Have you ever wondered how to protect your camera gear when travelling? Anyone who’s ever invested significant sums in their photographic equipment will be instinctively antsy whenever they step outside with it. Unwanted drops and knocks can inflict more than just cosmetic damage, leading to expensive repairs or worse.
But now with better weather on the horizon and travel increasingly on our radar, there are a few additional pointers to keep in mind when taking our cameras and lenses on longer trips to far-flung destinations. Here’s a checklist to help keep essential gear well protected when travelling.
Travel light
Unless you’re on an assignment that requires loads of gear, it’s best to assess in advance what you really need to take along. Keep it to a minimum, and ideally just enough to fit in carry-on luggage that you can keep close at all times. Just make sure that your camera bag is well padded and meets the airline’s carry-on restrictions. When this option is unavoidable for larger loads, a sturdy hard case is the way to go.
Expensive lenses deserve special attention and should be packed in separate protective pouches or capsules, even when transported in padded carry-on. Most are dust- and moisture-proof, and capsules often offer extra protection on both ends where the lens is most vulnerable.
Tip: There’s no guarantee that cameras, lenses and the like will withstand the bumps and bruises inflicted by busy baggage handlers and steep airport luggage chutes, but if there isn’t room for everything in your carry-on, consider rolling your gear up snuggly in layers of shock-absorbing clothing within your checked-in luggage.
Keep it clean
Depending on your destination, you may expect to encounter sandy beaches, muddy roadways or greasy fingertips from street food in bustling cities. Don’t forget to pack a lens-cleaning kit and other items like a micro-fibre cloth to keep a camera spotless and free of potential contaminants. If you’re heading into humid weather, keep a silica gel sachet in your camera bag to prevent mold.
Tip: A protective lens filter is another worthwhile investment – they’re safer to clean than a smudged front lens element, and less expensive to replace if seriously damaged.
Stock up on storage
When you spend days, weeks or longer documenting every memorable moment of your long-awaited trip, it would be a shame to suddenly find yourself wanting for storage – and perhaps stranded somewhere that additional memory simply isn’t available. It pays to stock up in advance, and a handy SD card wallet is great way to keep the cards organized and protected too.
Tip: It’s also a good idea to back up your data often – whether onto your laptop, portable hard drive or into the cloud – because accidents, loss and theft can happen when travelling, and the only thing more precious and worth protecting than your camera gear are the memories you capture with it.