SmallRig Releases Two Custom Cages for Fujifilm X-T2, With & Without Vertical Power Booster Grip

Not one but two new cages for the Fujifilm X-T2 camera have been released by SmallRig and these are as unexpected in their design and assembly methods as LockCircle’s cage for the X-T2 minus vertical power booster grip that I wrote about earlier this year. These are interesting times, not only for X-T2 cages but for the X-T2 itself, with a rumoured firmware update soon to appear and a possible “ultimate X-camera based on the X-T design”. 

Have Allen key, will assemble: SmallRig’s X-T2 cage for Fujifilm X-T2/X-T1 camera 1888, some self-assembly required.

A standout feature in the larger of SmallRig’s two cages for the X-T2 is that they arrive in four pieces that then require the proud new owner to do a little self-assembly work with a classic Allen key.

The Vertical Power Booster Grip-inclusive SmallRig design seems to have one flaw that photographer/moviemaker Mike Kobal discovered when assembling his recently, in the way the included HDMI cable clamp prevents easy access to the VPB-XT2’s battery tray.

Mr Kobal’s solution was to extend the clamp away from the cage body via two rods included with another camera cage in his collection. A SmallRig-branded alternative may lie in SmallRig’s own 15mm 1/4″-threaded micro-rods.

SmallRig X-T2 Cage for Fujifilm X-T2 Camera 1888

SmallRig Fuji X-T2 Cage for Fujifilm X-T2 Camera 1881

SmallRig HDMI Cable Clamp for Fujifilm X-T2 Cage 1949

I have been informed of other X-T2 custom cages on the horizon and am keeping a keen eye out for them. An X-T2 is high up on my wishlist as companion for my X-Pro2 for zoom lenses and prime lenses wider and longer than comfortably work with the X-Pro2’s hybrid optical viewfinder, but I am in two minds about the X-T2 as a video camera right now.

As cinematographer/director Paul Leeming has written, the 4K Super 35 X-T2 needs some firmware updates for it to become a serious contender against Panasonic’s 4K Super 16 Lumix GH5. A better bet may be to wait until that mooted “ultimate X-camera based on the X-T design” arrives on the scene sometime in the coming year.

Meanwhile some intriguing developments are occurring on the Fujinon broadcast and cinema lens front, with the legendary high-end Cabrio PL-mount lenses dropping US$10,000 each, as reported by News Shooter below, and the two zoom lenses from Fujifilm’s new MK line appearing later this year with X-Mounts.

Might X-Mount XK zooms be a distant possibility, perhaps when that “ultimate X-camera based on the X-T design” arrives? In which case, heftier X-T design camera cages will be required for the higher-end Super 35 moviemaking to which the camera may be perfectly suited.

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