I traveled from Houston to Germany through Amsterdam two and a half weeks ago. I carry a full frame body and two lenses in a thin cloth backpack that I put inside my normal backpack. I go through the pre-check line and on occasion in the US my complete backpack makes it through without further inspection. But often it did not, so I now routinely pull the small backpack out of my full backpack and put it on the belt. That reduces the chances of further delays of re-inspections. There is no problem carrying on cameras and lenses. I returned about a week ago from Germany with no problems carrying on a camera and lenses; however, when leaving Europe to the US or transferring planes in Europe I always had to take out the camera and lenses and put them in a bin. Again, no restrictions, just inspections. Also when returning to the US and transferring planes, the odds are that cameras and lenses must be placed in bins like laptops, but no restrictions on them, just inspections.

I flew from Houston to Salt Lake City two days ago and had no problems or questions about my camera equipment carry on. The item that caused the most concern was my small umbrella in my backpack, but after a thorough hand inspection by TSA, they let it through.

My strategy when traveling in Europe is based on the number of days away; seven or less I can make it with a carry on suitcase and my backpack because I go straight to security where the risk of checking weight is very low. If I will be away longer than 7 days, I need to check a bag in addition to my carry on suitcase. So I have to check in at the counter with an agent where the risks of weighing my carry on are high. In those situations, I put a few items in a vest to meet the weight requirements. After checking my bag and going through security, I return the vest items to my backpack and put the vest in my carry on suitcase. Even making transfers in Europe the carry on won't be weighed again.

Lack of mandatory removal of cameras does not prevent the screeners from requiring them to be removed. Although cameras might get through easier in a carry-on roller bag with only clothes I don't because sometimes roller bags must be checked at the last minute because of filled overhead space or small overhead bins. I went through airport security thirty times this year with a DSLR in my backpack and found what works for my situation. I made it through every time.

A few times I made it through security in the precheck line without removing my computers, lenses or DSLR from my backpack. Usually I was either told before screening to remove my camera and lenses (I was not in pre-check line) or they had to be removed after screening and rescreened (in pre-check line and non-pre-check line). Because of the potential for extra delays of re-screening my backpack, I now routinely remove my camera from it, regardless whether I need to remove my computers or not.

The FF DSLR body, two extra batteries and a 24-70 lens fit into a 8" x 8" x 4" hard case (just barely). The 70-200 lens is in a soft case. I put both into a small, very lightweight backpack of thin material (really just a small zippered bag with shoulder straps). It fits inside of my normal backpack with the computers, etc. So it is easy to remove the thin backpack and place it on the belt. (I also use it to carry the camera when walking around.) This works well for me getting through airport security in the US usually with one pass through the x-ray screening. Traveling within Europe or from Europe to the US, laptops must always come out, but most of the time, my camera lightweight "backpack" went through the x-ray scanner by itself without having to take the equipment out of the square case or soft case. What works for me may not work for others or someone who travels with more camera equipment, and there is still the possibility of random more-thorough inspections. The anticipated threats to air travel safety can affect the thoroughness of the screening.

I have wondered how one of those equipment vests would work going through the x-ray scanners. One would reduce my backpack weight to meet the carry-on weight limits in Europe. To summarize, there is currently no problem getting through airport security screening traveling with carry-on camera equipment. I also had no problems traveling with the DSLR in Asia last year, but that was before the enhanced screening of laptops, etc. The screening process is variable so be prepared.

I have global entry and have traveled to Europe several times this year (2017) as well as multiple times in the US with a carryon with one dslr (no lens attached), two lenses (one is 200 mm in a soft case), and three batteries. It also contains a laptop and ipad plus 3 phone chargers. I experienced multiple situations.

Most of the time my backpack goes through the x-ray machine with no delay in the US. But sometimes the x-ray operator requested further screening - sometimes visual, sometimes with the chemical sensor swab analyzer. The delay was never more than a few minutes.

In Europe returning to the US and for local flights within Europe I always had to remove the camera body, lenses, laptop, ipad, and sometimes the charger and cables from my backpack and put in a bin for the x-ray. On occasion they took the 200 mm lens from the soft case for inspection. Getting my backpack weight below the allowed carryon weight for European airlines was the most difficult challenge. One delay was 20 minutes, but most were the normal 5 or 10 minutes getting through the security machine (wait in line not included).

And there are random inspections that can be more detailed. The takeaway from my experience is to be prepared for the likely situations, arrive in plenty of time, and chances are you will make it through airport security with your camera gear in good order.

Hello Hedgehog Community, I was an avid 35 mm amateur photographer 25 years ago but mostly gave it up when my children were small to be a participant in the events instead of the photographer of them. Of course there was a compromise solution; I just didn't choose it. Since then I still used small compact cameras and later cell phone cameras, and dabbled a bit, but mostly snapshots, not photography. I recently retired from my full time job and am working on a few small business ventures to keep mentally challenged. For one, I needed photographs and videos several months ago of a prototype I made but my compact camera nor cell phones had adequate depth of field control or dynamic range. I needed a camera quickly so purchased a Canon EOS M3 at Best Buy. The equivalent Nikon had better reviews for photography, but not for video so I went with the Canon. The digital camera has reignited my interest in photography so I have taken many hundreds of photos since. I don't remember why I chose mirror-less. That leads me to two questions I will ask in another topic.

To update my knowledge and skills, I am taking several online photography courses. For those of you not familiar with a technology website, New Atlas (formerly Gizmag), that reports weekly on technology topics, computers, cars, motorcycles, cameras, cell phones, houses, space travel, airplanes, and about anything that you can think of. They also have a email subscription of good buys. On their site I purchased photography online training for about 90% off (one is a bundle from Adobe). You just have to wait for deals that arise in your area of interest. For example I also purchased lifetime VPN service for 5 computers for $99. I won't put the URL in the email as anyone interested can easily find it.

By the way, I have been reading these Hedgehog Digests for 3 or 4 months and your posts also helped reignite my interest in photography. And I appreciate what I have learned here. Thank you. I hope my post is not too long. If so, my apologies. Kind Regards, Bill H