Tour to Egypt

[Ravee]

I am going on a tour to Egypt this month and taking my GFX 100s, 32-64 mm, 23 mm, 80 mm and 100-200 mm with me. It is a conducted tour by a travel agency for 8 days. Nile cruise is included.

Tips for photography will be appreciated.

 

[Kiwisnap]

It's several decades since I was last in Egypt.

Take a circular polariser and some graduated/non graduated ND filters. It is very bright! Also it is very hot - you might not enjoy carrying that much gear, so if there is something you can leave at home to save weight, I would do so. Also very dusty so changing lenses best avoided unless critical; I would take the two zooms and leave the rest at home if it was me.

As always in such places, keep a tight hold on your gear....

 

[Ravee]

It's several decades since I was last in Egypt.

Take a circular polariser and some graduated/non graduated ND filters. It is very bright! Also it is very hot - you might not enjoy carrying that much gear, so if there is something you can leave at home to save weight, I would do so. Also very dusty so changing lenses best avoided unless critical; I would take the two zooms and leave the rest at home if it was me.

As always in such places, keep a tight hold on your gear....

Thanks a lot for your suggestions.

 

[FILIP KITTY]

am going there as well as of next week but only a few days in Egypt

may be I'll meet Ravee, you never know

anyway: I did pack a polarizer and ND filters, I take my Leica M with me so no zooms - I'll just have to be careful changing lenses.

anymore suggestions more than welcome!

 

[Ravee]

am going there as well as of next week but only a few days in Egypt

may be I'll meet Ravee, you never know

anyway: I did pack a polarizer and ND filters, I take my Leica M with me so no zooms - I'll just have to be careful changing lenses.

anymore suggestions more than welcome!

Thanks. I will be travelling in the fourth week of April.

 

[Ravee]

1. Landed at the Cairo airport and the customs caught my bag after scanning it. When I opened it as asked, I was barraged with questions. ".....Are you a professional photographer? What is the cost of the camera? Is it a video camera? What is the purpose of your visit?" I was economical with my words for some questions and maintained a calculated silence for others. And there was a problem of incompatibility between Indian English and Arabian English!!! (A few days later in a medical shop, the pharmacist remarked that Indian English was difficult to understand. I just grinned and nodded). The travel agency representative who came to receive us intervened and I was let off without further questioning. My friend had a camera body (Fuji X-T4) and two lenses in his bag which did not get the attention of anyone but only mine (Fuji SFX100s body with 4 lenses) did more than I would ever want.


2. Almost all tourist spots in Egypt are equipped with scanners. When we went to the 'Pyramids Light and Sound' show, my bag got caught again. Again the guide who accompanied us convinced the security officer that the camera I had was NOT a video camera but 'just' a still camera and I was allowed to proceed with my camera bag. My friend had no problem. But there was no ban on shooting videos with cell phones!!


3. In Alexandria no cameras were allowed inside the catacombs and the library (cell phones were allowed though). We had to leave our bags in the van and I was happy my friend did not escape this time!!! While going through the catacombs, I saw an American lady happily shooting with her bulky DSLR. When I asked her how she managed to get her camera inside, she replied she hung it over her shoulder while her handbag was being screened and she just casually walked through the security. She claimed she didn't know that cameras were not allowed inside. Our guide warned her to keep the camera hidden since she would be fined heavily, if caught.


4. In the museum at Cairo, there were no restrictions except that flash should not be used. However, photography either by a dedicated camera or cell phone is not strictly allowed inside the room where Tutankhamun's treasures are kept. I was asked to switch off my camera, put the cap on the lens and keep the cell phone in my pocket/bag.


5. Pyramid security was rough. As usual my bag was caught and taken to the security office and myself and our guide had to run behind it. Our guide was trying to convince the officers and he was joined by another guide. They were arguing with the security personnel in Arabic for more than 10 min while I was trying to get some clues from their gestures. My guide was asked to produce his ID card and an officer took a picture of it. Finally I was allowed to take the body with one lens and my bag was handed over to the guide who was instructed to take it straight to the van and keep it inside. He did so and I was OK with my 32-64 mm lens. I was missing my 23 mm lens though.


6. I went to the Cairo Tower on my own, purchased a ticket for 200 Egyptian pounds and went up. There was a police officer asking me to open the bag. On seeing the camera he asked for the ticket for the camera which I didn't have. Either it was not mentioned at the counter or I missed it. When he said I had to pay 300 Egyptian pounds for the camera, I offered to go down and get a ticket. He thought for a moment and just waved me off. I thanked my lucky stars for the first time in Egypt. My friend escaped this time too because he did not accompany me!


7. In Aswan and Luxor I did not have any problem but I was careful enough not to carry my bag but only the body and a lens to most of the places.


