Did Canon finally figure out how to make an awesome mirrorless camera? It looks that way.
After testing the camera for a few days, I immediately fell in love. There are a few things felt cheap, or could be improved, but adding a few third-party accessories or even Canon accessories could go a long way in improving the handling, look and performance of this camera.
Although I don’t own this camera, I’ll share with you some great brands of accessories I use for the cameras I do own, as well as other cool accessories I find and use that are sort of camera universal, like leather straps.
Canon EOS M5 – Amazon / Adorama / Bhphoto
Camera Essentials
Best Screen Protector For The Canon M5
I usually use the ExpertShield screen protectors. They have a lifetime warranty, but there are also other great screen protectors out there that I’m still waiting to become available.
With the ExpertShield Screen Protectors, the Anti-Glare screen protectors are really cool and I use them on a few of my cameras, but they do tend to slightly degrade the quality of image coming from the screen. They also sometimes make a tempered glass protector but they don’t have any yet for this camera.
ExpertShield Screen Protector Anti-Glare – Amazon
ExpertShield Screen Protector Crystal Clear – Amazon
Best Canon M5 Batteries
The Canon M5 uses the same batteries as the Canon T6i, T6s and the M3. The Official Canon batteries usually are the best and will give you the best performance, however, if you’re just buying some batteries as backup, the Wasabi’s work great.
Canon Battery Pack LP-E17 – Amazon
Wasabi (2-Pack) w/charger – Amazon
Canon LC-E17 Battery Charger – Amazon
Best Memory Cards
I’ve tested all the most popular SD memory cards in the Canon M5. Click the following link to find out which memory card performs the best for your shooting style.
Best Memory Cards For The Canon M5
Canon M5 Leather Cases
Canon has an official leather body jacket they’ve released along side their camera, but Gariz has also made a pretty cool case as well.
I use the Gariz cases on many of my cameras and like them a lot.
Canon Body Jacket Black – Amazon / Adorama
Canon Body Jacket Brown – Amazon / Adorama
Canon M5 Gariz Leather Half Cases – Amazon
Canon M5 Camera Straps
There are several types of straps out there, some nylon, some leather, some braided, etc. Some connect to the bottom of the camera, like the C-Loop and the Black Rapid straps, some will connect to the eyelets. I’ll list what I use or what I think are nice and well made.
Best Handmade Leather Straps
Probably my favorite leather strap is either the LeicaTime Deluxe strap, or the HardGraft ReProcess strap. But Tap & Dye do make a nice strap as well. (I just want you to know I get zero commission for linking to these leather straps. But HardGraft sometimes sends me stuff to review.)
HardGraft Leather Straps – HardGraft.com I love their Re-Process strap that I think is now discontinued.
LeicaTime Deluxe Strap – LeicaTime.com (click Luigi’s straps on the left, then scroll down for a mile until you find some cool configurations. Buying from this website is a little bit like cracking the Mayan code, but it can be done)
Tap&Dye – Tap&Dye (They have a lot of straps. I’ve only used their L E G A C Y leather camera fixed length neck/shoulder strap – Porter.) It’s really nice.
Factory Made Straps
Handmade leathers straps are usually a little bit expensive. So if you’re looking for just a strap that’s better than what comes with the camera, I’ve found a few I like.
Custom SLR makes some really nice stuff now and they even offer a leather strap. Their straps are also cool because they can connect to the bottom of your camera with a C-Loop, which also allows you to take the strap on and off quickly.
Custom SLR Slim Strap – Amazon You’ll need to buy a C-Loop Mini to go with this.
– C-Loop Mini – Amazon
BlackRapid Camera Straps – Amazon Similar to CSLR, BlackRapid makes a bottom-mounting strap that’s pretty cool.
Gariz Straps – Amazon They make a decent factory made leather strap. They’re fine for the price.
Wrist Straps
I use a few wrist straps for some of my smaller cameras. You could probably get away with using a wrist strap on the M5 as long as you were using a relatively small and light lens.
Gordy’s – Gordyscamerastraps.com
HardGraft Slide Camera Wrist Strap – HardGraft.com
Canon M5 Camera Flashes
One of the cool features of the Canon M5 is you can use the built-in flash as a commander. Meaning, wireless flash controls.
There are a few flashes by Canon, some smaller, some more serious.
Canon Speedlite 600EX II-RT – Amazon
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT – Amazon
Canon Speedlite 580EX-II – Amazon – I have this flash and still use it all the time. It’s old but I love it!
Canon Speedlite 430EX II-RT Flash – Amazon
Canon Speedlite 270EX II – Amazon
Cleaning Supplies
You can never have too many cleaning cloths. These get dirty and stop working well on lenses, so it’s nice to always have a fresh backup.
(6 Pack) MagicFiber® Premium Microfiber Cleaning Cloths
– (Amazon)
These are great for cleaning sensors or those small cracks in the camera.
Rocket Air Small – (Amazon)
Rocket Air Medium – (Amazon)
Sometimes you’ll need a little bit more to get a stubborn piece of dust of your sensor. That’s when the sensor brush works great.
Sensor Brush APS-C – (Amazon)
Cool Software
Aside from the typical Photoshop and Lightroom, there is another program I’ve added to my workflow that has saved me a ton of time and given me some amazing results. That’s Aurora HDR. If you’re interested in shooting Landscape, Travel or HDR photography and want some software that makes editing very easy then check out my review.
Best Accessories For The Canon M5 Conclusions
The Canon M5 is a brand new beast that’s unlike anything Canon has done. With a fresh look and design it may be awhile before we start seeing a lot of accessories. However, that doesn’t mean they won’t come.
After using the M5 for a while I could see this camera becoming very popular, this should mean a lot of third-party accessory will come and hopefully more third-party lenses for this relatively new mount.
I’ll continue to hunt down the best accessories for the Canon M5, but also, let me know if you find anything cool that you really like or that looks promising!
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About Me
I am a professional freelance commercial / trailer editor. I mostly edit trailers and tv spots for games such as Call of Duty, Destiny, Gears of War with a few Netflix shows thrown in the mix. The other half of my time is spent shooting photography. I am based out of Los Angeles CA.