ALERT - TSA declares all cameras need to come out of your bag at security

[Mikehit]

So...I'm supposed to take out two cameras and 4-5 lenses while I'm in the queue and what...juggle them in midair as the line moves along? Set them on the floor play 'kick the can' with them as I move down down the line? Or is TSA going to add more/longer tables at every scanner to give people the time/space they will need for their 3-5 bins of stuff?

And now you're going to have to spend even more time waiting behind bozos who also have to be reminded to take out any electronic device larger than a cell phone despite passing the myriad signs on their way in and the audio announcements while they are in the queue.

Bottom line, this is going to mean longer waits at checkpoints for most people. I'm glad it won't affect me.

PAH!
Anyone who's flown in or out or Israel any time in the last 20 years will look jealously at your inconveniences. :

 

[ahsanford]

Bottom line, this is going to mean longer waits at checkpoints for most people. I'm glad it won't affect me.

+1. If this rule is implemented for all non-Pre travelers (as the notice would imply), folks here are delusional if they think this is just another 'plastic bag of liquids' that they need they pre-plan for.

Forget photographers for a moment, rando regular old people today travel with:

Cell phones
Computers
AC power (with large transformer) for said computers
Tablets
Cameras
Lenses
Flashes
Drones
Battery chargers
Gaming systems
DVD players (dying out, but I still them for kids)
Large noise-cancelling headphones
Hair dryers
Hiking headlamps and small lanterns
Fish finders
GPS devices
Audio recording devices
Insulin pumps
Baby monitors

The notion that everyone (a) will be prepared for this and (b) will manage that above list in an orderly fashion is nonsense. If implemented to the letter, it will be a clusterf--- for a good 6 months before people get wise and change their packing habits with this check in mind.

Even then, some of the items above don't pack well in the smaller of your two carry-ons, so that will mean that roller board suitcases will need to be opened and rummaged through to fish things out even if you were prepared for it.

And TSA can't scale up proportionally to the hit this will create -- they can add bodies, but many airports are space-constrained for the number of aisles they can run.

So I can't state this enough: TSA Pre- or GE (or possibly just checking your bags for non-photographers) just went from a really nice value-add convenience / efficiency to being outright essential.

- A

 

[Loswr]

PAH!
Anyone who's flown in or out or Israel any time in the last 20 years will look jealously at your inconveniences. :

Thanks to PreCheck, they're not my inconveniences...

Edit: damn, actually they are. When I leave Logan for overseas, the international terminal doesn't have PreCheck lanes. At least the business/first lines are shorter...

 

[Deleted member 7828]

Ugh. As if flying weren't enough of a hassle already.

At least I don't have to fly often - but both TSA AND airlines seem to like to throw in every disincentive possible.

Honestly I think I've yet to take a DSLR through the airport system - usually I've just taken my M (and before, P&S cameras) but often times I have other electronics with me as well.

 

[ahsanford]

Honestly I think I've yet to take a DSLR through the airport system - usually I've just taken my M (and before, P&S cameras) but often times I have other electronics with me as well.

The distinction never mattered before. My photo backpack or satchel with a Tenba insert would just slide through on the conveyor belt without much fanfare. The only 'mental check' I had to do with sending my (more-commonly-traveled-with) satchel through was that it has Bellingham-like buckles on it, and I had to make sure I re-set those buckles after pulling my bag of liquids out -- forgetting to do that with a bag laid on its side could have something fall out during transit down the belt.

But that was the height of my traveling with cameras stress. Now, not so much.

TSA Pre will let me skate past that, and I live near a major US airport that will let me make the most of Pre, but there are some tinier airports I fly to where Pre- lanes might not exist or be unstaffed that day. So this announcement will bite me eventually.

- A

 

[sanj]

For those who are concerned about the extra 15 odd minutes taken for this security: Are you suicidal? Instead of being upset with the security people who are doing this for your own and other passenger safety, direct the rage towards the radical terrorists who are forcing such measures.
Get real.

 

[privatebydesign]

For those who are concerned about the extra 15 odd minutes taken for this security: Are you suicidal? Instead of being upset with the security people who are doing this for your own and other passenger safety, direct the rage towards the radical terrorists who are forcing such measures.
Get real.

