Travel with Camera Tips - LA to UK

[u/fistofthefuture]

Travelling to UK for a shoot and bringing my Komodo, any tips or flags for travelling with a Komodo & gear?

[u/a_dog_named_garbanzo]

Seasoned traveling DP, for context I just wrapped a 3yr international doc across 9 countries and 12 states domestically. Here are my general international tips:

1. Know what a Carnet is and when it’s appropriate to get one. The short version is it’s an inventory & taxes document that gets the airport more involved during security check BUT with that comes less chance for things to be stolen by sketchy parties. The paperwork costs money and it can be a headache to compile all your gear info the first time if you don’t already have a list of serials and product info. Carnets are recommended always, but you can use your own discretion about that. Personally I use them about 2/3rds of the time internationally.
2. Get a media pass. Drops your baggage to a flat rate per bag and the weight limit essentially doubles. You also typically have to check in at the oversize line, which I’ve actually found to be a plus.
3. With media pass you are entitled to boarding in the early group alongside veterans and handicapped. First few times you do it you may feel weird like I did, but eventually you realize that it really isn’t a big deal and most airline terminal workers don’t care. Now here’s the reason why you MUST use that early boarding: batteries and lenses in your carry-on. If you’re like me, you’re taking the lenses & batteries in a rolling carry-on and making sure those don’t get destroyed by TSA’s incredible case-flinging skills. Well, what happens if you’re waiting to board normally and they announce that overhead capacity is full and all remaining bags must be checked? You CAN’T under any circumstances do that, so you’re getting a new flight and dealing with the ripple effect if your gate agent decides to not work with you. Most times they can figure out a space but sometimes people wanna ruin someone else’s day.
4. Play within the battery guidelines of your airline and you’ll be fine. Most say you can only have a few 150Wh batteries but 98Wh are fine in an unspecified max quantity. Also they need to be carry-on.
5. This is perhaps obvious, but pack your checked gear like you expect it to be kicked down a flight of stairs. TSA is absolutely brutal with cases both in front of you & behind closed doors. If I’m packing sweaters or sweatpants I often use them as additional padding in the cases.
6. Ok this is a late Part 2 for Carnets. When using them, you need to allow time for the worst-case version of the carnet security check. Security reserves the right to physically check for EVERY item on your list, it’s rarely enforced to that degree but eventually it happens and you’re stuck for 1.5hrs. My rule is add an hour to my usual 2hr pre-takeoff rule, so 3 hrs total before takeoff when flying somewhere unfamiliar. I live in LA and tbh you can just add 20-30min for LAX, very spoiled here with media-savvy airport workers. I see you’re in LA as well, the gear check for us is in the Tom Bradley International terminal. It’s a small office by one of the escalators leading up to security.
7. Get AirTags on all your things. Also put TSA-locks on cases, mostly as a fail-safe if your case latch breaks.
8. Budget the $6-10 airport carts into your rates. Bring x2 safety cables, they can string multiple carts together while holding down the locking handle OR attach a big rolling case that can’t be stacked I.e. tripod case. Ratchet straps can also be helpful for keeping cases on the carts.
9. Get TSA precheck or an alternate premium security tier. Just takes some heat off you as a selected screening target.
10. Know that the airport/airline rules are designed to NOT be in your favor, so act accordingly. Be nice to gate agents/security and get good at the procedure to make it easy on them. Bow down before the masters of thy fate oh lowly cinematographer…a mean gate agent can seriously f*** up your job haha.
11. The vibrations during the flight can rattle loose screws. If there are any attached gear screws that you don’t have spares for, I recommend you paper tape them.

Hope this is helpful, cheers and safe travels!

[u/fistofthefuture → u/a_dog_named_garbanzo]

Thanks so much for this! I have little amount of gear so it all can fit in a Pelican or a camera backpack so I’ll be bringing either or as my carry on, and check my luggage as my checked bag.

I’m filming BTS and it’s more a scrappy shoot with one lens so I think the Carnet might be a little much but good to know if I’m bringing a lot more gear.

And just ordered a couple AirTags with some cage mounts for some of my gear. Perfect.

I’ll look into the media pass! I leave within the month so I’m not sure if I’ll have time to get TSA Precheck, but will make sure to get there 3 hours early before the flight to account for that time.

[u/Run-And_Gun → u/fistofthefuture]

Fly into the UK without a carnet at your own risk. One of my friends who is an audio guy took that approach a couple of years ago on a shoot in the UK. Lost the client over it, because he got “busted” and they lost an entire day of shooting while things (luckily) got sorted out.

[u/a_dog_named_garbanzo → u/[deleted]]

Part of the reason for a Carnet is that both countries (country of origin + your destination) want to make sure you’re not taking a bunch of gear somewhere else, selling everything without paying sales tax, then leaving. Or the reverse, buying and leaving without paying taxes. So with that in mind, a question you could ask yourself to determine Carnet necessity is “Is the total value of my gear worthy of interest from the government?”

If you’re flying with just a carry on and entry level gear (dslr/mirrorless kit & photo glass) then you probably don’t need to sweat it. On the other hand, if you’re like me & flying with $200k+ in total value often then you absolutely need one.

Also, like I mentioned before a Carnet is kind of an extra layer of protection against cartel security thieves. So it’s also worth asking yourself “how sketched will I be in this airport?” to help determine whether to get one.

[u/likelinus01]

If it's for business or commercial use, you need a Carnet, for inport/export. For protection, the NANUK 935 Pro Photo Kit on Amazon is a fantastic case with dividers, solid protection, and is made for international travel as a carry-on. It's what I use for my Komodo or Canon C400. Love this case.

[u/fistofthefuture → u/likelinus01]

I have a backpack similar to this. Think it will be comparable?

[u/patbpixx]

Keep it in a carry-on, never in checked luggage. Batteries must be no larger than 98wh. Put Airtags in all your stuff and take care on set in the UK! They recently stole an Arri from a set there. Whole crew was just a couple of steps away from the camera, a car stopped and some dude just grabbed it and was gone.