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Hi Frederico,
As a gear-nerd, I love this packing subject. We all have our own tips & tricks to share, and I look forward to read & learn from others here.
I shoot the Z9 like you which means big housing, and I sometimes travel with a second camera/housing, at least 2 strobes, wet lenses, and a rebreather, so a bit of a 3D tetris challenge.
Here are the key points with my logic:
- Batteries go in carry-on, no choice.
- Dry Lenses (as opposed to wet lenses) go in carry-on, always. Reason is, if a lens gets hit, one of the individual lenses insides might get slightly dislodged, resulting in a loss of sharpness in parts of the frame. That’s an issue I may not spot straight away, resulting in keeping on using the defective lens, only to find after the trip that my photos have a sharpness issue. That’s worst case, but my worst nightmare.
- Cameras go in checked, within their housings, which is their best protection.
- Laptop in carry-on.
- If I have any extra carry-on allowance, I will take with me the items which have the highest cost-to-weight ratio, just mitigating my risk if their was a loss of checked-baggage.
And that’s because… I have lived a risky life: my checked bags aren’t insured. I sometimes have a $$ coverage with my travel insurance, but it won’t cover the full amount, and I am sure the fine print will exclude some of my equipment for XYZ reasons.
In terms of case/bags choice, I have used 2 strategies, either:
- take a vanilla-looking suitcase (the oldest/cheapest it looks the better), and pack every items inside with protective pouches and clothes / bubble wrap for shock protection.
- use an expensive-looking Pelican case. When flying with 2 housings and ports/wet lenses, I pack (almost) everything in a Pelican 1637 air case. It’s a bit lighter than older Pelicans (not as sturdy), and I like the 2 floors you can have inside. I’ll try and find a photo of how I packed each floor, and post it here.