SANParks.org Forums

OMG… I would rather not get on the plane than check my camera bag… I have done a ton of traveling with my camera equipment and I think I have it sorted out, for my camera equipment (1D, 100-400, 24-70, HUGE canon charger???, Flash+Better Beamer, cleaning equipment, wireless hotspot, and a bunch of other stuff, no binoculars for me) I use the Kata bag http://tinyurl.com/awyzqas and guys can take a second smaller carry-on so I use a little Tumi bag for iPad, toiletries and a change of clothes, (I have a shower, change of clothes and good meal in London) I took a tripod a couple times to Kruger but for the hassle vs the times I used it it just wasn’t worth it so I leave it at home now. My Kata bag is small enough that it can fit under the seat in front of me on the small plane that goes from JHB-KMIA, there is NO WAY I would check it, one time the guy on the ramp at Johannesburg airport said I should put my bag on the cart when we were boarding the plane and I said no its camera equipment and he said "oh, ok, no problem"

Why is that anne-marie? so you can prove that you are coming home with the same equipment you left with?

or maybe they think is not real cameras.... but something can explode
was a lot of customs's staffs and don't know where I can shoot

Oh, ok, I get it, the same reason they want you to run your laptop, make sure its not a hollow shell packed with contraban.

Shutterbug,
I have had the same problem with the JHB-KMIA flight but one time they were absolutely firm that I couldn't take my camera bag on board with me. I told them it was cameras and they didn't care. Finally they let me bring it in, but I couldn't have it at my seat and the flight attendant put it in a closet at the front of the plane. I didn't take my eyes off the closet the entire flight! We always fly Virgin Atlantic SF-LON-JNB. I love the airline but the maxium weight for an item of cabin baggage is 13lb / 6 kg!!! Camera, case and 100-400 will do that! Once there was a woman with a scale in the boarding area and I almost had a heart attack!

Love that Kata bag (work of ART!). Last trip I went with a Nanuk (like a Pelican - HARD sided) and it worked out pretty well. It looks small and doesn't raise any eyebrows as you are checking in. If something LOOKS heavy, you can be in trouble! I can fit in 2 bodies, 10-22mm lens, small mac laptop, small external drive and a few other things. I put the 100-400 in the bottom of my purse. Husband gets one other lens, chargers, ipad, binoculars and other little things. We don't have any room for much else. I am a big believer in NOT putting anything in the check-in that I can not live without. There are too many can't-live-without camera/electronic things!

I agree that the tripod is a huge hassle. I wish there was a small, lightweight one that was really sturdy, but I have never seen one. We go for the beanbags (the kind with 2 legs that fit over the door) and I have been very happy. We fill them with buckwheat hulls. I tried beans and rice once, but the bag was so heavy I couldn't pick it up. The beanbags and all of the backup items (extra chargers, extra cords, extra...) and the cheapo binoc go in the checked bags.

I am soooooooooooooooo ready to pack, but April is a long way away. Too long.

OK so I found something that solves my problem as described in OP! Yay!!

Thats great PantoffelSlippers, are you going to tell us what it is

Yes, what is your solution?????????

Just wanted to check if someone asks ..... LoL

I found something called a PQI Air Card. If you're familiar with eye-fi, it's something similar.

The eye-fi is basically a SD Card that has WiFi capabilities built in. The PQI Air Card works on the same principle except that it uses a micro sd card for storage inside a sd card sized wireless adapter. The advantage of this is that when you need more storage, you just buy a normal micro sd card. You don't need to buy a whole wireless card and adapter kit again.

This means that you can transfer your photos straight from your camera to your iPad without cables, funny connectors or removing your card from the camera. And because it's copied to your iPad, you don't need the laptop which was my primary goal.

Important note: the communication between wifi card and camera is direct. This means that you don't need these devices to be on the same wireless network. The wifi card creates its own wireless network that the iPad connects to.

With the card, you get a free ipad application that you use to connect from the ipad to the wifi card's wireless network. Once connected you can also use the app to configure settings on the card like set a password etc. You can then see from the app, what photos are stored on the camera's memory card and select photos to copy to the iPad.

Two concerns:
- It's not lightening quick. The cards come in different speeds. I got the fastest one and still a little slow.
- I capture in JPEG + RAW. I have not yet been able to transfer both copies of an image. It only copies JPEG. Not sure if it's a limitation or if I need to configure it to copy both.

I bought the PQI Air Card 16GB Class 10 (fastest current speed rating) for R999.

I previously bought two iPad camera connector kits and couldn't get either to work. At the moment, this air card is the best solution I could find to date.

Thanks for the info PantoffelSlippers.
I have the Eye-Fi Pro X2 card and it does transfer RAW files but in the "real world" it is as slow as molasses and now it lives in my camera room and I have gone back to direct transfer (pull the card out and stick it into the reader)
Have you tried your PQI card yet ? would love to know what sort of transfer speeds you are getting, speed is everything to me because I shoot in RAW and my camera auto powers off after 30 seconds which I dont want to change because I can get up to 1500 shots on a single charge and I really like that.
I have to say I also look forward to doing the transfer at the end of the day, especially if I am in Kruger

I have one of these ipad camera connection kits, but have never used it.
Will probably bring it with me to SA this week.

Are they worth while?

Yoda,

Bring it!

Some friends here on the forum reported that they work great.

I personally bought two kits and neither work for me. I think they're just poor quality. Maybe they work for you though.

Where in SA you going? (If i may ask)

Cheers