TOP 3 FUJIFILM X-100V ACCESSORIES - by LENSMATE and SQUAREHOOD
The Fujifilm X-100V is for me one of the best looking cameras around. Yes, I know quite a strong statement to make! But a good looking camera will be used more, which on itself will likely lead to more keeper images. Although near perfect, it is often pimped by its owners with lots of accessories. Some of them purely esthetic others more functional, sometimes a combination of both. Below is my own TOP 3, which I've extensively tested and still use on a daily basis.
Who is Lensmate? They are a Seattle based company which appears to be much bigger than what they really are, which is not meant to be negative. With only a handful of employees, they have been around for about 20 years now and are doing a mix of things. They are best known for their high quality Thumbrests available for most Fujifilm cameras as well as a few of the smaller Sony cameras. They also sell a variety of other items such as filters and soft shutter release buttons. The latter one will be discussed here as well.
1/ Lensmate Folding Thumbrest X-100V
What is a thumbrest? Well, it is an aluminum part that slides into the camera hot-shoe of which the main function is to relax the camera grip, allowing for slower shutter speeds. It also allows for easier single hand shooting and avoids unintentional button presses. One could think that this seems to be a third party after-thought but some camera manufacturers like Leica, are selling thumbrests themselves, although at "Leica prices".
Officially called the LM X100V, the X-100V Thumbrest made my Lensmate, is custom made for the camera. In line with the high quality, it comes in a nice "jewellery" box.
Unlike some of the Chinese knock-offs, it does only fit the X-100V, which is a good thing. There are multiple reports of cheaper thumb-rests damaging cameras, which is obviously the last thing we want to happen!
It has a folding mechanism which allows for full access to the rear command dial. The DRIVE/DELETE and AEL/AFL buttons remain accessible without the need to fold it.
Even for left eyed shooters like myself the thumbrest will not poke you into the eye while shooting.
The LM X100V is available in silver and in black. I only tested the silver one which is very close to silver X-100V camera finish. Well done Lensmate!
Where your thumb rests, there is a nice rubber insert, for additional grip. A second rubber insert where it touches the camera, will avoid any scratches or damage to your X-100V. Overall, I feel this precision part has really been well thought of and is worth the 60,-USD purchase price. You might want to ship to an address in the USA to avoid higher shipping costs.
A short video by Lensmate on the mounting and the use of the Folding Thumbrest can be found here.
2/ Lensmate Soft release button
A Soft release button is anything but soft, but allows for a softer actuation of the shutter because of the larger raised surface. They generally come in convex, concave and even flat variations. Like the Lensmate recommendation, I also prefer the convex ones, especially when using a thumbrest.
They typically can be mounted on any camera that has a "threaded" shutter button, like the majority of the X-series cameras. A few exceptions are the X-H1, X-T100/200 and the new X-S10 which have solid flat shutter buttons.
At 20,-USD, the Lensmate buttons might be slightly more expensive than some of the other online ones but have a high quality feel to them and come in nice little box. I ordered and tested a red one from their "Bird" collection. As it is screwed onto the camera shutter button, one doesn't know in which position it will end up once fully tightened. My little birdy was about 90 degrees off when fixed. In hindsight, choosing one where the orientation doesn’t matter like the Tri Tadpole collection, would have been better for the eye!
They come with a very small rubber ring, which is essential if you do not want to loose your button after mounting it. I would have liked to see one or two spare rubber rings as they are easily lost if ever you remove the button for some reason. Lensmate provides some valuable mounting instructions on their site. I'm summarizing them here below. Make sure to read it before installing it!
To install:
- Place your camera on a hard surface
- Use your thumb and first 2 fingers to make a tripod
- Install the small rubber ring on the button thread if not done already
- Hold the top of the button in your hand tripod, pressing down while turning but be sure to keep it perpendicular.
- Turn until the button is tight
They also highlight that the camera shutter button is made for only a vertical actuation. If bumped from the side, any soft release button, can damage the shutter mechanism. However after having used these buttons for extended periods (more than 7 years), I've never had an issue but it is something to be aware about. Also, while the button needs to be tight, obviously don't use tools to do so as it will almost certainly damage the mechanism. Just finger tight will do.
