How do you balance quality and portability when packing your travel videography gear?

The most important factor is that your camera must be easy enough to carry with you at all times. If you consider leaving your equipment behind due to it's weight or bulk, it is not right for you. That is my approach as documentary style photographer, shooting for my own pleasure. Commercial photographers have different goals.

I have to travel abroad with kit a fair number of times a year. I find making sure that the kit and personal luggage is efficient to get through airport security. A spaghetti of cables will look dodgy on the xray and lead to you getting stopped and searched. Batteries should be put in your luggage and do not add a lock to your luggage. This way if they need to open it to check that the batteries are aeroplane safe (should have something on them to say so). I recommend, invest in a small lightweight tripod and battery adapters so any lights, cameras, external monitors can all run off the same batteries. Remember customs declarations (what ever they are called in your country) the smaller amount of items you have, the quicker this process.

Always satisfy the client and the needs of the project. Less gear is easier to move about/pack but if it doesn't make the client want to hire you again because you cut corners then you are the one who loses. Use the right tool for the job whatever that means.

When flying with videography equipment, I always make an effort to pack my most crucial equipment in carry-on bags. Checked bags are can (and do) get lost and damaged, and the last thing you want is to arrive at your destination with broken gear, or possibly missing gear altogether! If you do need to pack some of your equipment in checked bags, prioritize things like lights and tripods that, if something goes wrong, can be more easily replaced. And definitely use hard-shell cases with lots of internal padding to keep your gear protected.

When I have fly gigs I always pack my critical gear into a carry-on sized backpack. Everything else is checked baggage including my clothes. That way even if my luggage is delayed/lost I can still get the essentials of the job done. I always have my main camera, main lens/s, charger, cards et al along with my laptop. Everything else can be borrowed/rented/purchased if need be. All the other gear are in hard flight cases with tracking tiles. Doing this a few times helps figure out what you really need and how to get it there.

When planning your trip, prioritize bringing gear that will give you the most versatile functionality for the situations you'll be shooting in. Ask yourself questions like: "Is this piece of equipment necessary for success, or just nice to have?" "Is the usefulness of this piece of equipment greater than the effort required to travel with it?" "What can I mount to my camera rig directly, to avoid needing to bring separate mounting equipment for?" "Can I use natural lighting instead of packing a full light kit?"

Having gear that you can multi-purpose is key. Having a few must have problem solvers like gaff tape and two Super Clamps is always worth the extra space/weight. Bring a 5-in-1 collapsible reflector to use as a black/white card, using the removable skin, and the diffuser instead of your 3 foot octa.

After every travel job I ask myself what I could do better, easier, should have taken and importantly what I never even looked at let alone used. Constant improvement to streamline your gear and process is a must.

Unless you can do everything that you need with just a backpack or single rolling case bring a folding luggage cart like a Rock-n-Roller. Yes it's one more thing to go on the checked luggage list but it will save your back, time and loads of frustration once you get on the ground. If the client has a problem with spending an extra $50 to have that shipped both ways then your client is WAY too cheap. Also any airline will give you discounts on checked luggage if you are working media/production company. Show your credentials at check in and enjoy the savings and ease.

Dont be a target when travelling, have all your batterys taped and labelled, in a seperate bag, i even take mouse batterys out, and tip them in a tray for security, way better to have them on show and not have security looking through your bags for them. Then they don't care about the 15kgs of camera gear hidden in your carry on.