How Much OM System / Olympus Gear Can You Fit in a Pelican Air 1535 Case?

I had previously written a Blog on my experiences flying with my photography gear in a Pelican Air 1535 Case.  I just realized that I published that blog back in 2018 when I was shooting with a combination of Olympus Micro Four Thirds and Canon Full Frame gear.

Since that time, I must have flown close to 10 times with only Olympus / OM System Micro Four Thirds gear in my Pelican Case.  The beauty of Micro Four Thirds gear is that it’s so small that you can fit a bunch of gear in the Pelican Air 1535 Case and not have to check your bag (unless your flying in a really small plane).

In this blog, I thought it would be fun to show how much gear you can pack in a Pelican Air 1535 Case.  I’ll also cover my experiences flying with the Pelican Air 1535.

Below is an example of how much Micro Four Thirds gear will fit in the Pelican Air 1535 case.  This is only one of limitless combinations of gear you can fit in the case.

How Much Micro Four Thirds Gear Will Fit in a Pelican Air 1535 Case?

1. Laowa 7.5mm f/2 lens
2. OM System OM-1 Camera
3. Olympus 2.0x Teleconverter
4. Olympus 1.4x Teleconverter
5. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
6. 77mm Polarizer & 3 ND Filters
7. Olympus 12-100mm f/4 lens
8. Olympus 8-25mm f/4 lens
9. Olympus 60mm Macro lens
10. Portable SSD Drive & Cable for Backup
11. Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 lens
12. Olympus 300mm f/4 lens

Tips for Packing Your Gear in the Pelican Air 1535 Case

You can purchase the Pelican Air 1535 case with a TrekPak Divider System.  This system is really good for designing customized compartments to store and protect your gear. 

What is not so good is that once you cut the panels for your custom compartments, you will need to buy and cut additional sections to store different sized gear.  One thing you can do to create additional compartments is to use the padding from other bags / backpacks to provide additional padding and separation (sections 1 and 10 in the above photograph).

I also use the padding from other bags to create more cushion and a tighter fit if the gear is too small for the TrekPak compartment (sections 8, 11, and 12 in the above photograph).

Note that I also separate the camera bodies from the lenses during transport.  This helps to create more space and helps to prevent damage to the equipment.

Traveling with the Pelican Air 1535 Case

In larger planes like the Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737 Max 9, and Airbus A319, the Pelican Air 1535 Case fits vertically in the overhead bin.  On smaller planes like the Embraer ERJ-170, the Pelican 1535 fit horizontally in the overhead bin.

Twice, I had to gate check the Pelican case when flying on a really small Embraer RJ145.  The Pelican case protected my gear well with no damage to the gear or the case.  I really try to avoid small planes.  While the Pelican Air 1535 Case protects my gear well, it still makes me nervous checking my gear.

If you frequently fly to your photography destinations, you may want to consider the Pelican Air 1535 Case.  I can bring a lot of Micro Four Thirds gear with me on these trips, and it gives me some peace of mind that my gear will be safe if I do have to check it.

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