Tips For Traveling With Camera?

[Moriturii]

It looks like I will be on foot and traveling for what might be a long time, maybe several months. Will stay on terra-firma, no flying!

I think I will be in a lot of rural places in Asia, no cities (unless absolutely necessary) and for this reason I need to make sure my cameras, Leica M2 with 5cm Summitar, and a Hexar AF is well taken care of and are protected.

For those of you who use your cameras like these and are on foot a lot in different rough environments what would you do in my case to your cameras?

I am thinking of gaffer-taping everything that I can, that is the top and bottom portion of the camera, same with the Hexar. Also always use filter.

Now I am sure a case for the cameras would be good but I don't have any, except for the small camera bag they will be in when not in use.

Any tips from pros?

[Roger Hicks]

For the M2, ZipLocs when you're not using it, that's all. If you're going to tape (and I don't recommend it), masking tape is all you need. You have to reload, after all.

Dunno about Hexars. Personally I'd look for another M2.

Cheers,

R.

[Moriturii]

Yea masking tape might be it. I'm just looking for tape that won't leave marks and I heard gaffer-tape was it so yeah..

Zip lock, for sure!

[Colin Corneau]

Ziplocks and maybe a dessicant/silica gel pack. I find if you're going to tape, that green painters' tape is perfect...not very tacky, little residue.

What sort of bag are you taking to haul the gear in? Doesn't need to be very big but many choices now offer good protection, weather sealing, etc. I had good luck with the LowePro Slingshot series.
What I liked about it was I could swing it around to have the pack in front of me, during times I was worried about pickpockets, etc. (ie. at bus depots or other crowded spots). It also carries a surprising amount of gear, so very well designed too.

A small cleaning kit - blower brush, tissues, etc. will come in handy.

[35mmdelux]

do not set the camera(s) down where a thief can snag and run off with it. Personally, unless I am in the "tulies," I carry a small enough canvas bag with the strap diagonal across my chest.

[Bingley]

LowePro makes some padded pouches big just big enough to hold a Leica M and which are pretty weatherproof. You can also wear them on a belt if you want. I use them when to protect my camera when backpacking. They work well and are not too bulky.

[Chris C]

Personally I never really bother protecting things when I travel. My last two trips to Nepal and Myanmar were with a Mamiya 645 as my main shooting camera and had nothing other than a hiking pack and/or messenger bag to throw it in when it wasn't in my hand. Nothing untowards happened to it. Camera bags attract extra attention and I find the ergonomics incredibly annoying and bulky. In reality, other than being a little cautious with where you put it down, shooting in Asia is really no different to shooting anywhere else. I'd just put whichever camera you're not using at the time in a messenger bag and the other one in your hand/over your shoulder.

[horosu]

I have a small NG bag (the A220 Africa small holster bag), where I can put a camera+lens (M9+35/50 Lux), battery charger, spare cards (or film) and a lightmeter. I find it fantastic.

Here it is at BH