Photoshop Insider

Another Fresh Example of Why You Shouldn’t Check Your Camera Gear

By Scott on Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 at 1:09 am | updates.

I know we’ve all heard about stuff like this before, but reading an article in yesterday’s Tampa Tribune really brought it home again. On Thursday, Tampa Police arrested three baggage handlers for Continental Airlines and charged them with selling digital cameras, iPods, Cell Phones, and laptops they allegedly stole from passenger’s checked baggage at Tampa International Airport.

But it was what they said they were getting for the stolen goods that really freaked me out. For a digital camera, they got $50. Fifty bucks for your 5D! Fifty bucks for your D3. Fifty bucks for your D300, or 30D, or Mark III and your lenses. I know I shouldn’t be, but I was still stunned. Now, I know many of you read FlyingWithFish.com, and you know better, but for everybody else, I hope this is reminder that when you fly your camera gear needs to stay with you.

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^#1

The thought of my baggage being lost or routed on another flight would make me quezzy, and I’ve had lost baggage before which is why I would never pack my camera or lenses in checked baggage. My gear is usually more expensive than my clothes or anything else I travel with so it only makes sense. Wow!

Jermaine on April 1st, 2008 at 2:56 am

^#2

On a related note, what do you do with tripods? My new Gitzo is small enough to fit into luggage so that’s a possibility, but I’d rather carry it on. All the online research I’ve done about TSA rules for carrying it on seem to boil down to “discretion of the agent”. I figure last minute checking of it as a separate item in its carrying case is like advertising “steal me”. Any ideas, anyone?

Steve Kalman on April 1st, 2008 at 5:07 am

^#3

Scott:

Thanks for this timely entry. The arrests at TPA are not the first arrests of these kind. It is unfortunate, but it happens.

The reality of traveling with camera gear is that sometimes you do need to check your equipment. It is never something I like to do, but sometimes I have to. Having covered sports for a large portion of my work for a number of years checking gear was a requirement. I’d love to board a flight with three bodies, a full set of lenses, plus my 400f2.8 and a 600f4 as carry on, but the reality was that the long lenses got checked. Luckily most airport thieves are not looking for a 400f2.8 and 600f4. Why are they not looking for these lenses? Well for starters they are hard to smuggle out, and secondly there is a small market to resell them.

There are some basic and simple way to try and protect yourself. The first is to lock your bags. Locking your bags, in the United States, with TSA Approved lock is a good idea. I strongly suggest a combination lock over a key lock. There are only a small number of key types made for these locks, so a key chain with 10 keys has a high likely hood of opening up your TSA Approved Master Lock. Any airport thief, even a beginner, will be able to open up your bag. A combination lock is more of a deterrent. Locks are not as safe as you’d think though.TSA Approved locks all can be unlocked with a few keys which TSA agents posses. If you search the internet you can find places where you to can purchase these secure keys that open TSA locks……….but really a lock is the first deterrent.

If you check a camera bag, and it is obviously a camera bag, remove the label of the manufacturer. Good airport thieves know all the brands. These people often work on a “quick glance” , they are looking for a Lowe Pro logo or Think Tank logo. Everyone knows that a Pelican case carries sensitive information.

Oddly enough the only time you can use a non-TSA approved lock is when you travel with a fire-arm. If you have a fire-arm you request a hand inspection of your checked baggage then check it in, fully locked. I know of some photogs who travel domestically with a small cheap starter pistol. These are the pistols uses at sports events to start races, they require a TSA hand inspection, then require a secure lock. I know it sounds funny, and I think it can be more trouble that it is worth, but photogs who must check gear actually say it is fantastic.

For more information on how to disguise your camera bags when checked,what information to not put on your luggage tag and how to not be the target of airport thieves feel free to check out my site for flying photogs at Flying With Fish, www.flyingwithfish.com

Happy Flying!

-Fish

Steven Frischling on April 1st, 2008 at 7:27 am

^#4

Steve:

You can travel with your tripod as carry on in the United States, Canada and a number of other countries. Your tripod must not have ’spike feet’, and cannot be over a certain length and weight (such as those used by TV News crews). I fly with one or two Bogen 3373 light stands affixed to the exterior of my carry on bag.

The TSA’s official policy is that tripods, that meet standard carry on regulations, are allowed on as photographic equipment. The term “discretion of the agent” is thrown around often and not exactly accurate. Should the front line TSA Agent-Screener have a problem with your tripod you ask for the supervisor and keep barking up the chain of command. Should you need clarification you can call TSA Public Affairs in Washington DC (although I think they are technically based in Virginia) at 1(571) 227-2829.

Many TSA Agent-Screeners are new, not fully informed and in a position of power. Always be calm and polite it goes a long way. The front line TSA agents are not paid anywhere close to what they should be for the tasks they are charged with performing. These folks at the check points get the brunt of angry travelers ranging from being told they can’t cross security with a bottle of water to delayed flights (which neither the TSA or the airline gate agents have any control over) so they can have a bad day and I have some that carry a grudge day-to-day. Overall my experience with the TSA has been encountering polite and professional people who are there to help……….so if you get stuck with the tripod,which is a rare instance simply ask for clarification,calmly explain what the item is and if all else fails call the photo number I have listed above.

