Get a Grip ....

 This Blog article details the grip options available for the Fuji X System cameras.

Fuji X T1 with battery grip.

I have been using the Fuji X system for over a year now and really getting to like it. Initially I bought the X Pro1 as I wanted a small compact and discreet camera for street photography and other related personal project work.  As this camera was being used for the "fun" stuff in my photography rather than the bread and butter work, at first I thought the feeling I got every time I got the X Pro 1 out  was totally down to that "fun" element. As getting the X Pro1 out felt like an "event" I could move easily with a light weight camera with a single wide prime lens mainly 35mm F1.4 (equivalent to 50mm) I could capture stuff others seemed to have difficulty with especially in low light conditions. As the X Pro1 is a range finder style of camera I also got a different perspective of things and using the analogue view finder or shooting from the hip also made me much more engaged in what was happening around me as I was shooting.

However as time went on I realised I could almost shoot anything with this camera and get the same liberating buzz ! So slowly but surely the X Pro1 started to get used in some of my commercial work and few months ago with Fuji's launch of the  X T1 and also a couple really great lenses I decided to do more than dip my toe into the water with the Fuji X system, and this leads me on to looking at different grips for these cameras.

I generally still shoot with the X Pro1 with wide angle prime lenses 14 mm, 18 mm & 35 mm and I find using a thumb rest for additional grip I get a perfect balance of the lens with the camera,  it basically just feels right. The downside of using the thumb rest is the loss of the hotshoe but there is still a sync socket available if needed.

Fuji X Pro 1 with thumb grip attached to hotshoe

With the X T1 I use this camera with longer lenses as it is more of a DSLR and therefore lends itself better to this application. Although I find this camera well balanced for short primes as it comes, with longer lenses it feels somewhat top heavy, because of it being a small camera body which is what makes it so light in the hand. There are three grip options from Fuji for this camera that help with this "top heavy" feeling  these are; a battery grip and two sizes of grip extensions.

The two grip extensions - standard & large

I found the large to be the better option with this grip but this will be a mater of personal preference both grips attach the same way screwing in to the tripod mount on the base of the camera, providing an alternative mount for tripod and access to the battery compartment. The reason I never consider the X Pro1 grip extension is because it actually covers the battery compartment which massive restricts battery changing in a hurry. 

The standard X T1 grip extension

The standard X T1 grip extension

The large X T1 grip extension

The large X T1 grip extension

As you can see from comparison above the the large grip is not only deeper, but it goes higher up the camera allowing for a better counter balance for a long lens like this 55-200 zoom.

The real big surprise for me though is the battery grip for the X T1, as I am not normally a fan of battery grips, I find them unnecessary on DSLR adding to overall bulk and weight of the camera with no handling advantages over the way I shoot without one. However with the T X1 I was blown away with what it does for this camera with a long lens the balance becomes perfect, not through increase the grips size but by increasing the overall length the hand rests against.

Fuji X T1 with battery grip adding to the overall height of the camera.

Fuji X T1 battery grip showing the depth of the portrait grip. 

 Therefore for me the battery grip is my preferred grip with the Fuji X T1 with longer lenses this is the perfect partner, plus an bit of extra battery life is never a bad thing.

Postscript added December 2014: Although the X Pro1 is still one of may favourite cameras to use, I didn't get on that well with the XT 1 or Fuji's range of zoom lenses,when I started shooting most of my commercial jobs with them. I now therefore prefer to use a "real" DSLR for a good 60% of my commercial work.