# carry on limitation for international travel



## Vigood (Nov 20, 2013)

Hi guys,

I will need another help from all of you experts out there.

I will be travelling to south east asia (Indonesia and Singapore) in less than a month. I am thinking of bringing non-gripped 5D3 (2.1lbs), 24-70mmLII (1.81lbs), 70-200mm2.8LII (3.31lbs), and 35mmL(1.30lbs). At the same time I will also be bringing my manfrotto 054-q2 tripod head (1.35lbs), speedlite 600 (1.0lbs), and ipad mini (0.75lbs) in the backpack. Currently I have a kata bug 205 backpack (53cm x 35cm x 26cm) which when empty weighs around 4.6lbs. That is a total weight of 16.22lbs. This is not including everything else such as passports, documentations, jackets, food, filters, batteries, memory cards, chargers, lens hoods, and other items that my wife or son wants me to stuff into my bag. I estimate around 3lbs for everything else that I might need.

The problem here is that I just found out that my international flight (Eva Air) is limiting the carry on weight to just 15 lbs and dimension to 56 x 36 x 23 cm. My kata 205 width is larger by 3cm... The last time I travelled internationally was almost 5 years ago and I was using lowepro fastpack with just a rebel xsi and 28-135mm lens. Even with a laptop, both weight and dimension were not a problem.

The first question is that, for all of you that have travelled internationally with camera gears, how do you get around the weight limitation?

The second question is that should I just give up on bringing the flash, tripod head (probably put the head in checked in luggage), and 70-200mm? It would reduce the weight by at least 5lbs and I will be fine.

The final question is with regards to the bag dimension limitation. Do you think I can get by with a carry on bag that is 3 cm wider than the required width? or am I forced to get a new bag (i hope this is not the case)? When I bought the kata 205, I specifically factored in international travel and based on my research back then, this bag is supposed to fit...


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## Nishi Drew (Nov 21, 2013)

I frequently travel between Japan and the US with most if not all of my gear in my backpack, and it's similar to what you have there:16-28, 35mm 1.4, 50mm, 70-200, 5DII, 580exII

I never paid attention to weight or size regulations, "it's a backpack and I'm carrying it so who cares?" is what I do.
I honestly am no expert or have flown that service, but what I feel is the weight/size restrictions for carry ons are not strictly enforced, if it's obviously huge then they'll say no, but the listed dimensions are for fitting into the overhead usually and if the bag is a few CM larger than you should still be able to stuff it in.

If you however are not confident, then what gear can you live without? Are you just taking travel photos or are you on assignment? I don't think you need the flash, and maybe don't need a telephoto. I've also traveled just as much with just a 35mm and I'm very pleased with what I got with that, no regrets (one time I did need something longer when I was taking stills during an interview shoot, the videographer had a Zeiss 85 in EF mount he let me borrow so that was cool though.) Could even just go with the 24-70, and do you need the tripod head for something specific? Personally I rarely use tripods, just brace/lay on something stable enough when necessary~


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## Eldar (Nov 21, 2013)

I travel quite a bit and normally nobody will control your carry on. They give it a short glance and that´s it. But certain airlines, especially the low cost ones, like Ryan Air, will weigh your carry on. A clear warning is a weight restriction as low as 15lb. I saw Lufthansa having their restriction for carry on set to 1 item at max 11kg/24,25lb on economy and 2 items on business class. Some of these airlines also require that you put your carry on into a maximum size casket at check in. If it does not fit, you have to check it (and pay). Some also tag your carry on, to show that it has been controlled properly.

You can fix some of the weight issue by having a jacket with deep pockets. Put some of the compact high weight items, e.g. batteries and maybe one of the smaller lenses. I have never seen or heard of anyone checking jackets.


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## Rienzphotoz (Nov 22, 2013)

Vigood said:


> The first question is that, for all of you that have travelled internationally with camera gears, how do you get around the weight limitation?
> 
> The second question is that should I just give up on bringing the flash, tripod head (probably put the head in checked in luggage), and 70-200mm? It would reduce the weight by at least 5lbs and I will be fine.
> 
> The final question is with regards to the bag dimension limitation. Do you think I can get by with a carry on bag that is 3 cm wider than the required width? or am I forced to get a new bag (i hope this is not the case)? When I bought the kata 205, I specifically factored in international travel and based on my research back then, this bag is supposed to fit...


I travel frequently between, Middle East, Europe and India ... one thing I've learned is to make sure the dimensions of the carry on baggage is smaller than the respective airline's prescribed dimensions ... I then wrap my camera/lenses in t-shirts/singlets (this is to protect them from getting scratched) ... I am allowed 7KG, but I pack in the below gear in my carry on luggage and no one stops to ask for weighing because the bag looks so small:
5D MK III
Nikon D7100 
16-35 L II
24-70 VC
70-200 L IS II
150-500 OS
Mac Book Pro (2013)
Batteries, power adapter, charger etc
With my bag and the above gear it works out to 12+ KG
I remove lens hood and tripod collars on the lenses (they go in the check-in luggage)
My small carry-on bag has wheels so I just drag it (without wheels its easy for the airline guys to notice the weight being carried on shoulders).
Carrying a size bigger than what your airline allows will most likely get them to weigh it ... especially if the flight is full (if the flight isn't full, they tend to be more charitable).
All the best for your trip.


