To say I love my Fujifilm X-T3 Mirrorless Camera would be an understatement. It’s an amazing camera, both for photography and videography. If I could make 2 improvements, it might be the perfect camera for so many people.
The first would be in-body stabilization. To be able to use both a lens and the camera itself to stabilize video would make it extremely attractive for adventurous videographers.
The second would be to include a fully reversible articulating screen so that you could see yourself when standing in front of the camera. This is a feature lacking on a lot of DSLR and Mirrorless cameras (I’m looking at you Sony) and my only guess is that they choose to not include this in an attempt to distinguish different lines or encourage 3rd party purchases.
Now you can use a smart phone or tablet to view your live feed and align yourself properly in the frame, but it wears down your battery and limits the number of settings you can change when recording with a mobile device. After trying it a few times, I just gave up and would do my best to frame the shot before recording, then hope it stayed in focus.
Finally, I got fed up with it and went out and purchased the Atomos Ninja V external monitor and recorder. Great, you say. What does this have to do with a Smallrig Cage?
Well, the Ninja V sits in the camera’s only hotshoe mount which means you can no longer put a shotgun microphone or light on it, both are items I often mount on the camera. This led me to having to get really clever with my mounting schemes; using a microphone stand, setting up secondary tripods, etc. It was really hard to justify spending the not insignificant amount of money that a cage costs for what is essentially a piece of metal with holes in it.
Black Friday to the Rescue! I found the cage for my setup on sale for roughly 25% off and finally pulled the trigger, but is it worth it in the end? Did it solve my accessory mounting issues? Watch the video to find out, or continue reading.
Smallrig cage for Fujifilm X-T3 with Atomos Ninja V, Rode Video Micro, and ProMaster LED
The quick answer is, yes. Getting a cage was definitely worth it. Now I have all of my gear attached to a single point with plenty of room to grow. I did miscalculate the amount of space all the attached accessories would take up, but fortunately I have a camera store in town that caries the essentials for cage mounting hardware.
I wouldn’t recommend a cage be in the top items you buy after getting a new camera, but definitely in the top 10. I’d say get a microphone, some lights, a video monitor if needed and a second lens first, in that order. Then you’ll be ready for a cage anyway.
If you’re interested in picking up one for your camera, please consider using this link to get to Amazon. Once there, you can start searching for the cage for your model of camera. By using this link, I get a small kick back that’s free to you, but helps support my channel.