Flying with camera battteries any restictions - help

We are flying to Germany to film a brewery - the nice bit... i’m Taking 2 Gh5 and 6 batteries - does anyone know if there is any restrictions on the Batt’s ?

The websites are not very clear

Thanks
Laurie

btmk, only restriction is: batteries HAVE to be in hand-luggage, check they are loaded, some security personal ask for a demo… websites/hotlines of air-lines should tell.-

On a commercial trip, I would suggest a carnet listing all your equip you 'im/export' to EU/your home country …

Smugshot wrote: We are flying to Germany to film a brewery …

… what else? :silly:

hint/warning:
any, I mean any employee of a brewery (includes white collars) is very able to hold a drink: traditionally, every person in a German brewery has a claim on a free case of 24 bottles per month … in my ad-days, spent a day with owner, marketing, assistants (all 'girls', ha!) of König-brewery in Dortmund - we office-sissies drunk like sailors, our clients still standing upright! Indeed, fun job … sign any contracts BEFORE testing, trying, 'having a pause' … … …

Karsten is right, I would check with the customs dept of your home country.

I read just recently of a device on an international flight where the battery went into thermal runaway over Canada, a flight to Germany..So place the batteries in hand luggage in clear ziplock bags, so airport staff can check.

Not so much the batteries are the problem it is the camera gear, record serial numbers, not sure if you will have any issues, but filling in the export import will just make transit smoother, I did this when I took a laptop abroad, and was asked to confirm it was not an import, and having filed a carnet at the airport of 1st departure, my home airport, I saved tax duties, I know folks that had to pay for importing old laptops...Sometimes tax staff are looking to make trouble...

Just list the items, ALL OF THEM...like insurance, it is just one of those things...

MsJustine wrote: Karsten is right, I would check with the customs dept of your home country.
..

Customs doesn't care for batteries… that is Airlines' interests.
And trouble is at the destination borders, less at home.

Customs check serial# on expensive devices, able to locate place of purchase by it.
Therefor my recommendation of using a Carnet … you get forms from your local customs office… I literally saw assistants crying, filling out those forms… "… XLR cable, 50cm, 3 pieces, no serial #… what about the velcro holding it?? " … you have to list EVERYTHING… :woohoo:

Smugshot wrote: We are flying to Germany...Taking 2 Gh5 and 6 batteries - does anyone know if there is any restrictions on the Batt’s ?...

Li-ion batteries installed in devices are allowed in checked luggage. However those devices should be protected from inadvertent powering on. No spare li-ion batteries are allowed in checked luggage -- they must all be carried on. The spare batteries should be individually protected from shorting, e.g, snap-on plates or put within zip-locked bags.

The capacity limit for carried-on li-ion batteries is 100 watt hrs. Above that up to 150 watt hrs requires airline approval and is limited to two batteries per person. The flight batteries for our big Inspire 2 drone are 97.58 watt-hr, so don't require special FAA approval. The former Inspire 1 had an optional 130 watt-hr battery which did require this.

Moderately large li-ion power packs like the Anker PowerCore 26800 Plus (which will power a 2016 or later MacBook Pro via USB-C) are 96.5 watt-hrs, so can be carried on without restriction: a.co/2DbHYLk

There are some large li-ion power packs like the Yeti series and River EcoFlow which are way over the 150 watt-hr limit. Likewise there are some large Sony "V-Mount" pro video batteries over 150 watt-hrs. To my knowledge there's no way to transport those on a commercial airline flight, either as checked or carried-on luggage. Normally multiple 100 watt-hr batteries are sufficient, even for a large pro video crew.

a.co/9WwhB2r
batteries4broadcast.com/collections/v-mount-packages

The GH5 DMW-BLF19 batteries are quite small, 14 watt-hrs. You can carry spare batteries on board, but cannot check those in luggage.

More FAA rules on batteries and airline flights: www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarter...rs_and_batteries.pdf

Airlines allow one carry-on luggage item and one "personal" bag (laptop case, etc). Normally the best practice is put all your spare li-ion batteries (properly protected) in your personal bag. If they are in your carry-on luggage, and that gets "gate checked" because all cabin baggage compartments are full, I'm not sure what would happen.

In general the best practice for videographers is carry on board your cameras and lenses in a high-quality rollaboard case which fits within the smaller size standards for international flights (even if not flying internationally). This helps avoid having that gate checked if you are unexpectedly on a smaller plane with smaller overhead baggage compartments. Example: www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-international-v3-0

The spare batteries and chargers can go in your personal carry-on bag, plus personal essential items like medications. Any other equipment (tripods, light kits, etc) plus your personal luggage can be checked. Even though airlines often allow more than two checked luggage items, you may be unexpectedly limited to two if the plane cargo is nearly full. Unless you have a media pass (which greatly increases the checked baggage limits), it's best to only rely on two checked luggage items.

Thanks to everyone that took the time and trouble to offer advice and information .