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## 360_6pack (Dec 23, 2013)

Hi. I've just spent 6 weeks in Europe, USA & England travelling from Perth Australia. I had in my Canon backpack a 5dIII, 16-35L II, 24-105L, 70-300L, charger, 11" HP laptop and spare battery and cards. I had the 16-36 on my camera and took 85% of my photos with it and the rest with the 70-300. I think the small backpack size helped me not have a problem anywhere. I would suggest you consider if you really need the tripod and flash, the 5dIII really does take excellent shots in very low light without a flash. I didn't miss my flash at all and took over 3,300 photos in all sorts of lighting conditions. I also found I could have just carried the 16-35 & 70-300.

Michael


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## Don Haines (Dec 23, 2013)

Vigood said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I will need another help from all of you experts out there.
> 
> ...



Size: If they get anal, they will want you to place the backpack in a box that is the dimension limits..... if it fits, you are ok. If your luggage is soft-sided, that extra 3 cm will probably squeeze in.

Weight: Get rid of a pound or two by putting something heavy in your pocket... but do not make it a battery... airport security has a habit of throwing out batteries... I'd put the tripod head and the batteries (spare camera batteries, flash batteries) and the battery charger into the checked luggage.


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## surapon (Dec 23, 2013)

Vigood said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I will need another help from all of you experts out there.
> 
> ...




Dear Vigood.
Please do not worry about the size and the weight of your camera backpack,, although some of small airplane have not enough for the overhead bin, , BUT, I put my big 48 Pounds camera back pack under my seat at the front legs space which very standard for big or small airplane---I fly around the world( Include in USA =3+ times per year) including small 14 seat airplane too.
The Tricks are, If Small airplane and not have big space of Overhead Cabinet bin, They will give the ticket and put on the baggage and send to under belly of airplane, if they see you carry baggage by your hand, BUT I just use only 1 belt of my big backpack and swing on my one shoulder AND HIDE BEHIND MY BACK, WHEN I WALK TO THE FINAL GATE AND CHECK MY TICKET BEFORE WALK IN TO THE AIRPLANE---YES, HIDE BEHIDE MY BACK, WHEN I WALK ON THE AIRPLANE,and the ticket controler do not see mu big size backpack behind my back, I WILL TRY TO PUT ON THE OVERHEAD BIN FIRST, IF IT NOT FIT, I JUST PUT IN THE LEG SPACE, AND WORK FOR ME IN EVERY TIMES.

Good Luck
Surapon


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## RGF (Dec 23, 2013)

Last year I was flying from Cape Town to Johannesburg and got challenged when I checked my bag. They weighed my back pack and told me to reduce the weight 7 or 8 KG I think. I pleaded my case but to no avail (though I was flying business class and am Star Alliance Gold). So I removed 500 and a Canon 1D M4. They weighed the bag again and it passed and I placed my items back in the bag. Go figure.

Another trip from Johannesburg to Windhoek my computer backpack was challenged as too large so I removed my computer and iPad, carried those on board with me and let them gate check the bags with my other items (chargers, ...). Again agent following the rules but not thinking.

I would gladly pay extra to have my carry on items safe and accepted (not another tix for seat baggage, but a reasonable fee). Tired of these games


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## dgatwood (Dec 24, 2013)

RGF said:


> I would gladly pay extra to have my carry on items safe and accepted (not another tix for seat baggage, but a reasonable fee). Tired of these games



Strongly agreed. Lufthansa and British Airways are both on my "will not fly unless there's no alternative" list as a result of these policies.

As for how I get around it, it's actually pretty simple, though it's a pain in the backside. First, you have to realize that the carriers generally don't have weight limits for "personal items", which must be roughly purse-sized. So:

[list type=decimal]
[*]My travel tripod rides in my checked bag, and my camera bag also rides in my checked bag (filled with clothing).
[*]I hang my camera around my neck with a moderately heavy lens.
[*]I put my next two heaviest lenses into a separate large fanny pack.
[*]I carry the rest of my gear in a rolling backpack. They usually won't give it a second glance because it doesn't look like it might be over the size limit, and thus it probably won't be over the weight limit, either.
[*]I put my laptop in a small separate bag that comes out of the side of the backpack.
[*]I find some other passenger flying with me who has only one carry-on item and ask them if they would be willing to carry my laptop if they scream about the main bag's weight.
[/list]

The fanny pack's weight doesn't count, and the backpack's weight without the laptop is under the limit, so as long as I have someone to carry the laptop, I'm good.


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