Airline policy

Juraj Kovacik · Oct 3, 2011

How strict are airline companies with weight limits for carry on baggage? Finnair has 8 kg limit /17.5 lb./ and just Mamiya Press with ground glass, 2 lenses and 2 film holders is around 3.5 kg. Thank you

next picture just as a illustration

Eric Rose · Oct 3, 2011

ranges from stupidly strict to lax. I have had a backpack pass through on the way over and then the very same pack/weight rejected on the way back. It is totally up to the gate attendant. Best to abide by the rules.

TheFlyingCamera · Oct 3, 2011

I think most of the time they're too busy to weigh your carry-ons, at least that's been my experience with flying domestically in the US, and on trips to Spain and Argentina. You could always leave the digi-thing at home and pack the tripod in your checked bag to help keep the carry-on weight down. Oh, and the tools like the knife, pliers and scissors can't go in carry-on bags any more either.

jeffreyg · Oct 3, 2011

I can't comment on Finnair but I have never had carry-on weighed. My suggestion would be to have the camera with a neck strap, get a couple of lens cases that fit on a belt or use a photo vest for some of your equipment, wear the heavy shoes, hold the tripod when checking in and put all that stuff in the bin to go through the x-ray and it may not be considered carry-on. I travel with a Tamrac camera backpack when loaded with the equipment I normally take weighs approx. 25lbs plus a carbon fiber tripod in a separate bag. So far it has not been weighed.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

ntenny · Oct 3, 2011

It varies quite a lot by airline, airport, and individual agent, and in my experience intra-European flights are the most rigid about it. I've only flown Finnair once, and I don't remember them taking any special note of my rather heavy rollaboard, though I'm quite sure it was over 8 kg. (This was a transatlantic flight, though, not within Europe.)

If you give it a try, it would be wise to have a Plan B in case you're forced to check something. Also, they may weigh your carryon bag but not your backpack, so you might try to offload some of the weight to the latter to keep the bag weight down. (I think the only airline that ever weighed my backpack was the completely appalling Clickair, which along with Alitalia constituted my "don't you ever ever EVER book me on this airline" list.)

Oh, and an unsolicited pro tip: Finnair's galleys normally stock cloudberry liqueur. Good, good stuff.

-NT

Ian Grant · Oct 3, 2011

A tip is wear a coat with BIG pockets, use these for lenses etc, you can carry one camera on it's neck strap.

As Eric says often they are lax other times extremely strict, anyway most of your equipment can go in the hold luggage, just the film and most expensive equipment by hand. I've been stopped and my carry on backpack had to go in the hold. Other times just scrapped through.

Ian

vpwphoto · Oct 3, 2011

You might like this...
.... I created a little commotion a few years back with a cary-on packed with blads. and a viewcamera and a couple lenses.
.... the "super" that came over looked at the "x-ray" image and said ... looks fine he is a real photographer!

BrianShaw · Oct 3, 2011

vpwphoto said:
You might like this...
.... I created a little commotion a few years back with a cary-on packed with blads. and a viewcamera and a couple lenses.
.... the "super" that came over looked at the "x-ray" image and said ... looks fine he is a real photographer!

Ha... that's great. I had similar experience about 5 years ago at a small airport in California. The two screeners x-rayed my camera bag and then were doing a lot of discussing. One of them came to me and announced that they would have to hand inspect my bag... but very quickly admitted that they just wanted to look at the camera since they had never personally handled a Hasselblad. Since there were no other passengers waiting we spent 10 minutes together. I was flattered and they were thrilled.

Juraj Kovacik · Oct 3, 2011

Thanks for lot of a great advices an tips

David Lyga · Oct 3, 2011

In the winter of 1971 when I was coming back from a six month say in Europe (three month first class Eurailpass: USD 250) I boarded my Icelandic Airlines (now Icelandair) plane in Luxembourg and saw a fellow passenger (successfully!!!) in the boarding area with literally half a Volkswagen bug. This was, obviously, not 'carry on' but the liberal policies then were quite different and he actually flew with it in tow.

How did I afford this long trip? Back then a USD got FOUR Swiss francs. NOW? Less than ONE. That's how.

Later that year (15 Aug 1971) the US went off the final vestige of the gold standard and overnight you got only three Sfrs to the USD. - David Lyga

palec · Oct 3, 2011

The restrictions are practically about dimensions of baggage so it can fit the space above seats. I never seen anyone at european airports weighting the carry on baggage during security check or before boarding so far, just make sure the size is within tolerance and you have only one piece/bag with you. As Ian said, put the rest into coat pockets.

mooseontheloose · Oct 3, 2011

I've had my carry-on bags weighed in Europe, North America, and Asia -- like others have said, it depends on a variety of factors as to whether or not they'll single you out or not. Size and weight are two different factors -- bags can be checked at the gate if they are too big, but if they are too heavy have to go in the hold. I know with a couple of airlines it's a ploy to get more money out of you. If your bag is too heavy, it has to be checked. That puts it under checked bag allowance -- which likely means it will put you over the weight or piece allowance, in which case you have to pay the excess baggage fee. That being said, out of hundreds of flights flown, this has only happened a handful of times, so more than likely you'll be okay.

michaelbsc · Oct 3, 2011

vpwphoto said:
You might like this...
.... I created a little commotion a few years back with a cary-on packed with blads. and a viewcamera and a couple lenses.
.... the "super" that came over looked at the "x-ray" image and said ... looks fine he is a real photographer!

