Traveling with M9 and three lenses

[rob_x2004]

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I would apologise for presenting a 2001 experience as a current problem.

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[Concorde-SST]

Well, we had a interior cabin with a small window. I do not like the

appearance of the QM - too big and in my opinion not that kind of

ship you associate with a classic transatlantic liner. Stabilizators

were no problem, I am used to be on a ship.

 

I always fly with a patagonia light rain jacket - they have very big

pockets and its easy to put 3-4 Leica lenses inside (though less

with the Noctilux). The M9 without lens will fit easily in my jeans

pocket Long live the M.

 

a

 

The QM2 has even better stabilizers than the QE2 - and odds are you can get a balcony. Don't cross in the Queen Vic or the new QE, though - not designed to handle the North Atlantic.

 

I travel with M9 around my neck with 1 lens, and a 7x7x7 Nat Geo. bag that holds everything else (3 lenses or two lenses and a body + misc. cards and batteries) and will fit under the seat.

 

QM2 anchored off St. George's, Grenada - 12/2009 - M9 & 21mm

[rob_x2004]

Don't travel to the US - I won't.

 

Youre just pissed about the new rules about leaving your seat and nothin in your lap in the last hour inbound. Ask the flying hostie for a perrier before the deadline fill the bottle up and hand it off in the last hour instead of visiting the heads:p.

[gwelland]

Aha ... warm Budweiser

[pnoble]

I would apologise for presenting a 2001 experience as a current problem.

 

Same problem: someone trying to detonate PETN on a flight to bring it down. Then it was Richard Reid with PETN in his shoe. This time it is Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab with PETN sewn into his underpants (and or attached to his leg). Reportedly just 3oz/80grams, which is evidently enough to blow a hole in the fuselage, assuming you can get the detonator to work.

 

And the other problem is that the US House of Representatives is (or at least was) about to permanently ban the use of the millimeter wave full body scanners that can easily detect this stuff because it also lets the scanner operators see our naughty bits!

 

And here is the ultimate irony as reported in today's New York Times:

 

"Amsterdam’s airport has 15 of these machines — more than just about any airport in the world — but an official there said Sunday that they were prohibited from using them on passengers bound for the United States, for a reason she did not explain."

 

Hopefully going forward security will trump prudery here in the good old USofA!

[jaapv]

I can tell you they don't use them on anybody going anywhere else either. Schiphol is a bit of a sieve for terrorists - as all airports are, but they manage to clog up the works for legitimate travelers wonderfully.:mad:

[jrc]

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There are machines that will detect PETN, and, of course, the body scanners could see it. I think the main reason no planes have been blown up is the relative unsophistication of the bombers. I think body scanners will sooner or later be mandatory. Probably after the next plane is blown to pieces and a few hundred people die.

 

There's also the problem of political correctness, at least here in the US. We insist that checks be random, in the name of "fairness," while secretly hoping that the checkers are profiling like crazy. My late wife was once picked for a check, for a flight from Minneapolis to Denver -- she was American, of Northern European extraction, and sixty years old. How many terror threats have been presented by such a person? If I were a young, middle eastern Muslim, I wouldn't mind being "profiled," because I wouldn't want to be blown up any more than anyone else. What you want is effective protection, not "fair" protection. That's why the Israelis are so good at it -- I think they are actually race blind, but they have specific, sophisticated profiles, and they go after them pretty hard. If you are a young Muslim man traveling from Tel Aviv, you won't be blowing up anything...but neither will you if you're a young, blond, European or American woman, because you'll have been examined equally well.

 

I've never had camera equipment stolen from checked luggage, but maybe because it is usually big. (My daughter once lost a small, cheap point and shoot.) I have houses both in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, and travel between them several times a year. If I'm taking the Nikon system, I usually will put the f2.8 zooms in regular checked baggage, and carry the body on board. I keep hoping somebody will steal the old-style 70-200 VR, so I can justify buying the new one. 8-)

[batmobile]

The insistence of 'random' searches in one of the most idiotic aspects to security today. Its not 'cost neutral', it actively diminishes the effectiveness of security, but truth be told, its a bit of a lie... but appearances are everything in this PC world. When the IRA was busy in the UK/NI, I dont recall too many Nigerian pensioners being given the 'special twice over'. That I understood. It was people like me that needed scrutiny: young, white, male and suspicious looking

[brill64]

just to be fair..these days, everyone is a suspect. including you with your m9..

 

..never never ever under any circumstance whenever and wherever check in your leica m gear and lenses. bags get vigorously thrown about and dropped and even stuff carefully packed in a pelican case can get broken!

[Nicoleica]

just to be fair..these days, everyone is a suspect. including you with your m9..

 

..never never ever under any circumstance whenever and wherever check in your leica m gear and lenses. bags get vigorously thrown about and dropped and even stuff carefully packed in a pelican case can get broken!

 

And if it doesn't get broken, it will probably get stolen.

[scc]

FWIW - I have checked my M gear in my suitcases many many times and never had a breakage or theft. This is to destinations in Europe / North America / Asia / Australasia.

 

Take that as you like it - but if you have travel insurance, I probably wouldn't worry about it too much.

[Overgaard]

1) Stay out of US whenever possible. Don't use american airline companies to go anywhere "via US" because any entry into the US, even transit for half an hour, will deploy the full harassment of the Homeland Security.

 

2) Take the M9 over the shoulder and the lenses in pockets. Put charger and other small items in bags. I travel with My M9 over the shoulder, always. Never a problem.

[pgk]

Just use TSA locks. Only TSA have the keys so there should be no problem.

