Camera Safety Tips for Your Next Trip
- Get Decked Out for Your Next Gig with the Holdfast Roamographer Collection
- These Handmade Camera Straps Will Last a Lifetime
photo by Vesnaandjic via iStock
I haven’t had the opportunity to go on a photography trip in more than one year, since my home state of California has been almost entirely shut down throughout the entire pandemic. However, I have a huge list of places I intend to visit before the end of the year once I’m vaccinated. I realize that international travel might still not be available this year, but I intend to do some travel photography even if I just get to go on a staycation somewhere in California.
However, I’m a little rusty traveling with all of my gear; I may need to relearn how best to travel. This includes relearning some camera safety tips.
This article will not only cover some important camera safety tips, but it will cover some info about how to carry your camera when you’re travelling which camera backpack is best to do it with.
Get a High-Quality Bag
The most important of all of the camera safety tips is to buy a good bag. There are hundreds of camera bags for traveling on the market, but they are definitely not all made the same and some of them could wind up making you purchase a new camera when you get back home.
A high-quality camera bag is one with a ton of padding. You’re going to be moving around a ton and you don’t want your camera and lenses doing the same inside of your bag.
A high-quality camera bag is also one that is comfortable to wear. You don’t want your bag digging into your shoulders all day, especially if you’re dragging your luggage all over town with you at the same time. It’s already enough of a pain.
The camera bag that I recently purchased is the Holdfast Sightseer Backpack System. This backpack is made out of waxed canvas and American bison leather, so you know it will last for decades. The waxed canvas helps to keep all of your camera gear dry and the bison leather keeps your bag looking classic no matter how used it is.
The Holdfast team has really thought of everything with this bag. The zipper is a waterproof zipper. Every Sightseer pouch can attack directly to the bag if you need more room. Plus, the bag looks genuinely nice. It comes in black, navy, or olive.
While the Holdfast Sightseer Backpack System is a little on the pricy end at $800, every Holdfast product comes with a lifetime guarantee so it is literally the last camera bag you will ever need to purchase.
Cover Camera Branding
photo by anandaBGD via iStock
One of the most important camera safety tips is to make your camera look as inexpensive as possible. Your $5,000 camera may be one of your favorite things in the world, but it also looks really flashy to thieves.
You should cover all of your camera branding with small pieces of black tape. This tape won’t permanently damage your camera and it’s easy to get off, but it also will keep you protected while you’re shooting.
There are some other camera safety tips when it comes to making your camera look less expensive than it is, but I personally think that making your camera look artificially beat up is a little bit of overkill. Make sure your Canon or Nikon branding isn’t showing.
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Keep Your Camera and Lenses Clean
photo by kazunoriokazaki via iStock
Keeping your camera and lenses clean doesn’t really seem like it would make a list of important camera safety tips, but I’m not just interested in keeping you as the photographer safe. I’m also interested in keeping your camera safe.
In order to get the most out of our camera safety tips, you need to be doing the same. You can follow all of the photography safety tips you should follow and still end up being really disappointed with your trip if you ruin your expensive equipment.
But, thankfully this is one of the easiest camera safety tips. Just make sure that you’re keeping your lens covered whenever you aren’t actively shooting and clean it on a regular basis.
Get Insured
photo by eternalcreative via iStock
If you’re learning how to travel with your camera gear, then you’re likely encountering a ton of travel photography tips. The tip topping most of those lists should be to get insurance.
No matter how many camera safety tips you’re following, the chances are still high that you’re going to get a camera stolen at least once in your life. This is especially true if you’re traveling to countries where you don’t speak the language or countries with high rates of crime.
If you’re planning on buying regular camera insurance, double check your policy because some will not cover travel outside of your home country. Then, write down all of the serial numbers of your cameras and lenses and make sure you have extra copies of their receipts.
You’ll be thankful you followed all of these camera safety tips the next time something doesn’t go as planned.