My X-Pro Kit Bag & ‘go to’ gear with the X-Pro

Here is a quick guide to how I live and work with the X-Pro. We have some quick looks at the kit I carry on a near daily basis. I call this my ‘go to’ gear or ‘kit bag’.  Please do bear in mind this is just a rough list and of course, things change from shoot to shoot ! But, as a kit bag, this is mostly the stuff that I could grab and go at a moments notice and pretty much covered for anything.

[Check out our FUJIFILM home page for more Fuji info, tips and tricks]

At the moment many people seem to asking about using flash and the X-pro, there are some quick things to remember when using Flash on the Fuji –

• The X-Pro will not sync faster that 160th
• The X-Pro has a PC Sync Cord
• The X-Pro has no in built flash
• Make sure Silent mode is set to OFF
• The X100s will sync at 1000th or faster
• Pocket Wizards do work (ii & tt)

I wanted to share some of the Kit I have used for my trips and my ‘go to’ gear when it comes to shooting and travelling with the X-Pro. This is a normal kit bag for a Single Light set up shoot or multi purpose ‘Grab Bag’

• Pocket Wizard tt5 x2 + tt1
• 3 Legged Thing Tripod ( AH0 Head – Brain Legs)
• Range of lenses ( 18mm, 18-55mm, 60mm, 45mm + Zeiss range)
• Orbis RingFlash
• Sb910 or 400w nano Monolight (shoot dependent)
• Godex Battery pack for the Nikon Flashes
• Apollo Orb Umbrella – Westcott
• Frio Coldshoe
• Lee Seven5 Filter Kit
• Westcott IceLight
• Lexar SD cards + Spares
• Arca Swiss mount plate
• Anker 1300 battery charger + spare battery + cables
• Laptop + iPhone

The aim for me when working with the Fuji is to keep my kit to a minimum and as light weight as I can.  In the photo above I have the TT5 on the camera plus the filter system. For the lighting on this shoot I was using the studio strobe and the Apollo.  On this occasion I wanted to be able to use the deep length of the soft box to enable me to control the lighting.

Lighting such as the Orbis ring-flash modifier and a SB900 give me a great flash option where as the Westcott Ice light give me great constant lighting options.

This is an image shot using the Orbis Set up (below) the lighting set up is very simple and creates on my favourite set ups ! When shooting with a speedlight set up, the Nikon SB910 is a great flash to use, due to the power high output. I like to use it with the Godex Battery pack for extra power and life. I also, when I can like to use the smaller cheaper speedlights if I need more than one. The price seems to be dropping and the quality getting better with the lower end of the speedlight flash market.

It is extremely useful to have a Compact Tripod system such as the Three Legged things tripods that can work as Camera Tripods or lighting stands when needed. In this picture, I have the CSC sized A0 Air Head and the Brian Tripod. This gives me a super compact tripod to use which will also hold a speed light above head height for great lighting options on location. Things like the Frio Coldshoe are priceless for mounting gear in a safe and secure way. Having trusty kit is a key element.

Above is a very classic set up for landscape shooting – I like to keep the camera low. In this images I am shooting with the Keith Tripod is much smaller than a normal tripod. Having the small super light tripod ready to go always lets you capture interesting shots such as this shot of Oxford Street at night.

Due to the way I shoot with the Fuji cameras, I love to try and use as little created light as I can when travelling. (by created light I mean times that I have to ‘create’ light using flash or ambient. Some people might think of this as additive light.) There are a number of benefits. This saves battery power and means I can shoot quicker. Having a large reflector is priceless. Here I have the large Westcott 6-1 Kit Illuminator. It has all the things you need for deflecting, reflecting, defusing and directing light. Firing the SB900 though the Orbis into the Defusing panel of the reflector is a great way of getting really nice soft light when you don’t have time to set up the Orb Softbox. The Orb is made by Westcott and is designed to be a softbox for speed-lights. This can all be mounted up using the 3 Legged Thing Tripod and Frio Coldshoe.

Album artwork Photography for Mallory Knox

To sync everything together. I use the Pocket Wizards. The TT5 sits on the Camera and the other TT5 goes onto the flash. At the moment in time, the Pocket Wizards are not supporting TTL for the Fuji, but, this is never really a problem as I prefer to shoot manual with the SB900 anyway. I prefer to use the TT5 over the TT1 as the 5’s use AA battery power and not the smaller watch type battery. I have found that finding some spare AA’s is  quite easy when you need to find some or end up with a power problem !

A recent addition to the bag (Billingham 307) is a set of Lee Filters. They have created the Seven5 system with is a dedicated CSC Filter kit. Having some quick interesting colours to play with and a couple of ND Grad filters saves time in post pro.  There are times when getting things right in camera is good practice and there are times when working with filters is the only way to capture what you are looking to create.

 

The X-Pro is the only camera in the range to have a PC-Sync port. Which means that if your wirelss flash sync system goes down, you have a back up. Just plug a cable into the port and of you go. Do remember though that the cheaper speedlights might not have sync cable ports.

On a side note, the combination of the kit can come in very handy for Make Up artists. The clean balanced light from the Ice Light makes a perfect light for make up Artists to do their magic. !