How do you travel international with your gear?

[Alex Lubensky]

Hello everyone. I have a music video to be shot in Spain in a couple weeks, and I want to ask your experience of traveling with your Red camera. A friend of mine had experienced problems when he used to shoot a music video in Montenegro (they've had all their gear on hold by customs in the airport for two days), thus I'd like to avoid any additional problems connected with customs and air travel.

We're going to travel in a small group (Director, DOP, Producer, 1AC, Gaffer/Grip). We're traveling by plane, thus I wanted to ask - do you declare your gear on international flights? What to declare, do you pay any fees, any additional docs to sign and so on.

Usually I'd leave all this questions to be solved by admin, but flying with my own camera - I want to double-check everything up.

We'll have 2 sets of glass - Zeiss Ultra Prime LDS or Master Prime, and something more vintage like - Zeiss High Speed (Super Speed) or old Cookes. Lenses come from a rental house in metal rack-cases. Also we will have a DJI Ronin in a native case and and Easy Rig.

Usually I travel exceptionally with camera and lenses in hand carry (maybe we'll pack everything up in light peli's or backpacks), but Ronin, Easyrig, some LEDs and all grip stuff will go to baggage.

So, what's your thoughts? Have you experienced delays of your gear due to customs?

P.S. we will have a permit to shoot from the town we're going to shoot in.

 

[William Long]

With that sort of gear you should have a customs carnet. You get it stamped as you leave home, when you arrive and again when you leave the country you visit. It's peace of mind. Don't forget to check what batteries you carry with none in the hold.
Happy shooting!

 

[Alex Lubensky]

Thank you William!

 

[Russ Fill]

Some countries do not recognize a Carnet but it is always the safest and best way to travel with your gear. I personally have a itemized list of all the major gear with me all the time when traveling this list has serials with the discription, country of origin, and value on a list that can be stamped by your countries Customs office as an official list of your gear. Make several copies and maybe one with out the value declared and have them to hand out to whoever asks for any info on your gear. This has helped out many times and even when using the Carnet helped if an agent needs to go and fill out some forms in a different area from your gear and Carnet.
Plus good to have if you end up missing gear you know what it was and all the important info.

 

[William Long]

Some countries do not recognize a Carnet but it is always the safest and best way to travel with your gear. I personally have a itemized list of all the major gear with me all the time when traveling this list has serials with the discription, country of origin, and value on a list that can be stamped by your countries Customs office as an official list of your gear. Make several copies and maybe one with out the value declared and have them to hand out to whoever asks for any info on your gear. This has helped out many times and even when using the Carnet helped if an agent needs to go and fill out some forms in a different area from your gear and Carnet.
Plus good to have if you end up missing gear you know what it was and all the important info.

Yes this is really true. I do the same.

 

[Hal Long]

Spain is a carnet country (as is the US). So, you just need to go through the headache of getting all gear serial #s, model info, etc. and creating the carnet list. You then have to register this list (usually with the local consulate/embassy). As a side note, if you're going to the EU you usually can go into and out of different countries within the EU without needing to carnet each border.

An earlier post was correct, you should plan your battery situation as you usually need to rent locally (or have only a handful of batts in carry ons) and the rest of the world doesn't use AB batts very often.

Here's the site with all the info you need.

http://www.atacarnet.com/carnet-countries

 

[Patrick Tresch]

Some contries also ask you to have a jornalist visa to get the equipment in.

 

[Viktor Sloth]

i fly with a RED Dragon + lenses and a Sony a7R II around 3-4 times a month.
i'm based in europe, and here the carnet rules are ludicrous. the amount of work and time and money you need to go through to get a "real" carnet is extremely time consuming.
i've made a carnet only once in my life, and that one time was because i knew we had a big production with loads of pelicases and i knew it will get the attention of the customs - and we did, and it felt nice to have a carnet then.

BUT

I never ever do it normally. i just travel in a neutral bag and say that i'm a passionate artist who likes to film stuff - which is totally true, and i never had issues.
the rules with carnet is so complex that i hear different stuff from each country, and in each country from each custom worker. so smiling and saying you just like cameras and filming their beautiful country get's you there

 

[Patrick Tresch]

i fly with a RED Dragon + lenses and a Sony a7R II around 3-4 times a month.
i'm based in europe, and here the carnet rules are ludicrous. the amount of work and time and money you need to go through to get a "real" carnet is extremely time consuming.
i've made a carnet only once in my life, and that one time was because i knew we had a big production with loads of pelicases and i knew it will get the attention of the customs - and we did, and it felt nice to have a carnet then.

BUT

I never ever do it normally. i just travel in a neutral bag and say that i'm a passionate artist who likes to film stuff - which is totally true, and i never had issues.
the rules with carnet is so complex that i hear different stuff from each country, and in each country from each custom worker. so smiling and saying you just like cameras and filming their beautiful country get's you there

So don't travel to Algeria for example. They scan all the luggages and a smile won't do the trick. ;-)

 

[William Long]

i fly with a RED Dragon + lenses and a Sony a7R II around 3-4 times a month.
i'm based in europe, and here the carnet rules are ludicrous. the amount of work and time and money you need to go through to get a "real" carnet is extremely time consuming.
i've made a carnet only once in my life, and that one time was because i knew we had a big production with loads of pelicases and i knew it will get the attention of the customs - and we did, and it felt nice to have a carnet then.

