Saturday, December 29, 2007

New FAA/DOT rules in place

New rules for taking lithium batteries on planes. Starting Jan. 1 2008, The new FAA/DOT rule limits individuals to bringing only two extended-life spare rechargeable in their carry on luggage. Read more about this HERE.

For more info about this I found an extensive article at Flying with Fish Blog.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's not TSA. It's FAA/DOT. It's not a terrorist issue but a safety issue -- these batteries have caused fires.

Trapp_m_Photo said...

David,

Great blog man. I found you through Strobist. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

A guy that posted on another blog hit on a good idea for us D300 users...extra grips...given the MBd10s more compact size...technically the battery is installed in a "device"...I added this to his "extra grip" suggestion:

I'm shooting with a D300 and a D80 as backup (both cameras used the same battery) and I think fhfoto's idea about extra grips will work nicely for the D300 given the more compact size of the grip. Good call fhfoto! The only issue becomes making space for the extra grips in your bag cause it will probably mean removing something.

I'm looking at my jam packed Tamrac CyberPack 8 (legal US carry on SLR and laptop bag) right now. This bags main compartment normally carries:
D300 with lens (24-70mm f/2.8)
D80
10.5mm fisheye
18-200VR
50 f/1.4
70-200 f/2.8
2- SB800s
AA battery clips for both cameras
2-chargers
4-6 EN-EL3e batteries

If I removed one SB-800 from the kit, and checked it with my tripod in my suitcase or larger lighting kit, I should have room for 2 extra D300 grips with tripod plates and then 2 loose spare EN-EL3e batteries. That makes for a total of 8 EN-EL3e batteries carried on and the AA clips for alternate power sources.

2 in the D300
1 each in the grips = 4
2 loose = 6
2 in the D80 = 8

Plug in the chargers on site and shoot away or just charge up back at the hotel.

I think this would allow me to carry on enough batteries and gear to get through 1 day of just about any shooting situation (for me anyway). I'm sure if I really tried I could make room for another D300 grip in there too. I think this is how I would work with this new rule.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21414394@N08/2149848699/

Hope this helps!

Mike