Moving Abroad with Photography Equipment (Norway in my case)

[CANONisOK]

Good day. Going to be relocating at the end of this month from continental US to Stavanger, Norway. Seeking advice from experienced travelers on best way to move equipment.

Planning to take my most essential pieces as carry-on with me (5D3, 300mm ii, etc.). But looking for good advice on how to safely/securely transport the rest of my glass and equipment. Of course, the equipment will be insured, but I would like to avoid the hassle of having to replace or repair large amounts of expensive equipment. And I'm sure replacing in Norway would be much more expensive than replacing equivalent equipment in the US.

I can imagine with the worldly group we have here, i can get some decent advice. Would you suggest putting equipment in locked pelican cases for transport? I would think that only makes them stick out even more for thieves who may come in contact with equipment. But doing anything less would seem to be irresponsible to me.

Again, any advice you all can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Don Haines]

I have shipped EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!! electronics all over the place (including Norway) in large black pelican cases and have yet to have a problem. You make sure your gear is properly loaded, take the cases to the courier, fill out all the paperwork (gotta love customs forms.... NOT!) and away they go....If you are worried about theft, have it arranged so that you pick them up from customs.... That way you can lock the cases and when you pick them up, customs will open them with you and do the import inspection.... otherwise, SNIP and there goes your lock...

We just use cable ties here at work.... customs cuts them, looks inside, and the paperwork is done before we arrive.... nothing has been stolen yet.... but to be fair a camera is a lot more attractive item for theft than a rack-mound router or a satcom modem

 

[lilmsmaggie]

Good question. I've been pondering relocating to Mexico in a year. I don't do a lot of traveling but I have quite a fair amount of equipment I'd like to take to Mexico with me for 6 mos. or longer.

Good day. Going to be relocating at the end of this month from continental US to Stavanger, Norway. Seeking advice from experienced travelers on best way to move equipment.

Planning to take my most essential pieces as carry-on with me (5D3, 300mm ii, etc.). But looking for good advice on how to safely/securely transport the rest of my glass and equipment. Of course, the equipment will be insured, but I would like to avoid the hassle of having to replace or repair large amounts of expensive equipment. And I'm sure replacing in Norway would be much more expensive than replacing equivalent equipment in the US.

I can imagine with the worldly group we have here, i can get some decent advice. Would you suggest putting equipment in locked pelican cases for transport? I would think that only makes them stick out even more for thieves who may come in contact with equipment. But doing anything less would seem to be irresponsible to me.

Again, any advice you all can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Maiaibing]

Good day. Going to be relocating at the end of this month from continental US to Stavanger, Norway. Seeking advice from experienced travelers on best way to move equipment.

If you're moving with a pro movable company they'll take care of it.

I have moved all over the world and usually only take my camera and a small flexible lens (to have it for early photos) and my two most expensive lenses (>5.000$). The rest is a question of insurance. Any pro movable company will have an insurance that lets you replace broken/stolen items at your destination. Check this in advance and get anything you are unsure of in writing (seriously).

Any respectable movable company will also require that they - and they alone - package everything. Here the original lens cases etc. are best to use. That's what Canon thinks work - it'll work for you too. And the movable companies love them.

I also make sure to have two copies of all my pictures (raw etc.) on two disks. One in my computer to be shipped and a "spare" in my hand luggage. Highly recommended. Remember to check all electronics as soon as you get your stuff.

Finally, and important, some countries will not allow you to import expensive items that are less than typical three months old without paying high taxes just as some countries will not allow you to bring it in as travel luggage (because then it does not get registered and checked for sales date). My guess is that Norway will strict on the first count (3 or even 6 months) but will accept that you bring movable stuff in your travel luggage. Do yourself a potentially big favor and avoid any pain by checking this in advance. You can probably phone Norwegian customs and ask in English if your movable company does not know the answer to this (which could be a warning that they may not be the right people to deal with).