Happy Flying!

-Fish
www.flyingwithfish.com

Steven Frischling on April 1st, 2008 at 7:38 am

^#5

The best option if you know that you are going to have to check something ahead of time is to UPS or Fedex it to the hotel you are going to be staying at. This way you can insure the value of the package and you get a tracking number which you can use to find out who signed for the package. Also, calling the hotel and letting them know that you are going to be shipping them a package is a good idea. This way they can link the package with your reservation. Theft and damage are still an issue here, but at least the package is insured and you can make a claim against it.

Anthony Lindner on April 1st, 2008 at 9:43 am

^#6

Anthony,

While FedEx/UPS/DHL are a great idea in some cases, there are many instances where photographers are traveling point-to-point-to-point. In these cases,which is common for me, there is no hotel to ship to, and it is impossible to part with your gear for the down day.

An example of this for me is coming up in a few days. On April 9th I fly out to to shoot an urban-landscape job in Philadelphia, PA; on April 10th I am shooting an urban-landscape job in Frankfurt, Germany; on April 11th I am shooting an environmental engagement session/bridal session in Hong Kong; on April 12th I am in Incheon, Tokyo and home (Connecticut).

I am spending not one night in a hotel, I’ll sleep on planes in my 3 day, 20,000 mile, journey around the world. Checking baggage is out of the question and using a global shipping company is impossible.

There are alternatives to full size tripods.I have found I like the UltraPodII and it can hold some significant weight. Bogen/Manfrotto recently sent me the Manfrotto 345 compact travel tripod which is ultra compact, incredible stable and can hold a Canon 1D body with 85f1.2 attached! Not the same as a full-size tripod, but I am bringing it with me on my journey. I plan on using this kit with my 24f3.5 Tilt-Shift lens on a Canon 5D body.

Happy Flying!

-Fish
www.flyingwithfish.com

Steven Frischling on April 1st, 2008 at 10:43 am

^#7

Wait…Canon makes a 28-135 f/2.8?

Josh on April 1st, 2008 at 11:35 am

^#8

I immediately had to go look up Canon 28-135mm to make sure I hadn’t missed that they offered a f/2.8!!!!

NOT!

Scott - I love ya!!

Dan on April 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pm

^#9

This is why I always carry my camera on. The airlines can lose my clothes but I will not let them lose my camera! I used to fly on Southwest Airlines from Orlando to Albuquerque and back on a weekly basis for about a year for work. I had upgraded to a Canon 20D just before the traveling started so I bought I a Hardigg Storm Case so it would be locked and well protected if the airline did make me check it. While going through security was a lot of fun they never did make me check it.

In reply to Fish:

Every TSA lock I used on my suit cases was cut off by security. They were the key kind so I wish I would have known to get a combo one three years ago!

I also agree with you on taking the brand names off of camera bags. It is just a large “steal me” sticker. I covered up the Storm Case logo with some tape just for that reason. I just got a new Nikon bag that holds my DSLR and laptop but I am going to leave the Nikon tag on it for awhile. I just want to see the looks of horror on the faces of Nikon fan-boys at Photoshop World this week when I pull my Canon 20D out of it.

– Cheers.

Terry on April 1st, 2008 at 5:12 pm

^#10

Wow… i hate it just when my Baggage doesnt make it to the airport for 30 mins… i would hate for something like this to happen…..

Stephen Hayes on April 1st, 2008 at 9:11 pm

^#11

Isn’t it amazing that at an area that is so secure (to keep planes from hitting buildings and the like), that these thieves had the ability to do this? If they can steal cameras and stuff FROM bags, who’s to say that they can’t put {insert something really bad here} INTO bags?

Andrew on April 1st, 2008 at 10:00 pm

^#12

Scott,

Today I travelled from Boston to San Francisco and, as noted above, I checked my clothes, including a few items like a refector and diffuser, but carried my camera and tripod on the plane. I rang all sorts of bells going through the x-ray machine with my diffuser clamp, the same one that is in your kit at B&H and was asked to submit to a full bag search. It seems that the clamp looked like a gun and the transformer from my PC power cord plus the remote IR trigger for the camera made it look like I was carrying a bomb. New x-ray operator, very slow, and the inspection was also a long and painful process since I had to stand by and watch the inspector struggle to open all of the compartments, etc.

While here in CA I hope to put the lessons learned from Vol 1 &2 of your Digital Photography book to good use shooting CA wildflowers and my three grandchildren. Wish me luck.

Emmet Whitehead on April 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 am

^#13

I had a pocket digital camera stolen out of my one checked bag about a year and a half ago flying with Delta out of JFK into Boston.

I had the camera (a canon elph) in it’s case and wrapped it up inside of a sweatshirt in the checked bag (which I had to check as I was carrying on my already full camera bag).

As soon as I picked up my checked bag and noticed it had been gone through I walked straight over to the baggage counter and then was routed to the Delta counter where I was told flatly “we are not responsible for any electronics equipment that you check” which meant to me at that moment that “we give our baggage handlers a license to pillage through your luggage and steal because you can’t do anything about it if they take anything”.

adam tanner on April 2nd, 2008 at 9:52 am