camera inside the housing but I think that the housing/camera wouldn't be in much danger traveling carryon inside a heavily padded camera bag.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Craig

Right now, I'm at the SFO airport waiting to go to Malaysia. I packed my housing (Aquatica A300) in a large towel, and put it in my cheap bag. Holds it nice and snug. I usually carry the macro port in my bag as well. Dome goes in the checkin bag.

I'm sure if you tighten down the camera and make sure it's seated, it shouldn't have a problem. I usually carry a small hand towel that I shove inside.

I'll be sure to post some dive pics.

bump

I never put my camera in the housing for travel. I check everything except for the camera, lenses, and laptop.

Cheers

James

I have travelled on two trips so far with my Ikelite housing for the D70 and I put the camera in the housing.

The whole rig including ~5 lenses 2 strobes and backup rig fits in a Lowepro AW Trekker. But it won't fit unless the camera is in the housing. I carry the bag on and am careful with it. I wouldn't check it or ship it like this.

FWIW Ike says not to do it.

What is the problem with putting the camera in the housing?

Its looks like the best place for the camera, can it harm the housing?

James, you're brave. I don't think I could pack the housing in a checked bag. Prior to going housed I carried my MMII-EX with 2 YS-60's in a Lowepro backback with my SLR. I have never lost gear in transit or had it delayed but i worry enough about my dive gear being checked.

Craig

You don't want to place the camera in the housing for a couple of reasons.

1. Do the baggage handlers gingerly handle your baggage (or package) like you would? The answer is no, with the "o" stretched from here to eternity. They will handle your stuff like a sack of potatoes. Most housings today have fine tuned alignments, intricate electronic gizmos to connect to the camera, and generally one screw to hold the bamera in place. That screw is not intended to have g-force leverage cranking on it or the threads of the tray/camera. You can easily damage something as a result. Vibration from the plane can jossle the screw loose in worse case and then you are in deep kimshee if that happens.

2. Bad handling may cause some sensitive alignment or calibration to go haywire within your camera. It's not like the old days when you could practically hit your camera with an 8-pound sledge hammer and still go shooting.

Treat the camera like a newborn if you have that option. You will be much happier being safe than in a drunken stooper when you have to replace a $1500 toy.

Joe

Joe, Of course I won't checked my camera inside the housing, It’s always with me.

The first point, I can see a situation that will make a damage to the screw but I think that the camera will probably damage before it. To the camera its seems like a good idea to be in safe inside the housing or do I miss something?

Yes, what if the buttons on the housing press HARD on the camera while it's in your carry-on?

Cheers

James

Jame, I think that I am going to have to agree with you on this one. I hate to take the risk. Oh well, I guess I might need to upgrade to the Nova 5. My wife will want to kill me though as I have four camera bags already.

Cheers,

Craig

Mount your camera on a tripod, then hit the tripod against something creating side ways momentum for the camera. The tripod stops, but the camera inertia tries to keep going. The camera base attached to the tripod is not strong enough to withstand much of this inertia. Very difficult to explain the phenomenon, but I am trying to explain what happens when camera is shipped inside of a housing, mounted with a tripod bolt. In other words, DON'T............

I cary-on my camera, lenses, laptop, rx mask, meds, and a change of clothes. It weighs a ton. I can imagine adding else.

I mainly fly in Asia, and have found that it's almost always possible to carry on two pieces, and so I try to do so whenever I can. Whenever airline staff have questioned this, I've explained (very politely) that both pieces are carrying fragile, sensitive cameras and lenses, and that I'd very much appreciate being able to take both with me.

One is a Pelican 1550 case, which takes the housing (Subal for FS2) and big dome port, with strobe arm segments under the dome port (separated by a layer of pick-foam) to keep that weight out of my check-in bags. Also an extension ring, synch cords, diopters. O-rings in plastic envelopes behind the foam layer in the lid, and one inexpensive lens (to support any claim I might make that both pieces hold cameras and lenses. I don't mind putting one camera body in the housing as long as I know I will be hand-carrying all the way.

The other carry-on is a Phototrek backpack, which takes all (other) camera bodies and lenses, including big telephoto. Both will fit in overhead bins on international flights. Wearing the backpack and carrying the 1550, it really doesn't look like much more than other passengers who have OD-ed on duty free purchases in the terminal.

If I ever have to check the Pelican 1550, then if I have a body in the housing, it comes out immediately and goes into the backpack. The 1550 is Hasn't happened yet, but then again I've never tried to do this out of the US or Europe either.

Frogfish