Really?

The 'security' people at TSA are poorly trained, poorly paid, staggeringly inconsistent and have been proven to be very ineffective in actually stopping people taking dangerous stuff on to planes. Further they are controlled by a mix of empire building bureaucrats chasing ever bigger budgets and internal importance and a government trying to drive an agenda that we should all be scared all the time, but don't worry 'they' will look after us.

The mission of the TSA has been entirely corrupted and is the perfect example of a 'solution' to a problem dreamt up by government and 'enhanced' by bureaucrats.

 

[ahsanford]

For those who are concerned about the extra 15 odd minutes taken for this security: Are you suicidal? Instead of being upset with the security people who are doing this for your own and other passenger safety, direct the rage towards the radical terrorists who are forcing such measures.
Get real.

Settle down. No one's saying TSA is the enemy here. They are just doing their job in light of (what we presume) is credible DHS intel that is shaping these policy changes. How effectively they do that job we can debate, but they are a reality we must play ball with.

Yes, safety comes first. But for those of us that aren't hellbent on blowing things up, TSA is simply a hurdle we must game with some savvy. That's what we're talking about here. Wanting to get through security quickly does not mean we are blind to why security is there.

I just treat security as a given and comply. But knowing we can comply to different levels depending on choices we make means that I will make those choices very carefully.

- A

 

[rrcphoto]

Extending your passage through X-ray by what...a minute? Maybe 2.
Hardly a 'lot of hassle'. You spend many times that waiting in a queue to buy a coffee or duty free. Maybe time to do one more clue on the crossword? I think some perspective is needed.

Agreed. Call it an extra minute. So, if there are 60 people in front of you (certainly not uncommon in many airports), an extra minute each means an extra hour in line, and perhaps missing your flight. How's that for perspective?

Rubbish. You take the kit out of your bag while you are in the queue (no extra time) and it is the other side putting it back that delays you.
I spend more time waiting behind bozos who act all surprised when the security explain they have to throw away water bottles, take off their jackets and make sure they have no coins or phones in their pockets despite passing the myriad signs on their way in and the audio announcements while they are in the queue.

So...I'm supposed to take out two cameras and 4-5 lenses while I'm in the queue and what...juggle them in midair as the line moves along? Set them on the floor play 'kick the can' with them as I move down down the line? Or is TSA going to add more/longer tables at every scanner to give people the time/space they will need for their 3-5 bins of stuff?

And now you're going to have to spend even more time waiting behind bozos who also have to be reminded to take out any electronic device larger than a cell phone despite passing the myriad signs on their way in and the audio announcements while they are in the queue.

Bottom line, this is going to mean longer waits at checkpoints for most people. I'm glad it won't affect me.

actually in mexico .. no real different in times going through security.

and it's really not that hard.. Hell, I had two laptops, 4 external HDD's, two external 15" LCD USB screens, and 4 cameras to pull out.

 

[ahsanford]

and it's really not that hard.. Hell, I had two laptops, 4 external HDD's, two external 15" LCD USB screens, and 4 cameras to pull out.

That doesn't sound like fun, that doesn't sound fast, and it sounds like a chance that some ham-handed jerk in a hurry to grab their tote that is interlocked with mine might accidentally chuck my junk on to a tile floor.

...or Americans can pay $17 a year 'insurance' to bypass that at most airports / on most flights. Done.

Keep in mind I started this thread as a public service announcement, that's all. I have no bone to pick with TSA, I am not bemoaning the burdens of what security requires in the modern world, and if you want to fight through what surely will be slower security lines as a result of this, have at it.

- A

 

[sanj]

For those who are concerned about the extra 15 odd minutes taken for this security: Are you suicidal? Instead of being upset with the security people who are doing this for your own and other passenger safety, direct the rage towards the radical terrorists who are forcing such measures.
Get real.

Settle down.
Am totally.

No one's saying TSA is the enemy here.
Yes they are.

They are just doing their job in light of (what we presume) is credible DHS intel that is shaping these policy changes. How effectively they do that job we can debate, but they are a reality we must play ball with.

Yes, safety comes first.
End of discussion.