On as side note, they recommend using blue loctite to ensure a secure connection of the button. Years ago, I unfortunately once used the standard loctite (not the blue temporary glue!), which made me glue the shutter button in the pressed down setting. So, no loctite for me anymore, although the blue one is probably perfectly safe!
SquareHood is a small Swedish company specializing in you guessed it; "square lens hoods"! A great looking camera can easily be spoiled by mounting a cheap plastic lens hood; something I’ve been very conscious about. It was in a search for a good lens hood that I came to SquareHood.
Having a small pancake lens, has always made the X-100 quite sensitive to lens flare and this is no different on the new X-100V. When shooting in bright conditions, a good lens hood is therefore essential for me. Before we continue, let's explain why we use lens hoods in the first place. The three main reasons are:
1/ to avoid lens flare when shooting directly into the light source
2/ to increase contrast when the light source is out of the frame
3/ to protect your lens from the elements and potential damage
Their motto is, "Your sensor is square, why would your lens hood be any different?". It is true that a square lenshood allows for a smaller form factor than when using a round one. This is especially important when it comes to using the optical viewfinder (OVF) as it otherwise might block a large part of it. Using the SquareHood does only block a little bit of the right bottom corner in the OVF. Obviously it doesn't effect the Electronic Viewfinder (EVF). Beside, I personally also prefer the vintage look of a square lens hood. The metal lenshood for the XF35mm f1.4 comes to mind.
First of all, do not use the previous Mk I version on a X-100V as it might damage your camera! The new lens on the X-100V protudes a little bit more while focussing than its predecessors, X-100, X-100S and X-100T.
The metal hood comes in a nice little box, together with a rubber lens cap and small screwdriver and has a nice quality feel to it. Although also available in black, I only tested the silver one which unfortunately does have a little bit of a warmer tone to it, almost like a light champagne colour. It would definitively have been nicer to be closer to the actual X-100V body colour. I tested an early model which was ordered in FEB 2020. A rumor says that the ones shipping now are closer to the actual camera colour. I can however not confirm or deny, as I have not seen them myself.
To install the hood, unscrew the front lens ring on the X-100V, then screw the hood on the lens thread. Once at the stop, slightly unscrew both small screws, which will allow you to position it nicely in a horizontal position. Lastly, tighten the screws again to fix the position and you are done. Once you have done it once for a specific camera, there is no need to unscrew/screw anymore when you remove and install the hood again, as it now knows the end position of the specific thread of your camera.
Squarehood now also sells an adapter ring specifically made for the X-100V, which at the time wasn’t available. I did however get the previous extension ring, which although not optimal, can be used on the X-100V as well. I’ve recently ordered the new adapter ring and will report once I’ve used it here.
The X-100V is weather-sealed but only if the lens has a UV filter on it. Because the lens extends a bit while focussing, mounting a filter directly on the lens will damage the camera as it will touch the filter glass. Therefore an adapter ring (or the extension ring) needs to be installed, making more space between filter and lens.
I've seen people stack adapter ring, filter (darkest colour in image below) and then the hood, all on each other. This is NOT the correct way of installing it.
When unscrewing the little screws on the squarehood, the inner threat sleeve (ring) will become free.
Remove it and then slide the hood (left part in image above) over the filter. It will no longer screw on, as the threat has been removed with the sleeve removal. The little screws can now be tightened to mount as below. Now you have a fully weather-sealed X-100V! SquareHood has made a nice little video on the process here.
As you can see in the procedure above, mounting the UV filter is not a quick fix. Especially when dealing with tiny little screws. I personally will only mount the UV filter when shooting in or around salt water. Even when going out in the rain, I feel confident to go out only with the Squarehood. Given its size and shape it will give me all the protection I need from rain and snow as long as I do not keep the camera facing up.
SquareHood is presently selling the SquareHood Mk II for 60, -EUR (72,-USD). The kit of the Mk II with the Adapter ring goes for 70,-EUR (85,-USD).
CONCLUSION
First of all, I only review items I'm actually using myself. I find that all three items go very well with the clean and sharper X-100V lines and can therefore recommend all. Ideally I would have loved the SqaureHood to better match the colour of the camera.
I could have added the hand-strap to my list which shows up in some of the images as well. For those interested, it comes from AF Shoot; a great place to shop for straps and other camera accessories.
Now grab this great looking camera and go out and shoot!
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