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I’m on my final flight to New Delhi. I never bemoan long flights because I enjoy the time to read and revel in the fact that I’m not on a steamer ship (plus I use my frequent flier miles to upgrade to business class).
Last year I wrote about Packing Camera Gear for Flights which is still relevant (see below for the new luggage in which I put the Pelican case for flights). So this time I thought I would mention a few travel and photo items that might interest you.
No one will ever convince me that digital photography is less expensive than film. Sure, I don’t have to carry around hundreds of rolls of film but I do bring an abundance of hard drives, accessories and wires. Since I have seen almost everything fail that can fail, I quake with paranoia. All it takes is one bitty wire to break down a system. Therefore I have to bring backups of usb, mini usb, micro usb, firewire 400, firewire 800, firewire 400 to 800, ipod cords, adapters, and endless power chargers. And, all those cords take up lots of room. Thanks to an article in MacWorld a few months ago Shrinking your Mobile World, I was spurred on to abandon my long cords supplied with the devices and search for short ones (sadly short cords are not less expensive, au contraire). The links on the MacWorld site helped but finding short firewire cords wasn’t that simple. Finally I stumbled upon www.usbfirewire.com. And here are some of the wires I’m bring with me. None are over 9″ except the usb extension cord in case I do need a long one. I love them!
I also found a great travel vest from Scotte Vest. This is not a photo vest but a vest to be worn on planes and other travel situations. It is very evolved and even has little cards in each pocket explaining how it can be used. There are conduits in the vest for ipod cords, a clip for a micro cleaner cloth, hidden pockets for change, etc. At first I thought there were too many pockets but at least they are all slim lined and not bulky.
However, it is definitely not made for tropical weather.
I was roasting inside the Bangkok airport (and it is air-conditioned). I will have to reluctantly abandon it for the rest of my travels in India and Myanmar. Pity… maybe they will make a tropical one soon! I also like that they are tapered differently for women and men.
Someday I’m going to design the perfect lightweight photo vest, because I have tried and rejected all of them. Stay tuned for WierGear — a series of unpadded, lightweight stuff that we all need!
… Now I’m in New Delhi; jetlagged and up at 5am to finish this blog post. I had to take the vest off in the New Delhi airport and it is packed away for my return international flight in December. It certainly will be cool enough at that time to wear it.
Here is one more item that I have been traveling with for years and years — the Eagle Creek Market Pouch
I swear by it because it means that it is always hooked to my belt so I yet to lose a passport, money, and I always have a sundry of small useful items with me. Plus it fits under my camera bag waist strap so it is hidden away from searching fingers.
Look at all the stuff that fits in it! (I have an older model but the new ones look similar). I’ve spread it out on my bed for you and I think it is quite impressive!
Yes, that is a small bag of hot red chili because I can’t live without it (although it does seem strange that I have add chili to India food but they never believe me that I like it really spicy). And I keep a compass, flashlight, and Purell on that small carabiner swinging from the pouch; children covet it.
I have been a BIG fan of Eagle Creek stuff since they first began as a small company eons ago.
So while I’m on the subject of Eagle Creek — I purchased (yes, the world does not shower me with free gear) for this trip two new bags. One is the new HC2 Hovercraft Upright 25 which fits my Pelican Case (plus other stuff) perfectly; it is rigid enough to protect it for international flights. And a new carry-on roller since I had utterly destroyed the last one and even duct tape wasn’t doing the job any longer — the HC2 Hovercraft Upright 22. Yep, my Lowepro Orion fits inside as well as two extra camera bodies, an extra lens, 2 Rugged Lacie harddrives, a jacket and other stuff. I just wish I had gotten blue ones instead of black because everyone has black luggage and it would be easier to identify off the luggage carousel. So instead I have electric blue luggage tags. And, last year I purchased the HC2 Hovercraft Duffel 30 for my clothes since it is lighter, a bit bigger, and less rigid than the Upright but it still has those magic wheels.
Another essential travel item is a flat sink stopper and powdered Ivory Snow because I refuse to pay for outrageously priced hotel laundry.
Finally, I have decided that an Amazon Kindle is a worthy purchase (wish I had the new International one). I am a voracious reader so bringing books on trips has always been a weight issue. Now all I have to worry about is not losing the power cord!
And I’m off to Jodphur tomorrow. I’m thrilled to be out photographing again soon! More blog posts to come.
Excelsior!
I’m in not-so-sunny Seattle teaching a workshop at the wonderful Art Wolfe workshops (if you don’t know about these new workshops take a look at http://www.artwolfe.com/workshops/index.html
So I am in the teaching mode. Last night I received this question:
“It looks like my current job is going to take me back to Japan (I love Japan) and probably Denmark or Germany. I can’t imagine traveling without the camera. So, I was wondering how you handled carrying your equipment on the plane. What do you trust to check-on and what do you not? The camera and lenses don’t leave my side, but what about all of the peripherals? I’m not very trusting when it comes to airport baggage handlers.”
For the main international flights I put my LowePro Orion AW bag inside a regulation size Eagle Creek roller carry-on that also holds my hard drives, extra camera body, camera charger, and such. I take all my little accessories out of my camera bag and put them in a separate pouch so it fits and it is also simplier if they ask to look inside my camera bag. I carry the a Lowepro Tropolis 1250 as my “briefcase ” with my computer, wallet, and things I need on the flight (contact solution, book, magazines, food, back and neck pillows, sleeping pills, etc.).