 

I've had stuff stolen from a TSA locked Pelicase in the US (no option but to use this way of carrying as size of contents meant it had to be checked in) - the thief had gone for small low value accessories over which there would be little fuss . I and friends have had stuff in Pelicases damaged too - I can only assume that the cases have been dropped from a significant height as this is the only way I figure that sufficient forces could have been generated.

 

By the way, I've just bought a Deuter Camera Case XS which will take lenses such as the 50/1.4 (a near perfect fit) and which offer sufficient padding and is still small enough to drop into a pocket - they do slightly larger version too.

[Noel Holland]

..never never ever under any circumstance whenever and wherever check in your leica m gear and lenses. bags get vigorously thrown about and dropped and even stuff carefully packed in a pelican case can get broken!

 

Probably one of my most terrifying sights was the vision of a lone baggage handler at Jackson Hole Airport out on the tarmac throwing bags up in the air and slamming them down onto a conveyor belt to carry them up to the aircrafts hold. Given that this is the main airport for the Grand Tetons National Park and Yellowstone National Park and I was with a group of 20+ Nikon photographers, most of whom were wildlife photographers, I'd hate to think of the repair bill that muscled brained idiot causes in a year. Luckily most of my group are very experienced and we were all carrying our gear in ThinkTanks as carry on (surprising that a 200-400mm will fit in such a small bag). But the memory still send shivers up my spine.

[oronet commander]

Last time I went to Rome, the guy who checked the X-ray machine at the security arch called me "hey, you! "You've got a Leica, don't you?" "Nice!"

 

The M8 was at may handbag and it inmediately grabbed attention. I wouldn't checked in for anything!

[frank_dernie]

I fly 25-50 times a year.

 

I never check anything valuable. If it is shrink wrapped, and x-rays show valuable items, the whole thing will simply disappear.

 

Anything I cannot carry on, (200-400 f4, etc.) I Fedex to my first destination.

 

One of the reasons I usually use Leica when air travel is involved.

 

I hope this is helpful.

 

Regards ... Harold

 

I also fly 30-60 times a year and have done for the last 33 years. Since I have had to carry a computer I have put it in checked baggage. Never been stolen in 15 years and only once delayed the bag, since they diverted it for a security check. There was cosmetic damage since they did not wrap it properly on re-packing.

I have only had bags delayed 4 times in 33 years and over a thousand flights. I -hate- it nowadays, but because of the inconvenience of crowded airports and security, not fear of theft.

My pet hate is too much carry on baggage though.

[gwelland]

Frank,

 

My travel experience is similar to yours. I've never actually lost a bag in nearly two million miles of flown airline travel and the worst I've had have been a couple of torn or bent large roll on suitcase frames. I've never had a problem with Pelican cases or with theft.

 

My pet peeve is also the fact that, even in first or business class, people seem to want to carry on their entire life's belongings ... not to mention inability to pack carry on in the overhead in anything like a considerate manner for others.

[LondonM]

Have to agree with the above 2 posters. Been flying since 1964 (mother airlifted in a helicopter to Elkins W.Va. where I was born !). And occupying seats on planes ever since. Bombay, Beirut, Moscow and hundreds of other semi-exotic (does Raleigh-Durham count ?) destinations. Millions of miles. Never, ever had anything stolen. Never locked a bag. Probably had delayed bags about a dozen times. My SLR gear since the mid 80's was always too heavy to do anything but check. Contax, Alpa, Rollei, Zeiss lenses. All checked. Never lost.

 

BTW, they use the millimeter wave scanners in many Canadian airports on US bound flights as a "secondary screening" approach. Our privacy commissioner (rightly) ruled that security outweighed the privacy issues. The person who views the images is in a different room and cannot see the passengers, and they are to delete the image after the person clears security. Seems simple enough. Problem is these scanners are 20-30% slower than metal detectors. So they slow things down unless you ad that many more. Frankly I'd put up with the inconvenience for the safety. The inconvenience of random searches, bored screeners doing pat downs etc. is totally stupid. Doesn't change anything. Bring on the real technology and let honest people get on with their lives and jobs.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[noah_addis]

I never check anything, though my insurance would cover loss from checked baggage.

 

I generally travel with a small backpack for clothing, a 13-in macbook and a small zippered clear bag with chargers, batteries, cards, two very small hard drives for backup, etc. That bag, the laptop and of course my baggie full of dangerous substances like shampoo and toothpaste can be removed quickly for easy screening, which seems to be appreciated by the security staff.

 

My cameras, two M9s with 35 + 90 mounted and a 28 or 21mm travel inside of my Domke F5XB. It's so small I can't possibly see anyone asking me to check it. It's smaller than many women's purses. In all my years of traveling I've never once had to check a bag of that size. This is, by the way, one of the reasons I switched to Leica in the first place, since a few times I had to check my DSLR gear for various reasons, though luckily nothing ever was lost or damaged.

 

Should I have to check my backpack, which hasn't happened either since it's a very small daypack (more like a book bag), I'd stuff my pockets with a charger, card reader and my backup drives.

 

For me, it's not a matter of the value of the equipment, though it is considerable it's covered by insurance. What is not covered is the time, planning and research involved when I travel to shoot a project. In the case of assignment work, my reputation is on the line. So for me the value of the gear is secondary, it's more important that I have the equipment I need to do my job.

 

On the way home, I suppose my priority changes a bit. If I had to choose I may decide to carry on my laptop and backup drives and check the cameras since losing the photos would not be an option.

 

I'm working on a project now in Madrid so we'll see how the flight home goes...

[arthury]

I do not understand why you have to check in all hand-carried personal items? Are they saying you cannot have a single piece of carry-on item for international flights these days?

 

Like what Andy said, why can't you hang your M9+OneLens around your neck and keep the other 2 lenses on your body somewhere? It always nice to wear a jacket or some kind of outer coat for traveling.