I stumbled upon a €34 Fujifilm TCL-X100 listed for parts. It had been dropped, and a small section of the thread was damaged — enough to make it impossible to attach to an X100. I knew I had to buy it and fix it.
For the uninitiated: the Fujinon TCL-X100 is a conversion lens made for the Fujifilm X100 series that shifts the field of view from 35mm to 50mm. Fuji made two generations; this is the first. To use it properly, you need to go into the X100’s settings and manually enable the Tele Conversion Lens option — something the second-generation model handles automatically. Fujifilm also made a wider conversion lens, the WCL-X100, which brings the field of view down to 28mm, also in two versions.
The Fix
The repair turned out to be straightforward. The moment my order was confirmed, I bought the “NEEWER Camera Lens Vise Repair Tool for Lens and Filter“a mouthful of a name, so I’ll just call it the tool. Using it is simple: start with a loose fit around the lens, then gradually work your way to a tighter grip. The whole process took me under six minutes, and I recorded it (with some parts sped up).
What the video can’t convey is how the lens feels afterward. It screws onto the X100 smoothly, with no snags and no grinding, which also means the camera’s own thread came through unharmed.
The Results
Aside from some cosmetic scratches on the barrel, the TCL-X100 looks great on the camera. I’ll agree with the people who say the converter sacrifices the X100’s compactness — but it’s a worthwhile trade if you want to get a little closer without moving your feet.
And despite the grey, rainy weather lately, the photos from this new setup don’t look half bad at all.
Now if only I could find a WCL-X100 with the same problem…
