FUJI X100 VI and X100 V Flexible Lens Cap

A choice of two flexible lens caps for the FUJI X100 VI and V cameras...

After designing and solving a problem for my own needs I thought I'd share the result with other Fuji X100 users.

The Fujifilm X100 VI camera comes with a metal lens cap. Which works pretty well on a stock camera. But, I'm a believer in the value of lens hoods. I like mine minimal. And, with the X100's Leica rangefinder like styling, a square or rectangular hood looks right. The Polar flip-type lens hood is great except it's too big and heavy so I switched to the smaller Haoge Square Metal Lens Hood and filter adapter. The outside diameter of the hood is close to the diameter of the 23mm lens so the included metal cap fits. Sorta. Because of the cap's shallow depth it has a tendency to fall off. Time for a 3D printed solution. 

I wanted a lens cap that's protective of not just the front lens element but added some outer protection to the lens. The result are two lens caps to be printed in flexible TPU filament. And, no this will not work in PLA, PETG or other hard filaments. TPU of various hardnesses only.

The longer lens cap extends past the Square hood and filter adapter to gap near the focus ring. The inside edge of the cap has an inner lip to catch that gap. This helps hold the cap to the camera. 

Grooves are added to the walls of the cap to make it flex more. This makes is easer to add or remove the cap from the camera. All of that is why I designed this cap for TPU filament.

The shorter cap is a shortened version of the square lens hood lens cap without the inner holding ring. It's sized to be close to the standard FUJI lens cap and fits on the 23mm lens with no additional lens hood. Use this cap as a soft replacement for the metal FUJI that comes with your camera. 

Printing

Use standard print profiles and temperatures for generic TPU filament with the following adjustments and recommendations. Note that because of its flexibility, TPU filaments may or may not feed successfully on some printers. For example Bambu's AMS system will not feed TPU filaments so you may have to feed TPU filament to the printer directly to the extruder directly or through an alternate port or a secondary extruder. There are many variations on how TPU filament is handled so check with your printer manufacture for specific details. . 

• Print TPU on a clean textured build plate. A major challenge printing TPU is getting the model off the print bed. It is VERY sticky. Therefore smooth build plates are not recommended for TPU.  But if you do use a smooth plate or you must use a 3D printing adhesive/release agent. If not, your print will be extremely difficult if not impossible to remove. You could easily damage a PEI skinned plate removing a print if you don't use a adhesive/release product.. Glue stick works if that's all you have. 

• Slow down. I always print TPU slower than standard generic or filament brand specific settings. Particularly first layer. Works very well for me.

• Always pre-dry your TPU filament. Always. Whether you're printing with a new roll or an open roll from your collection run your filament through a filament dryer once or better yet a couple of drying cycles. Don't expect a brand new roll of TPU filament to be dry enough for printing. Dealing with moisture absorption is a fact of life of when using TPU filaments in 3D printing. Always dry TPU filament beforehand if not during printing for best results. 90% of TPU printing problems can be solved by drying beforehand. 

I've included a 3MF files with Prusa Slicer and Bambu Studio settings that I use. Note that if you prefer other slicers like Orca Slicer you can open 3MF files from within your any modern slicer.

Lens Cap fit. I can't verify this but I believe this lens cap will also fit the FUJI X100 V camera but I think it does. If that's your camera, let me know in the comments if this cap works for you.