Always plan as “Carry On”, cameras & lenses.
Option 1 : All in One Bag Carry On Approach :
The Think Tank Airport Security ( a roller bag) or, the Airport Addicted which is a backpack. Both these bags will take all of the 600mm with lens hood reversed and then some more. Even though the “Airport Security” is a roller, the weight with all the gear in one bag can be a big issue especially if you have a weak back or, not physically fit enough.
Its about the 8 inches: With the Nikon 600mm if you want to include the reversed lens hood you need a bag which has a depth of 8 inches on one side and a total length of 19 inches the lens itself being 17.5 inches in length.
Here are the Nikon 600 VR measurements:
Length of Lens without Lens Hood : 17.5 inches
Maximum Diameter of Lens without Lens Hood: 6.5 inches
Length of Lens with Lens Hood in reversed position: 19 inches.
Length of Lens with Lens hood attached for shooting: 25 inches
Length of Lens Hood when stored one inside the other : 7 inches
Max Diameter of Lens Hood : 8 inches
Max Diameter of Nikon Supplied Lens Hood Cover: 9 inches
So you can use the Airport Security but then its only for transport in “civilised” conditions and I doubt one can use it under field conditions. Though I guess you can use this to work out of, when in a car or vehicle.
Option 2: The Two Bag Carry On Approach:
How about if we split the load into two bags ? One a backpack say a Lowepro Photo Trekker AW / Lowepro Vertex 300. One could carry all the small stuff in this backpack not including the Lens hood for the 600mm. The lens hood soft black cover from Nikon has a 9 inch diameter. Lens hood alone is 7.75 inches in diameter. Another option is to check in the Lens Hood in the third bag along with your clothes.
The second bag I’d recommend is a, Pelican 1510 or, a Stormcase iM2500 . Both are Airline carry on size hard cases. The Stormcase iM2500 is available at about INR 4000 and, the Pelican should be about the same as well. I wouldn’t bother with the divider set since that eats up the space. What one can do is wrap up ( with bath towels) the 600mm without the lens hood say along with a 300mm2.8 + one body in this case. On the 600 & 300 I will use a lens coat hoodie to protect the front element. 600 hoodie is the XXX model and the 300 hoodie is the X model. Maybe wrap the lens in towels and add a large canvas bag as a backup inside this hard case. Large canvas bag so that when in the field you can use the bag if needed. Additionally if you do get into airport carriage one bag restrictions, you are able to pile in stuff from both the backpack and the hard case into one bag and still board the aircraft with the canvas bag as a one bag carry on. If I was working from boats, a hard case would be handy. The military green hard case in the pic below is the Stormcase. This is the Stormcase iM2500 in which I took both my 600 & 300 on a boat at Mahul. The camera and small stuff was in the Lowepro Mini Trekker AW (the black and green backpack on the left, and the lens hoods went into the grey knapsack on the right). If I had the photo trekker or the Vertex 300, I would have had only one backpack.
no images were found
The picture below shows the 600VR and the 300mm 2.8 VR lenses in the Stormcase without their lens hoods.
no images were found
The two bag strategy will reduce weight by splitting the load and, give you the flexibility to also use the bag – hard case combo in the field. Typically in the field, you will mount up the 600 on the tripod and carry the second body with the 300 attached. The smaller stuff either goes into the backpack or the photo vest. The hard case would remain back in the room. I carry a bunch of large plastic bags ( a few always readily accessible in my pocket/ backpack outer pouch) so that if caught out in rain, I can quickly secure my gear instantly , without bothering to put them inside a regular photo bag.
The two bag strategy works really well when you have a non photographer partner along on a trip who usually doubles as your lens caddy 😉 I dare say, I do know of a few “pretty sherpas” who, are called on to help ( if I may put that mildly that is ) on trips !!!
Besides the hard cases can be used for regular storage since they are air tight. But, all the same I store my lenses in a cupboard where I have a few low wattage bulbs permanently switched on. This keeps the temperature a little high and reduces the ambient humidity thus preventing fungus on the lens.
For the Long Lens Bag/ case, one could choose a Lowepro Lens Trekker 600 or the Kinesis Long Lens Bag or this one Long Lens Bag for Safaris or The Viper from Andy Rouse . The reason I did not choose these bags is because you end up with two backpacks and, that gets difficult to manage by one person, say in an airport. But if there are two of you (assuming one of you is traveling relatively light/ is a non photographer) or, you want to carry just a big lens, one body and maybe one wide, the single long lens case is probably the best option.
So two options for the 2 Bag strategy
Option-A : Backpack + Roller Bag/ Roller Hardcase
Option-B : Backpack + Long Lens Case
The “Check In” bag
Of course you will need to check in the tripod, the wimberley, maybe the chargers along with your clothes & toiletries etc. These items will go into the check in bag. You could also keep the large lens hood in this check in bag. If you did that, you could just about squeeze the 600mm inside the Photo Trekker back pack. But now you would have a very heavy backpack.
In the Field:
Typically the 600mm is on a tripod and carried over the shoulder. The second body is sometimes slung across with either a 300 or a 70-200. TCs get into the pockets. On occasions, there could be a backpack with some of the small stuff / with the second body with lens mounted inside.
Here is an old dpreview thread on “Packing the big glass”
If this helps you in resolving some of your gear carting issues or, if you are working any other bag strategy ….do drop me a comment, I would be keen to know !
Leave a Reply