Posted by Bill Farnsworth on 08/07/06 16:43

<mv@movingvision.co.uk> wrote
> Hello Bill
>
> Thanks for kindly referring to the right side of the pond ;-))
> Though right now it's pretty hard to find a part of the planet
> that's not being screwed up by gobsmackingly incompetent politicians
> and their cap doffing sycophantic supporters !!!
>
> Yes I agree with you that carrying cameras as cabin luggage is the
> best option. It's been a good two years now since I took a Beta type
> on a plane. Last year I was with a crew covering the ex Serbian
> presidents funeral. I was using two HDV cameras which I carried as
> cabin luggage. There were several news crews flying out from
> Heathrow including CNN and BBC. They flight cased their cameras
> (Digi Beta 790's) which went into the hold. There is an increased
> risk but properly constructed flight cases, with specific camera
> tailored shock resistant foam inners, reduce that to a significant
> degree. I've not heard of camera damage in that mode, though we did
> once have to wait 24 hours for our equipment to catch up with us. If
> you're an owner operator cameraman though, breaking it down to fit
> the new reduced cabin allowance's makes a lot of sense.
> --
> John Lubran

Hi John,
You make a good point. Freelancers vs. Staffers.
To me, it's not that camera will make it in one piece and still work.
It's more about knowing exactly where the camera is all the time.
You know as well as I do that the "pucker factor" is large enough
already when we're waiting for the gear to make it through "Baggage
Claim" and hoping that it all gets there.
Back in the day, (that would be around 1980) when "Mini-cams" were
REALLY scarce, the only way I could get more than two matching cameras
in Seattle, was to ship them up via air cargo from a friend in San
Francisco.
All went well until one day when I got a frantic call from the guys in
SF wondering where the camera was.
I verified with him that the cargo manifest number I gave him three
hours before was correct. Plus I gave him the name of the guy who
initialed the form.
He called back an hour later saying that they could not find the
camera anywhere. So I went to carrier's cargo office at SeaTac to see
what I could do.
Well, my friend in SF is originally from NYC and has quite the
..........vocabulary and a very colorful way of using it.
Apparently he raised one hell of stink. So much so that someone in Air
Cargo called the Port Authority and SF police.
Good for him, bad for Air Cargo.
Once he told them that the camera was worth more than forty thousand
dollars, they shut down the cargo area, including the employee parking
lot.
(Now he as been there more than three hours)
So........ another two hours go by when......... lo and behold, the
camera, with ALL of the company identifying labels and the shipping
label removed, magically shows up outside on the runway side of the
loading dock.
And THAT is why I will never ever send a camera as checked baggage.
Whew..........

Bill F.
www.billfarnsworthvideo.com

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