8. When I landed in Chennai at 4 AM, I was caught by the customs. (Yes, my friend had no problems as usual). I had to convince them that I bought the camera and lenses here in Chennai and showed them the invoice. I was told I should have declared all the items while leaving Chennai and got a receipt. (I had gone in and out of India umpteen number of times since 2010 with my camera bag containing Nikon D7000 and 3/4 lenses but not even a single time I was stopped by the customs in India. While going out I had never made a declaration either). It took me more than an hour to get out of the airport unscathed.


9. My camera and lenses were full of dust and it entered inside one of the lenses. I went straight to the Fuji service centre in Chennai and got all of them cleaned. Warranty saved me a few thousand bucks.


10. My friend told me I was not alone but there were incidents and sent me the following links. It seems professionals will have more problems in Egypt.

I wonder anyone else had similar troubles with GFX system in foreign or their home countries.

 

[Rodenmg]

Wow! What a huge PITA! I’ve always dreamed of touring Egypt but after reading this I don’t think I’d go if I could.

 

[Discombobulated]

1. Landed at the Cairo airport and the customs caught my bag after scanning it. When I opened it as asked, I was barraged with questions. ".....Are you a professional photographer? What is the cost of the camera? Is it a video camera? What is the purpose of your visit?" I was economical with my words for some questions and maintained a calculated silence for others. And there was a problem of incompatibility between Indian English and Arabian English!!! (A few days later in a medical shop, the pharmacist remarked that Indian English was difficult to understand. I just grinned and nodded). The travel agency representative who came to receive us intervened and I was let off without further questioning. My friend had a camera body (Fuji X-T4) and two lenses in his bag which did not get the attention of anyone but only mine (Fuji SFX100s body with 4 lenses) did more than I would ever want.

2. Almost all tourist spots in Egypt are equipped with scanners. When we went to the 'Pyramids Light and Sound' show, my bag got caught again. Again the guide who accompanied us convinced the security officer that the camera I had was NOT a video camera but 'just' a still camera and I was allowed to proceed with my camera bag. My friend had no problem. But there was no ban on shooting videos with cell phones!!

3. In Alexandria no cameras were allowed inside the catacombs and the library (cell phones were allowed though). We had to leave our bags in the van and I was happy my friend did not escape this time!!! While going through the catacombs, I saw an American lady happily shooting with her bulky DSLR. When I asked her how she managed to get her camera inside, she replied she hung it over her shoulder while her handbag was being screened and she just casually walked through the security. She claimed she didn't know that cameras were not allowed inside. Our guide warned her to keep the camera hidden since she would be fined heavily, if caught.

4. In the museum at Cairo, there were no restrictions except that flash should not be used. However, photography either by a dedicated camera or cell phone is not strictly allowed inside the room where Tutankhamun's treasures are kept. I was asked to switch off my camera, put the cap on the lens and keep the cell phone in my pocket/bag.

5. Pyramid security was rough. As usual my bag was caught and taken to the security office and myself and our guide had to run behind it. Our guide was trying to convince the officers and he was joined by another guide. They were arguing with the security personnel in Arabic for more than 10 min while I was trying to get some clues from their gestures. My guide was asked to produce his ID card and an officer took a picture of it. Finally I was allowed to take the body with one lens and my bag was handed over to the guide who was instructed to take it straight to the van and keep it inside. He did so and I was OK with my 32-64 mm lens. I was missing my 23 mm lens though.

6. I went to the Cairo Tower on my own, purchased a ticket for 200 Egyptian pounds and went up. There was a police officer asking me to open the bag. On seeing the camera he asked for the ticket for the camera which I didn't have. Either it was not mentioned at the counter or I missed it. When he said I had to pay 300 Egyptian pounds for the camera, I offered to go down and get a ticket. He thought for a moment and just waved me off. I thanked my lucky stars for the first time in Egypt. My friend escaped this time too because he did not accompany me!

7. In Aswan and Luxor I did not have any problem but I was careful enough not to carry my bag but only the body and a lens to most of the places.

8. When I landed in Chennai at 4 AM, I was caught by the customs. (Yes, my friend had no problems as usual). I had to convince them that I bought the camera and lenses here in Chennai and showed them the invoice. I was told I should have declared all the items while leaving Chennai and got a receipt. (I had gone in and out of India umpteen number of times since 2010 with my camera bag containing Nikon D7000 and 3/4 lenses but not even a single time I was stopped by the customs in India. While going out I had never made a declaration either). It took me more than an hour to get out of the airport unscathed.

9. My camera and lenses were full of dust and it entered inside one of the lenses. I went straight to the Fuji service centre in Chennai and got all of them cleaned. Warranty saved me a few thousand bucks.

10. My friend told me I was not alone but there were incidents and sent me the following links. It seems professionals will have more problems in Egypt.

I wonder anyone else had similar troubles with GFX system in foreign or their home countries.

