I’ve been shooting professionally with Fujifilm’s cameras since the X100S and the X-T1. On the way from there to the two X-T5s I use today I’ve gone through a ton of accessories, from straps and harnesses to belts and hip bags. Here’s my evolving run-down of the must have accessories for the X-T5, especially with a view to professional photography.
By the way if you’re more of an X100 kind of person I’ve got a similar list of essential accessories for your X100VI over here.
SpiderHolster Kit – the best strap-free way to carry cameras
Carrying two cameras with straps means that there’s always one swinging around as I lean or crouch or even run to get a shot. I’ve tried all kinds of straps, and even that Moneymaker Holster thing, and I just cannot stand anything that leaves cameras swinging around, and anything putting weight on your shoulders all day (even the harness) is bad for your posture and body. I’ve used the Spiderholster kit for over a decade now and it’s fantastic.
With the SpiderHolster the cameras hang off my hips a bit like a cowboy, no more strap tangles or swinging cameras. You just attach a plate with one or two strong metal pegs onto the base of your camera, then wear clips on your belt (or use their own custom belt product), into which you slot the pegs so the cameras hang on your hips. The peg travels a good 1-2 inches into the clip so it’s unlikely to jump out accidentally while you’re standing up, but you can also lock it in with a switch so they aren’t pushed out if you kneel, sit down, or run to get a shot. The whole ‘quick draw cowboy’ thing is a different look for sure, but it takes the weight off my shoulders and makes movement much easier.
I started with the SpiderHolster Pro kit, which includes their belt with two holster clips, and two dual-sided plates. These are really designed for big full frame cameras, and I’ve since switched to their newer Mirrorless plates, swapping their big belt for two Pro metal holster clips that go on my own leather belt.
The main difference between the bigger ‘Pro’ plates and the smaller mirrorless plates is that the ‘Pro’ plates are dual-sided: they have two metal prongs, so that whichever side you slot your camera onto your hips, the lens always faces backwards and any flash always faces down. The mirrorless plates are the exact same build quality but only have one prong. This means that only the right hand camera will slot onto your hip with the flash pointing down. On the left by default the flash will stick out to the side unless you just slightly rotate the camera as it goes into the clip, so that the lens is facing forwards and not backwards. In practice this really isn’t an issue; if the flash is on your left-hand camera you’ll get used to just slightly rotating the camera as it slots into the clip.
By the way if you’ve seen the Peak Design capture clip, that’s similar but in my opinion nowhere near as good as the Spider design. Firstly, the ‘capture’ zone on Peak Design’s clip, when you’re trying to fit the camera to the clip, is fiddlier and easier to miss. But the deal-breaker for me is that flashes can never point downwards using the Peak Design Capture clip. They’ll always face out 90 degrees from whichever surface the capture clip is attached to such as your belt or a strap on your backpack.
Think Tank Battery Holder
Designed for DSLR batteries, these work great with the Fuji X-series NP-W126S batteries too. I keep batteries with the contacts face up for ‘full’ and face down for ’empty’.
Think Tank Pocket Rocket Memory Card Holder
Designed for CF cards, it’s also perfect for SD cards in their cases, and comes with a strap you can attach to a belt loop so you’ll never drop it, and a pocket for business cards too. Rather annoyingly they went with a Velcro fastener though, so make sure you’ve swapped cards before the ceremony or speeches start, to avoid ripping through the atmosphere as you tear back the fastenings.
Sandisk Extreme Pro SD cards
Don’t skimp on memory cards for professional work! There are many websites that analyse the read and write speeds of the various cards and brands available, and you could argue that Lexar is better than Sandisk, or Sandisk is better than Lexar, for hours. I’m happy with Sandisk, so I just stick with the fastest Sandisk Extreme Pro cards my cameras can take. The Fujifilm X-T2 slots both accept the faster UHSII cards, by the way.
Eneloop Pro AA Batteries
Utterly amazing batteries, just stop buying other brands and get Eneloop Pro batteries for all your pro photography kit that needs AAs. I have two dozen of these all boxed up in sets of four ready to go. They’re recommended by pros everywhere for a reason: they hold charge when not in use for a long time, and they provide consistently excellent cycling times for your flashes.
Youshiko/Technoline Intelligent Battery Charger
The best battery charger I’ve ever used! Can recharge at variable power levels, and can also refresh apparently-dead rechargeable batteries, giving them a new lease of life.
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