BUT

I never ever do it normally. i just travel in a neutral bag and say that i'm a passionate artist who likes to film stuff - which is totally true, and i never had issues.
the rules with carnet is so complex that i hear different stuff from each country, and in each country from each custom worker. so smiling and saying you just like cameras and filming their beautiful country get's you there

Yes true... but if you are traveling with gear like Alex speaks of what would you do? Sets of Ultra and master primes might well take more than a smile?

 

[Tom Gleeson]

The small nature of Red Cameras can allow you to fly under the radar as long as the case count remains low but be aware if it turns ugly many insurance policies exclude governmental confiscation. Traveling without appropriate documentation entails some risk. In case of an arguement I would be confident of return of equipment within the EU and most first world destinations even without the "correct" documentation but I have travelled to some places where the authorities should not be trusted.
Carnet documents are painful to acquire and most custom officials have no idea what they are but if you have one and it gets serious you know you can escalate the issue and be confident. Generally just the "official" look of a carnet has been sufficient to get past difficult officials.

 

[Viktor Sloth]

William i would probably do the same, as most customs do not know the difference anyway.
i just came back from dubai, where i had a quiet normal issue: they thought it was an ENG camera and could literally live stream out of the country.
I showed them my instagram and explained i was only interested in filming their beautiful country and nature and they let me go.
the reason why i am so nochalant about it is simply that i have no idea how to probably guard my self for it. also in a way that makes sense time wise!

 

[Martin Thompson]

Official doesn't work all time. Sometime I travel with media personnel and that's work like a charm.

 

[Anthony Berenato Jr]

Just another voice of praise for a carnet. Has saved me quite a few times from airport agents when there’s a language barrier.

 

[Joshua VP]

Internationally, I try to always travel with a Carnet if possible.

Carry on all batteries and distribute them to the team through checkin. I've had serious issues in New Zealand, Dubai and Japan, where they weren't allowing me to go through and we had to kind of lie to them. Never travel alone, because of the battery issue. Make sure all batteries have seals over the ports.

Always give yourself an extra day at the beginning/end of a trip. This has saved me so many times, having to run to a rental house or get extra clips due to sickness(asia).

Keep a low profile going in and out of hotels/airbnbs. Don't shoot outside those.

Always get travelers insurance // whatever needed shots and bill all this back to the client along with the carnet.

Always hire a driver/interpretor/fixer to get you around. This has come in handy more times than I can count.

Otherwise, just go for it.. and don't bring more gear than you can handle/move. You don't want to be that guy with nine pelicans and no one to help you.. Sometimes keeping it lighter is better in these situations..

- JVP

 

[Jeffrey Loewe]

Internationally, I try to always travel with a Carnet if possible.

Carry on all batteries and distribute them to the team through checkin. I've had serious issues in New Zealand, Dubai and Japan, where they weren't allowing me to go through and we had to kind of lie to them. Never travel alone, because of the battery issue. Make sure all batteries have seals over the ports.

Always give yourself an extra day at the beginning/end of a trip. This has saved me so many times, having to run to a rental house or get extra clips due to sickness(asia).

Keep a low profile going in and out of hotels/airbnbs. Don't shoot outside those.

Always get travelers insurance // whatever needed shots and bill all this back to the client along with the carnet.

Always hire a driver/interpretor/fixer to get you around. This has come in handy more times than I can count.

Otherwise, just go for it.. and don't bring more gear than you can handle/move. You don't want to be that guy with nine pelicans and no one to help you.. Sometimes keeping it lighter is better in these situations..

- JVP

New Zealand is the worst. If you can avoid shooting there you're better off just skipping it and finding an alternative location. I've gone through every process requested by their Govt and Customs agents and I always get hassled, gear held, and in some cases, they've flat out confiscated gear for unexplained reasons. I've had countless threats thrown of taking away my ability to travel to Common Wealth countries. This is all while having a Carnet, claiming i'm working and using a customs agency to bring in my gear, prior authorization, etc. Queenstown is a literal nightmare and i've encountered the same agent atleast twice. I will avoid that country like the plague, even as a tourist because of the literal hell they've made my work life for 4 of my trips.

On the topic though. This post is the best in terms of recommendations.

One thing I'd add, i'll always call the consulate or embassy of the country i'm visiting to make sure I go through all the proper entry procedures.

 

[BrendanLeahy]

Anyone know if I'd need a carnet going in and out of Canada? I'm volunteering for a music festival, and they provided me with a letter stating such - I saw carnets get to be pretty expensive, and I'm just looking to bring my cam and tripod with some batteries and lenses.

 

[Jeffrey Loewe]

Anyone know if I'd need a carnet going in and out of Canada? I'm volunteering for a music festival, and they provided me with a letter stating such - I saw carnets get to be pretty expensive, and I'm just looking to bring my cam and tripod with some batteries and lenses.

Canada is also a pretty tough country to get into with gear. I always get questioned pretty hard and I have a light enough kit to go skiing with. It's worth getting a carnet and being set IMHO.

 

[Christopher A. Bell]

Anyone know if I'd need a carnet going in and out of Canada? I'm volunteering for a music festival, and they provided me with a letter stating such - I saw carnets get to be pretty expensive, and I'm just looking to bring my cam and tripod with some batteries and lenses.

Canada is also a pretty tough country to get into with gear. I always get questioned pretty hard and I have a light enough kit to go skiing with. It's worth getting a carnet and being set IMHO.

I will second that Canada, as funny as it may sound, is a PITA to travel into with gear to work.

 

[Ted Parkes]

You will definitely want a Carnet coming into Canada. It should make things easier. As a Canadian often travelling to the U.S. the same is true. Most often any issues tend to be with immigration and not necessarily equipment and customs related.