If I saw your post 2 months ago, I would advise you not to bring GFX. I went to Egypt on 2019 and I bought a Z7 with few very small manual lens with me. I would recommend small camera like A7 or M4/3 with high MP cameras.

 

[MikeReid]

That and a Huawei P50 "its only a cell phone cam"

 

[Canadianguy]

1. Landed at the Cairo airport and the customs caught my bag after scanning it. When I opened it as asked, I was barraged with questions. ".....Are you a professional photographer? What is the cost of the camera? Is it a video camera? What is the purpose of your visit?" I was economical with my words for some questions and maintained a calculated silence for others. And there was a problem of incompatibility between Indian English and Arabian English!!! (A few days later in a medical shop, the pharmacist remarked that Indian English was difficult to understand. I just grinned and nodded). The travel agency representative who came to receive us intervened and I was let off without further questioning. My friend had a camera body (Fuji X-T4) and two lenses in his bag which did not get the attention of anyone but only mine (Fuji SFX100s body with 4 lenses) did more than I would ever want.

2. Almost all tourist spots in Egypt are equipped with scanners. When we went to the 'Pyramids Light and Sound' show, my bag got caught again. Again the guide who accompanied us convinced the security officer that the camera I had was NOT a video camera but 'just' a still camera and I was allowed to proceed with my camera bag. My friend had no problem. But there was no ban on shooting videos with cell phones!!

3. In Alexandria no cameras were allowed inside the catacombs and the library (cell phones were allowed though). We had to leave our bags in the van and I was happy my friend did not escape this time!!! While going through the catacombs, I saw an American lady happily shooting with her bulky DSLR. When I asked her how she managed to get her camera inside, she replied she hung it over her shoulder while her handbag was being screened and she just casually walked through the security. She claimed she didn't know that cameras were not allowed inside. Our guide warned her to keep the camera hidden since she would be fined heavily, if caught.

4. In the museum at Cairo, there were no restrictions except that flash should not be used. However, photography either by a dedicated camera or cell phone is not strictly allowed inside the room where Tutankhamun's treasures are kept. I was asked to switch off my camera, put the cap on the lens and keep the cell phone in my pocket/bag.

5. Pyramid security was rough. As usual my bag was caught and taken to the security office and myself and our guide had to run behind it. Our guide was trying to convince the officers and he was joined by another guide. They were arguing with the security personnel in Arabic for more than 10 min while I was trying to get some clues from their gestures. My guide was asked to produce his ID card and an officer took a picture of it. Finally I was allowed to take the body with one lens and my bag was handed over to the guide who was instructed to take it straight to the van and keep it inside. He did so and I was OK with my 32-64 mm lens. I was missing my 23 mm lens though.

6. I went to the Cairo Tower on my own, purchased a ticket for 200 Egyptian pounds and went up. There was a police officer asking me to open the bag. On seeing the camera he asked for the ticket for the camera which I didn't have. Either it was not mentioned at the counter or I missed it. When he said I had to pay 300 Egyptian pounds for the camera, I offered to go down and get a ticket. He thought for a moment and just waved me off. I thanked my lucky stars for the first time in Egypt. My friend escaped this time too because he did not accompany me!

7. In Aswan and Luxor I did not have any problem but I was careful enough not to carry my bag but only the body and a lens to most of the places.

8. When I landed in Chennai at 4 AM, I was caught by the customs. (Yes, my friend had no problems as usual). I had to convince them that I bought the camera and lenses here in Chennai and showed them the invoice. I was told I should have declared all the items while leaving Chennai and got a receipt. (I had gone in and out of India umpteen number of times since 2010 with my camera bag containing Nikon D7000 and 3/4 lenses but not even a single time I was stopped by the customs in India. While going out I had never made a declaration either). It took me more than an hour to get out of the airport unscathed.

9. My camera and lenses were full of dust and it entered inside one of the lenses. I went straight to the Fuji service centre in Chennai and got all of them cleaned. Warranty saved me a few thousand bucks.

10. My friend told me I was not alone but there were incidents and sent me the following links. It seems professionals will have more problems in Egypt.

I wonder anyone else had similar troubles with GFX system in foreign or their home countries.

Its not a camera friendly country. Just search youtube.

 

[Kiwisnap]

I hate places that make these random decisions with no logic whatsoever to them.

Why is X camera ok and Y camera not?

Why is taking photographs of an ancient building in any way detrimental to anything at all?

etc.

In India they often ban tripods for some odd reason - even in places where you are about the only visitor!

 

[Magnumdarkstar]

Woah I know someone who got 1Dx markIII and a bunch of expensive L lenses confiscated and never got it back.

 

[bobby350z]

Our good old USA also has weird rules. Some of those rules only get applied if you don't look the way the ones in authority expect you look. If OP looked different he probably have a better experience.