3 weeks out and Im starting to figure out what to pack. Ive never traveled with my Rebel before (or my tripod for that matter) so Im getting nervous how to do this - especially with the carry-on fees. Right now I just have a shoulder bag but I also might want to take my laptop. I have been looking at backpacks but dont want anything too bulky. I know the Lowpro Fastpack 250 holds a laptop and camera and several lenses. But do I really need to spend another 100 bucks right now? How do you guys pack? Maybe tomorrow that will be on my to do list. Oh and get this. I do not have a tripod bag so I took the bag from one of those fold out chairs we take to concerts, etc and it works perfectly! Hey, Im frugal. LOL
I do something that I think is a bit unusual. I have a backpack that has become my camera pack, but it's really just a normal backpack. I stuck a holster pack into it for a place to hold my camera plus to give it a little additional cushioning, and then stuck a couple lens pouches in beside the holster to hold lenses and cushion them. I can slip my tripod into one of the side water bottle holders and further cinch it in place by attaching a compression strap around it (something the pack already has, normally for tightening up the pack if it's lightly loaded). The only problem is that my longer lenses are too long for the holster pack. The camera ends up resting on the lens, rather than having the whole body cradled by the holster. That's not good. For travel I superload the pack, electronics that I don't want to put into checked luggage (this is from before the luggage became an extra fee, I just didn't trust my gear to baggage handlers) get crammed into a front pocket. The pack is big enough that sometimes it's a tight fit trying to get it into the under seat stowage area. Then once at the hotel I unload all the stuff that's going to stay in the room. The advantage is that I can get into the pack without having to lay it flat like the bigger dedicated camera packs. When it's less tightly loaded I can get the camera out of it or put it away again without taking the pack off, I just swing it around to the front and wear it kind of backwards. For years it's allowed me to tuck my camera away just before boarding rides that I don't want to have it out for, like, say, Dinosaur. However lately it's started to get awfully full, the 400mm lens has taken up quite a bit of space and I'm starting to have to set it on the ground to get into it anyway. It would make a lot of sense to get a dedicated camera pack, I could store my gear so much better and have it all organized. With a backpack that's just a bit physically larger I could get a lot more effective storage room because of the organization, even for things not directly related to photography like, say, my Ipod. But I'm kind of attached to this pack. It is my travel pack, my constant companion. It has a built in rain fly that has been essential during some Disney trips. I can store a water bottle in the side pocket and retrieve it without taking the pack off AND put it back. The pack and I are a well oiled machine. I just can't bear to mess with a history like that. The one other thing is that dedicated camera packs advertise that you're carrying camera gear. To me they've always looked like "mug me" signs. Admittedly if I have my tripod attached to my pack that's an even bigger flag, but I don't really carry it that often. There are some less conspicuous camera bags, both models that are lesser known and also some major manufacturers have started making low key bags that look more like normal backpacks. But those are typically smaller too. At the stage I'm at now I need storage space for a 400mm lens, you just don't get that from small packs. Oh, here, IF you want to buy a new pack (yes, they are pricey, camera packs seem to get pricey a lot faster than normal ones, for the price of a good large camera backpack I could get a truly massive internal frame pack that I could use for a week's worth of backpacking), check this site out: http://www.cambags.com/ They have reviews which can be nice, but what I really like is they also have pictures showing how real people have loaded up the various packs. It can give a better idea of just how much room they provide and what sorts of things you can store in them.
I haven't flown since the new luggage fees started either, but I don't plan on doing anything different the next time I fly. Depending on how much stuff I'm taking, I will either take my Tamrac Pro 12 shoulder bag or my Tamrac Cyber Pack 8 backpack. The laptop goes in my laptop bag with all of the battery chargers and card readers for the camera equipment and the tripod goes in a trash bag in my suitcase. Be careful how much you stuff into a camera backpack. I got a large backpack that Tamrac says will fit into the overhead bins of planes, but when I went to Yellowstone last January, I had to take stuff out of the front pocket of my backpack to get it into the overhead bin of the 757, and I had to take even more stuff out of it to get it under the seat of the tiny jet that took us into Bozeman. While that backpack has a pocket for a laptop, there is no way I could have gotten the pack with the laptop in it into the overhead bin or under the seat. I don't know what the new rules are, but they used to allow you to take one carry on and one personal item (briefcase, purse, etc.) onto the plane for free. I counted my backpack as the carry on and my laptop bag as the personal item (briefcase).
Last time I flew, I carried my camera body and shorter glass in my Lowepro SlingShot 200 AW. a couple of front compartments for memory cards etc. I have a separate case for my 70-200 f2.8 which attaches to the back pack via their SlipLock system. I carry my laptop in a separate bag along with the electronic gear I may want to access while I am traveling. If my family is traveling with me, I recruit my son to carry some of the gear since all he really takes is his phone and ipod. As for my tripod and monopod, they get packed with the checked baggage. So far, no problem. However, hopefully for Christmas, I will be getting a larger bag that can hold the longer glass as well, just don't know which one to get.
How do you like th Slingshot? I was looking at that one. Ill probably go backpack style eventually though. I hate the sweat that you get from slingpacks. I think for now Im just taking my shoulder bag. It fits into a regular backpack and my laptop still fits in the backpack too so Im good. Thanks for the input though!
