Fuji X100F Lensmate Thumb Grip Review

The Lensmate thumb grip is a great accessories for the Fujifilm X100F that provides extra grip and support for the camera. It gives your thumb a place to sit and allows the camera to sit more securely in the hand which improves camera stability, comfort and ergonomics. 

Fujifilm X100F Lensmate Thumb Grip

Black – Amazon

Silver – Amazon

When I was first introduced to the Lensmate thumb grips, I was shooting with my X100T. The grip for that camera absolutely essential for me and I couldn’t live without it. The design of the X100F is slightly different and there is now a dial that sits directly behind the thumb grip, so Lensmate had to compensate for that by adding a hinge to the thumb grip.

At first I didn’t like this idea and didn’t use the grip. Having something block a dial on my camera seemed like a bad idea. However, after using the camera for several months I’ve found I almost never use that dial or those buttons near the grip anyway, so everything worked out well and I absolutely love having this new thumb rest for my X100F.

Build Quality

The thumb grip is machined out of solid 6061 Aluminum then bead blasted for texture and anodized to give it a resilient finish. 

Both the black and the silver thumb grips are anodized and you’ll notice a slight different color tint in some lighting conditions. I’ve talked to Lensmate about this in the past and it turns out they do this because the anodization process allows for a tougher finish compared to paint. They could use paint and get the color exactly the same as the camera, but it would be a sacrifice to the quality and toughness of the grip. 

After using their various thumb grips I can say they’ll easily outlast the life of the camera. The camera’s finish scratches and gets beat up very easily where as the thumb grip stays relatively the same. Also, in most lighting conditions you can’t really see any color difference from the anodized finish.

If you find yourself using all the buttons behind and around this thumb grip, then this may not be for you. However, if you’re like me and you feel Fujifilm puts way too many buttons on their camera anway, then you’ll love this. For me the X100F is a simple camera, it doesn’t need a million buttons that get accidentally pushed if you grab the camera wrong. The X100F is about at its threshold for button placement and I wouldn’t be sad if the next generation had a slightly simpler design like the X100T.

You can also see in my photos that I’m also using Lensmate’s soft shutter release. It’s a little expensive for a soft shutter but they really are the best. These soft shutters have a rubber gasket that keeps it from vibrating loose. I have and use the cheap soft shutters often on some of my other cameras, but I’m constantly losing them and buying more. In the end the higher price of the Lensmate soft shutter release is well worth it considering I’ve never lost one and they almost never fall off. Just be careful not to tighten them too tights to the point where your damaging your camera. In otherwise, don’t use pliers.

See more great Fuji X100F accessories.

Fujifilm X100F Lensmate Thumb Grip Sample Photos