I had a twenty something demand to know "What is this" holding up my Yashicamat once.

When I told her it was a camera she told me that it certainly was not any kind of camera and called the supervisor. The middle aged supervisor asked what the trouble was, and she said that I was claiming that thing was a camera.

When the supervisor said that it it was indeed a camera the poor girl just grumbled that it didn't look like any camera she had ever seen.

Heaven knows what she would have thought of the film.

ann · Oct 3, 2011

cameras are consided personal items and usually don't fall into the weight classification. my rolling camera bag is over 30 lbs, but it fits the size for carry on and even in China where they are very picky about the weight I had no issues

cowanw · Oct 3, 2011

In May, in Toronto, KLM did not like my (just) legal carry on camera bag; too big and too heavy. I had to repack in front of the ticket counter and my wife had to take some equipment into her carry on, some had to go in luggage.
Coming back from Amsterdam, no trouble at all. Meanwhile, many ladies were carring on purses the size of steamer trunks as well as carry ons. They didn't think my 4x5 and medium format was personal.

peeniwali · Oct 3, 2011

I generally fly a fair bit but am not obsessive about it. I hate checked luggage so I squeeze my needs into a 60liter backpack and head off to where i need to go. Sometimes that bag weighs a good 40kg In some cases I came back with far more than I started with(read: 2 60 liter bags!) and still stuffed it into the overhead luggage while the attendants watched and snickered to each other. No harm no foul.
In North America, Asia, Europe and Africa I have never had a bag weighed. When I asked about this i was told the weight restriction was all about whether you could stuff it in the overhead compartment w/o help, they knew the plane could carry it. i guess I always looked like I could handle the bags and so far have never been bothered.

zk-cessnaguy · Oct 3, 2011

peeniwali said:
I generally fly a fair bit but am not obsessive about it. I hate checked luggage so I squeeze my needs into a 60liter backpack and head off to where i need to go. Sometimes that bag weighs a good 40kg In some cases I came back with far more than I started with(read: 2 60 liter bags!) and still stuffed it into the overhead luggage while the attendants watched and snickered to each other. No harm no foul.

until the locker pops open and the 40 kg bag falls on some poor soul.

polyglot · Oct 4, 2011

I just took 11 flights through Australia, Asia, Middle-East, Russia and Europe and had no problems with my 10kg camera bag. The trick is that it looks pretty small (Kata 3N1-30, fits well within the carryon size limit) and I'm pretty big/strong, so it looks light when I carry it and no one picks on me. Nowhere did I see airlines weighing all carryon as a matter of course, but I wasn't in the USA where I think that might be more common. I had a couple of security-check people go "oof" at the weight and a couple of very detailed inspections in Russia (120 rolls look like 12-gauge blank shells, sort-of), but security are only responsible for things that go bang, not charging you for overweight luggage.

debanddg · Oct 4, 2011

A small tip -- arrive for check-in much in advance.. usually the ground staff are in a relaxed mood when they open the counters and some little jokes / good humour work well.. as said the trick is to have the backpack within the stipulated measures and it shouldn't appear that you're bogged down by its weight.. that's usually the case.. KLM outside their country of origin is usually a pain in the wrong place in this aspect.. they have a habit of sniffing out slightly heavier cabin baggage ) Lufthansa and many other European Airlines including Finnair [which the OP is flying] are usually cool..

ann · Oct 4, 2011

Undeerstood why a 4x5 might not fit in the personal classification.

More and more professionals are renting equipment when traveling for these very reasons.

BrianShaw · Oct 4, 2011

michaelbsc said:
I had a twenty something demand to know "What is this" holding up my Yashicamat once.

When I told her it was a camera she told me that it certainly was not any kind of camera and called the supervisor. The middle aged supervisor asked what the trouble was, and she said that I was claiming that thing was a camera.

When the supervisor said that it it was indeed a camera the poor girl just grumbled that it didn't look like any camera she had ever seen.

Heaven knows what she would have thought of the film.

I had a full-fledged adult ask the same question, and more specifically could they open it to prove that it is a camera. This was back in the days when they wanted to look into the film compartment of cameras. So I took the hood off of my Rollei and showed him the prism mirror. That was sufficient.

In another experience I had a British screener question a monopod. He was insistent that it must be an aerial (antenna) of some sort. He could not fathom how a one-legged device could support a camera. Even a demonstration wasn't enough to squelch the questions about what type of aerial it was.

People in general aren't very familiar with old camera equipment.

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