After today's sad events I do not know how we are going to travel with our photographic equipment. Possibly we all had to check in all our valuable eqipment to be mistreated by the handlers. Today, in the UK, only a plastic bag with your wallet, passport and little else - certainly not electronics or food/water - were allowed through customs.
BBC news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4780815.stm
El Pais: http://www.elpais.es/articulo/internacional/policia/britanica/desarti
cula/red/planeaba/hacer/estallar/aviones/vuelo/elpporint/20060810elpe
puint_4/Tes/
Looking at how the World is going, things are just likely to get worse... but lets all have some faith in the human race!
What I have found interesting in the comments from security people is the emphasis on batteries. That even a small watch battery could be used to detonate an explosive.
To date, when I fly, I take camera and lenses as carry on with the various batteries. Other gear such as tripods or tools I'm content to put in the cargo hold. If there may be a prohibition on batteries, will they let them be stored as cargo separately from the photo gear?
If cameras get relegated to cargo it may mean photographers will be not only looking at more camera insurance, but performance bonds. It is only too easy to imagine showing up at some location to shoot, find out the gear may be in another country and have to ante up for a delayed or canceled shoot.
Further on this topic, an individual on the Lightstalkers site posted this regarding insurance in Britain.
"Apparently insurance is invalid as the UK policy is a manifestation of the ‘war on terror’ and so voids your insurance….nice."
Would be interesting to find out what American policy is.
Whether there is any truth to it or not, one individual indicated that some lenses might be air tight enough to be damaged in a depressurized cargo cabin.
It is true most policies exclude war, riot, civil commotion and the like. Of course if you and your camera go down in the plane, I don't think you'll be worried about the insurance. I hope the plans were thwarted for good!
Dave wrote: "Whether there is any truth to it or not, one individual indicated that some lenses might be air tight enough to be damaged in a depressurized cargo cabin."
First off, the pressure difference probably isn't going to be large enough to cause a problem to a sealed lens. Maybe the biggest lenses, but even then, I doubt it.
Secondly, cargo compartments are not depressurized! They may not be temperature controlled and air conditioned, but they are definitely under the same pressure as the passenger compartment.
If our photo equipment could not be carried with us in the cabin and we are forced to check it in, it would be more likely for it to get damaged and, therefore, even people who do not have insurance will have to consider it. Looking at it positively, it may bring insurance prices down!
Considering the weight limits to check in, we may have to travel lighter (clothes, etc.) and possibly having to carry two bags: a hard case to transport the equipment during the flight and the other one to carry everything while on destination. If anybody wants to recommend any good, strong, bags (Peli, etc. - I have never used one of these), this may be the time.
And after a comfortable flight, we would find that all our precious photo equipment is intact and waiting to be picked up at the conveyor belt but... in another country!
Pedro Martín
Posted by Bill Pelzmann on August 14, 2006 at 5:55 PM
Further on this topic, an individual on the Lightstalkers site posted this regarding insurance in Britain.
"Apparently insurance is invalid as the UK policy is a manifestation of the ‘war on terror’ and so voids your insurance….nice."
I'm not sure I understand the full context of this quote. Does this mean that camera gear lost because it was required to be checked due to the 'war on terror' is not covered by any camera insurance policy.
I agree, if the plane goes down, I wouldn't really care if the camera equipment is covered.
Posted by Trym Espeseth on August 18, 2006 at 12:38 PM
I travelled in transit thorugh Heathrow last friday from Dar Es Salaam. I Dar we were allowed to bring onlypassport, tickets and wallet aboard. Everything else had to be checked in. At Heatrow I saw that they were just throwing memory cards that people tried to get aboard in a big heap with books etc at the security check in. We ended up at destination(Oslo) 5 o«clock in the morning with no house keys, car keys or baggage. Now it is gone a week and no sign of baggage, photo equipment or anything else. No sensible information to get from BA, which was our carrier. Seems to me that they dont care about their responsibilities. We spend nearly three weeks in Tanzania doing a lot of photography, but everything seems to be lost.
Discussion
7 repliesBBC news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4780815.stm
El Pais: http://www.elpais.es/articulo/internacional/policia/britanica/desarti
cula/red/planeaba/hacer/estallar/aviones/vuelo/elpporint/20060810elpe
puint_4/Tes/
Looking at how the World is going, things are just likely to get worse... but lets all have some faith in the human race!
Best wishes,
Pedro Martín
To date, when I fly, I take camera and lenses as carry on with the various batteries. Other gear such as tripods or tools I'm content to put in the cargo hold. If there may be a prohibition on batteries, will they let them be stored as cargo separately from the photo gear?
If cameras get relegated to cargo it may mean photographers will be not only looking at more camera insurance, but performance bonds. It is only too easy to imagine showing up at some location to shoot, find out the gear may be in another country and have to ante up for a delayed or canceled shoot.
Dave
"Apparently insurance is invalid as the UK policy is a manifestation of the ‘war on terror’ and so voids your insurance….nice."
Would be interesting to find out what American policy is.
Whether there is any truth to it or not, one individual indicated that some lenses might be air tight enough to be damaged in a depressurized cargo cabin.
Dave
First off, the pressure difference probably isn't going to be large enough to cause a problem to a sealed lens. Maybe the biggest lenses, but even then, I doubt it.
Secondly, cargo compartments are not depressurized! They may not be temperature controlled and air conditioned, but they are definitely under the same pressure as the passenger compartment.
-Paul
Considering the weight limits to check in, we may have to travel lighter (clothes, etc.) and possibly having to carry two bags: a hard case to transport the equipment during the flight and the other one to carry everything while on destination. If anybody wants to recommend any good, strong, bags (Peli, etc. - I have never used one of these), this may be the time.
And after a comfortable flight, we would find that all our precious photo equipment is intact and waiting to be picked up at the conveyor belt but... in another country!
Pedro Martín
I'm not sure I understand the full context of this quote. Does this mean that camera gear lost because it was required to be checked due to the 'war on terror' is not covered by any camera insurance policy.
I agree, if the plane goes down, I wouldn't really care if the camera equipment is covered.