transporting of photo-equipment and lenses

[rameus]

Hey out there!

Finally got my housing for the Nikon D90 and still trying to find out (until August) what the best lenses are. Read a lot about it in different forums and the statements so far are:
- Tokina 10-17 f3.5-4.5 (which I bought since I wanted a fisheye anyway ;-))
- 60mm, don't have anything like that at all (what for? I'm not such a big of a fan of fix focal distance lenses)
- 16-85mm (already had that)

Maybe some more information about my goals in photography. As you can see on my website I have done quite a bit of photography of corals and things on the reef. Since I will be in places where you - fingers crossed - get to see big fish I would like to get the right equipment before I go there. The animals will be quite close (within 3-60ft distance to the diver). And for your information: no they will not be attracted with anything, they're just there. Is the fisheye there any good or do I need the 16-85

An other question which comes with the equipment: how do you transport all these things. So far this was not a big problem since I had my Pelican 1500 case to use for the housing and camera. With the underwater equipment for the DSLR it's a bit more difficult. I would like to have it as my carry-on baggage since this is just too much money to be wasted by someone throwing the case around ;-) Any recommendations on that front?

Thanks anyway for your help!

Thomas

 

[John Gulliver]

With today's stringent airline rules, heavy Pelican cases and their like are out as far as I'm concerned. I sold mine several years ago. I pack my camera, underwater lenses, a spare camera battery, memory cards, charger and cables in a largish padded camera bag, which goes as "one camera" according to IATA rules. My housing (assembled complete with handles), flat port and one strobe, both wrapped in foam, and one arm go in a smallish padded backpack which meets the airlines' rules re dimensions and weight for hand luggage when fully packed. If my checked-in luggage does not arrive at the destination at the same time as I do, which happened to me a couple of years ago on a trip to Indonesia (it arrived three days later), I can then at least take macro shots with one strobe until I have all my photo equipment. Two more strobes (one back-up), my dome port and various other bits and pieces, wrapped in foam and then towels, T-shirts, underwear etc, go in an ordinary hard suitcase which I have lined with thick foam. This worked fine for me on a trip to the Red Sea last November.

 

[didi440]

I pack my camera in its housing and then use a small pelican case (1510) and a camera backpack. The Pelican is my carry one and the backpack is my personal item. I also carry on my regs and mask as I use a prescription mask. I have not had an issue yet with weight. My issue has been with TSA agents who don't know what dive equipment looks like.