I want to make sure that if my luggage is delayed or (horrors!) lost that I can step off the plane and begin photographing. So don’t forget to hand carry your camera charger!
For my extra flash, filters, camera and battery chargers, extra cords, sensor cleaning stuff, and a myraid of other accessories (see my website for the entire list)– I pack them inside a small Pelican case (with all the inserts removed) and put it inside my duffel bag padded by all my clothes and such. There is no way I can hand-carry all my gear these days, and this is a workable solution for me. I put a nice note inside saying “TSA. Fragile Photo Gear. Please close carefully and completely”. I assume they will look inside, which they do 50% of the time. I use TSA locks on my checked luggage.
Occasionally I will check this hard case as luggage for short flights or it can be hand carried onto a plane.
I also pack my tripod in my luggage (I hand hold 95% of my shots).
I’m back from Mongolia and I am sad to say that my enthusiasm for the Hyperdrive Colorspace O’s is greatly diminished. As, I mentioned in a previous post I purchased two cases and added OWC 320GB drives. After only the second download (8 GB Sandisk Extreme IV cards) on one of the Hyperdrives the battery light went red and would not hold a charge unless it was plugged in. The other Hyperdrive was fine for two more downloads and then the battery light also went red AND it would not work even when it was plugged it. (After it “rested” for a week I was able to use it with external power but the battery still would not hold a charge.) Another fellow on the trip also had two Hyperdrives Colorspace O’s and one of them had the same problem (and resulted in losing all of the images he had downloaded), luckily the other was fine. So, it was obviously not an isolated case. (Another woman on the tour had one Hyperspace drive and it worked fine.)
When I returned I immediately tried to contact Hyperdrive to sort out the problem. I used their support email (3 times) but did not get a response for a week. I tried to call but could not connect with a live person.
I finally did receive an email response asking if it could have been the cold weather (a reasonable question) and offered to send me replaceable batteries (greatly appreciated). I responded that it was not a problem of cold weather, that there seems to be a serious battery issue since it happened to three drives belong to two people purchased at different times. (I had put in OWC drives but the other fellow had bought Hyperdrives with drives included.)
I suspect it is either a problem with 220 or, most likely, that we were using a generator for power and that creates extra issues. I was able to charge the Hyperdrives when I returned home to 110 and they are now showing a green battery light. But, they did not work in Mongolia, when I really needed them to work. (Although I had other backup options with me, so it was not a huge problem. I never trust a new system that has not been tested thoroughly.)
As of now, I cannot endorse the Hyperdrive Colorspace O digital wallets (at least for those of us who need alternative power such as generators; I will be testing solar possibilities soon.) A pity.
And, I would like to know if anyone else has had this problem?
I am leaving next month for Myanmar and India and will “test” the Hyperdrives with the replacement batteries and more 220 (my real backup will be with a computer and external Lacie Rugged Drives, as it was in Mongolia).
Hopefully, Hyperdrive will give me a complete answer this week. I will keep you posted.
Update October 2: Still have not gotten a clear answer from Hyperspace. I’m trying!!!
Update November 2/ Dateline Bangkok: Still have not gotten a clear answer from Hyperspace. I emailed them, again, two weeks ago before I left for Myanmar. I just returned to Bangkok and there has been no answer. I emailed them again today.
Update June 20, 2009: I will post a new entry about my contemporary experiences with the Hyperdrives later this summer.
I am leaving for Mongolia next week to lead a photo tour. Of course, I am looking forward it, but at the moment PACKING is the challenge. There will be a wide range of temperatures, challenges with lack of electricity, and small planes with severe weight limitation.
I do not skimp on my camera equipment; I take my full camera bag (a Lowepro Orion AW) hoisting a Canon 1Ds MarkIII with a 15mm, 28mm f/1.8, 24-105mm, 100-400, and my favorite a 16 -35mm f/2.8. (my full equipment list is listed on my website if you are interested), along with a 580 EX II flash, wireless transmitter, Gepe card case, a Singh-Ray polarizer and a Singh-Ray Vari-ND, a couple of Lumi-Quest flash diffuser and bounce accessories, and other sundry items. Yes, it all fits. Very dense at about 25lbs. I am also bringing a Canon 5D that I converted to InfraRed and a 1Ds Mark II as a back up.
Of course I have the battery chargers, extra camera batteries, extra cords, etc. I won’t list all the accessories here. But, I have seen almost everything go wrong in the field so I am prepared.
The next decision was how to back up my images in the field. I have decided not to take a laptop on the tour (I will leave it behind in Ulan Bator in a locked left luggage, well protected in a hard case.) Instead I am taking two Hyperdrive Colorspace O digital wallets — thanks to the advice of Jim Elferdink, author of a number of those Missing Manuals that are essential in my world
Jim suggested: “To save money I bought just the case from Hyperdrive and then bought a 320 GB drive from OWC for about $120. It’s not hard to install the drive and format it.”
He was right it was a cinch to plop the Hitachi drives in the Colorspace O cases (they even give you a screw driver). So now I have two 320GB digital wallets that cost A LOT less than an Epson.
The rest of the stuff is easy to pack .. it is always the camera gear that is thought provoking.
PS: I am not much of a tripod user but I am taking a Gitzo Traveler Tripod 6x Carbon G1550T. It is not the sturdies tripod, but I do not use large lenses and it is the perfect tripod for conserving space and weight.
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