HOW DO YOU SAFELY FLY WITH A BIG PRIME LENS LIKE THE CANON 400 F2.8 or 600MM F4?
So you have decided to buy or rent a 600f4 lens for that trip to Africa, Costa Rica or another incredible location. You have made a great decision! You are going to come back with epic images that are harder to get with a zoom lens like a 100-500mm. The 100-500mm is still a fantastic lens but I now understand why these lens are so expensive. Yes, they are that good!! You will get detail and a buttery background that is hard to replicate. I also did not need to crop, losing pixels, on most of my shots.
In this blog I will go over what I have learned from traveling with the 600f4. In a previous post, I discussed my experience renting the lens.
This photo of a Hummingbird is NOT-CROPPED!!
So how do you travel with this lens?
If you are taking a 400 f2.8, 600f4 or even the 800 f5.6 from Sony, Canon or Nikon keep in mind that they are HUGE. The lens hood is just massive. When I rented the lens it was sent to me in a Pelican Case with a Canon Backpack inside holding the lens. I opened the. backpack and thought to myself “how am I ever going to transport this lens to Costa Rica”. I tried to fit it in all my Camera Bags and it would not fit. Also, the backpack it came in only holds the lens and nothing else. So that is not helpful. So I had to figure out a way to easily and safely transport on my trip.
“There was no way I was going to Check my 600 f4 Lens-so what do you do?”
After doing a bunch of research (this is a good video by Mark Smith Youtube) I decided that there are 3 options on carrying this lens: A Thinktank Roller Security 3.0 Domestic, a Shimoda Roller or a backpack. The first option is to use the ThinkTank Airport Security 3.0 Domestic Version. BE CAREFUl!! The International Version will NOT fit the 600 f4 but it will fit a 400 f2.8.
The Thinktank Bag is accepted on board by most major Airlines as a carry-on bag with its Exterior Dimensions: (14” W x 22” H x 9” D). But I would definitely check with your airline before buying it. This bag will fit a 600 f4 DETACHED. It is always best to travel with the lens detached since the connection between the camera and lens could be damaged in transport. The Thinktank Rolleris huge—it will fit 2 bodies, all your accessories and 1-2 more lens in addition to the 600 f4. The Thinktank bag is a great bag but it was not for me. After I received it, I returned it to B&H because I found it to be too heavy and bulky.
So after returning the Thinktank bag I decided to purchase the Shimoda DV Roller. My friend Colby Brown, recommended the bag. He is able to fit a 400 f2.8 and 600 f4 in this bag! Another option is the Shimoda CARRY-ON ROLLER V2. I found that I can just barely squeeze the 600 f4 in the Carry On version. The DV Roller is just barely larger than the carry-on limit. According to Colby, airlines have rarely not allowed him to carry on the DV Roller.
However, if an airline says you cannot carry-on the DV Roller you can easily remove the Internal Carry Unit (ICU) and only bring the ICU (with your camera and lens) onto the plane.
Removing the Canon/SONY/NIKON Camera Hood
One additional tip that I learned is to remove the Camera Hood and leave it at home. The Canon hood is just massive and takes up too much space. But what do you do instead?
There are 2 great options—you can pack the Canon Hood in your duffel bag with clothing protecting the hood. This will give you a lot more space in your Camera bag. The second option is to purchase something like the RolanPro LensHood. The RolanPro Lens Hood is much smaller and lighter ands works pretty well.
Why don’t I just carry the 600f4 in a Backpack?
A lot of people might just carry the lens in a backpack. But walking through Frankfurt Airport or Dubai Airport with the 600 f4 will make most people change their mind. You could easily walk more than 1 mile in those airports. So I would much rather roll something.
In Conclusion
After shooting with a 600f4 I am not sure I can go on a Wildlife Photography trip without it. Do you have any other tips that could be useful? If so, please leave them in the comments. I hope you have found the information I have discussed above useful and it will encourage you to try a large prime lens. You will be amazed by the photos that will take.