But for those of us that aren't hellbent on blowing things up, TSA is simply a hurdle we must game with some savvy. That's what we're talking about here. Wanting to get through security quickly does not mean we are blind to why security is there.

I just treat security as a given and comply. But knowing we can comply to different levels depending on choices we make means that I will make those choices very carefully.

Thx.

- A

 

[Ozarker]

BTW, here are some other electronics items larger than a cell phone:

Tablets
E-readers
Some portable hard drives
Lenses
Speedlites
Some battery chargers
Electric razors
Some laptop power cables

Will all of these need to come out as well?

- A

You forgot personal vibrating devices....

Funniest comment I've read, ever. ;D ;D ;D

 

[Bennymiata]

I started travelling internationally in 1976, and there was virtually no security.
You checked in your bags and just showed your passport, then directly onto the plane. It was so easy and even enjoyable.

Nowadays, waiting in line to check in, then go through security takes longer than a lot of flights!

So much for fast travel..........

 

[ewg963]

TBH I've never heard of 'precheck' I've also never understood why a camera doesn't have to come out as per computer equipment or how jam is a liquid. ???
So with precheck security is now just another money making exercise?

+10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 yep another money making exercise....

 

[ewg963]

I am so tired of government agencies who are incapable of doing anything abouth the illegal behavior and going after law-abiding citizens instead.

+100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

[kanehi]

A long time ago I was asked to step aside and asked to check my dSLR. The lady agent requested for me to take the lens off to see if there was anything in the camera. She also looked thru the viewfinder with the lens on. I did admire her for thoroughly checking items.

 

[lion rock]

I had 2 cameras:
5D3 with 24-70 mounted on a sling and was outside on a tray. TSA wanted me to shoot a photo with it. I obliged.
7D2 with 70-200 mounted in camera backpack. I tried to take it out to shoot for the TSA agent. He smiled and said no need, for which I still tripped the shutter. No problem, he waved me through.
Total exercise took about 1 extra minute apart from the usual x-ray job.
And this was a flight from Oregon to Virginia in May, not an international flight.
-r

A long time ago I was asked to step aside and asked to check my dSLR. The lady agent requested for me to take the lens off to see if there was anything in the camera. She also looked thru the viewfinder with the lens on. I did admire her for thoroughly checking items.

 

[cayenne]

I have never been asked.
One time when gong through security in UK I jokingly said 'do you want me to take out my camera? It is really a computer with a lens attached'.

Yeah, I"ve never had to pull out of open my camera bag.....

I'm going to be flying soon....I guess I"ll pull out he 5D3 body with the lens that's on it, but the other lenses, aren't "electronic" equipment...so I'll leave them in bag.

I really don't want those things rolling around bumping into everything....especially when they carry it over when I request manual search....I don't want any extra radiation from the back scatter scanning units they use, so I most always ask for manual pat down...that and just to keep them busy.

I think this security theater is just that and mostly a joke, and more of a hassle for the public than it is as a deterrent.

If they "really" wanted security, they'd have everyone walk by bomb sniffing dogs and go through metal detectors...that would catch more likely than they do now.....

ok..rant mode off.

C

 

[cayenne]

For travellers from abroad, this really sucks. I will certainly not hand over my camera as normal luggage, so I have to carry it on. Pretty lot of hazzle. For what reason again, please???

What is the hassle? Take your camera out of the bag, have it x-rayed and put it back in your bag. Just like you do with a laptop.

It is a PITA.

Let's see...i"m traveling on my own and if I have to scan everything they want....I'll have
1. container for my backpack
2. container for my laptop (work)
3. container for my iPad
4. container for my camera
5. container for my camera bag
6?? Maybe 3 more containers if they want one per lens I have in bag...?
7. OH yes...my fscking shoes on the conveyor belt....and then walking through without belt...then with everyone barreling through, have to get my belt and shoes back on before my pants fall down....then, put everything back into the proper bag (all those containers of mine along with everyone else piling up at the end of the belt.....

It's a major PITA....and still to this day, when the Feds test the system, they consistently get like 98% or better of the fake weapons and bombs through......

This crap does no good and only basically causes the law abiding public problems....

C