And here's a funny addendum to my earlier post. Told my dad he would have to place his cellphone and Casio pocket organizer in the tray and would be required to power it on for the agent to show it wasn't fake. What does he do, puts both in his shirt pocket so he could easily get to them to place in tray. Forgets to take them out and walks right through the metal detector with no alarm going off whatsoever. I had to laugh when I asked where his cell phone and organizer were since I was watching to get them out of the tray for him and found out they were still in his pocket.

-gb-

Thanks guys, good stuff.

There's a bag that came with the XL2 that is for housing the 20X lens. If you dislodge the lens from the camera body and place it in the aforementioned bag to prevent any potential damage, where would you place it? As I mentioned in my last post, I have the Porta Brace CTC3 soft case. If you're only allowed one carry-on, what do you recommend -- putting the dislodged lens in the Porta Brace carrying case?

Please excuse these, on the surface, silly questions, but I'm really concerned with taking my new toy (one I've been drooling over for years but could not afford) with me on an airplane for a shoot and having it damaged!

I'm going to have enough anxiety just thinking about my tripod and lighting kit not getting damaged! Also, am I being unrealistic about taking a Lowel 44 soft light on a flight with me? Please advise. Thanks.

Chuck

Chuck - The lens case that comes with the 20X lens is not enough to protect the lens in transit (unless it also goes inside of a main camera compartment).

I prefer to use the special soft padded telephoto lens cases that fit onto the outside of a LowePro bag (they may also fit onto other bags). They are perfect for the job and they come in various sizes (sold in most camera shops, or even cheaper on Ebay). The size 4 lens case fits perfectly for the 16X or 20X lenses.