BTW. Norway is great for photography but also very dark. You will need the best high iso and fast lenses you can afford.

No experience with low-cost DIY packaging and shipping. But I know people who have tried going half way by going cheap with the movable company - trust me, there are many tears down that road.

Good luck!

 

[janmaxim]

Norwegian phoning in here.. Please check this site: http://www.toll.no/en/international/english/moving-to-norway/moving-to-norway/

They have a phone number available if you have any questions or concerns.

As for the light in Norway. 50% of the year you can survive with just F4 lenses, but for the other half (after 3 pm) you need fast glass). In fact, you can actually survive with reaaally slow lenses in the north during the summer as the sun never sets.. but it never rises during parts of the winter

 

[Don Haines]

Good day. Going to be relocating at the end of this month from continental US to Stavanger, Norway. Seeking advice from experienced travelers on best way to move equipment.

If you're moving with a pro movable company they'll take care of it.

I have moved all over the world and usually only take my camera and a small flexible lens (to have it for early photos) and my two most expensive lenses (>5.000$). The rest is a question of insurance. Any pro movable company will have an insurance that lets you replace broken/stolen items at your destination. Check this in advance and get anything you are unsure of in writing (seriously).

Any respectable movable company will also require that they - and they alone - package everything. Here the original lens cases etc. are best to use. That's what Canon thinks work - it'll work for you too. And the movable companies love them.

I also make sure to have two copies of all my pictures (raw etc.) on two disks. One in my computer to be shipped and a "spare" in my hand luggage. Highly recommended. Remember to check all electronics as soon as you get your stuff.

Finally, and important, some countries will not allow you to import expensive items that are less than typical three months old without paying high taxes just as some countries will not allow you to bring it in as travel luggage (because then it does not get registered and checked for sales date). My guess is that Norway will strict on the first count (3 or even 6 months) but will accept that you bring movable stuff in your travel luggage. Do yourself a potentially big favor and avoid any pain by checking this in advance. You can probably phone Norwegian customs and ask in English if your movable company does not know the answer to this (which could be a warning that they may not be the right people to deal with).

BTW. Norway is great for photography but also very dark. You will need the best high iso and fast lenses you can afford.

No experience with low-cost DIY packaging and shipping. But I know people who have tried going half way by going cheap with the movable company - trust me, there are many tears down that road.

Good luck!

Depending on the amount of stuff you are moving, it will probably go in a shipping container..... and that is a very safe way to travel.....

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Beware that Canon Europe may refuse any repairs to your equipment. I'd contact them to find out what they will do. Its expensive to have to send equipment back to the USA for repair. You also need to keep purchase receipts to avoid hassles with Customs coming and going.

My experiences with moving companies has been poor. Get private insurance and document everything. The moving companies want to sell overpriced insurance. If your company handles the moving, then they will likely insure it. I had thousands of $$ damage on a international move. My company had insurance which covered it. The moving company lost future business due to the high number of expensive claims. They lost a lot of business from a company that did hundreds of international moves a year, and many thousands of US moves.

 

[eml58]

Just 3 months ago made the move from Singapore to East Coast Australia (Gold Coast), carried the basics, the rest (quite a large amount of gear), was packed in mostly pelican cases & moved with the rest of our gear by Crown Pacific Worldwide, all ensured fully.

Gear arrived, unpacked & not a single issue.

I've travelled to Norway twice (Svalbard), each time with a large carry on Back Pak & 2 medium sized Pelican cases as check in, haven't had an issue anywhere into or out of Europe (but all my equipment is fully ensured, just in case).

Africa is a different case, Pelican Cases seem to have an invisible sign painted on them "Please Steal Me", so I stick to Carry On when ever possible for Lenses & Bodies.

 

[CANONisOK]

Thanks for all the replies.

My employer will definitely insure everything and is the type to track performance metrics on moving companies to ensure bad actors are not used often. But again, I would like to avoid potential problems as much as possible. All the replies have some good advice that I can and will use.