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X-T20 Camera Strap Modification


KateB

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So, I bought an X-T20 just over a month ago. I live in the Middle East and it's not easy to come by accessories here, so I had to do a lot of research on what I might need. I read reviews online, watched You-Tube videos and searched the net.

 

One of the biggest bugbears that people seem to have with the X-T10 and 20 is the small hand grip. There appeared to be three solutions that would suit or assist me.

- The Hand Grip

- A hand strap

- A thumb rest

 

It seemed to me that all three would be useful in one way or another, so I bought a secondhand Fuji MHG-XT10 Hand Grip on eBay, a Peak Design Clutch Hand Strap from Wex Cameras and a hot shoe mounted thumb rest from China.

 

The attached photo shows the thumb rest and hand strap...

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Edited by KateB
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This photo shows the camera with the Fuji hand grip and the Peak Design mounting plate on the bottom of the camera.

 

Now, as you can see, the mounting plate is rather bulky and there's no way that camera will safely sit bottom down with it on. Also, I bought alightweight Velbin tripod and the Peak Design mounting plate doesn't fit the Velbon. So I had to think about how I could modify the camera to do away with the Peak Design mount, but still be able to use the handstrap.

 

To be continued...

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Edited by KateB
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I thought about drilling the Fuji hand grip, but there was nowhere on the item to do that. Then I started thinking about the mount screw and how I could fix something there. I thought of Mecanno, you can't get that here, trying to get metal pate in Qatar is not easy!

 

Then my friend had a suggestion; use a solder tag, A solder tag is an electrical item that is bolted to another part and allows a wire to be soldered to it. You can't solder to most metals. The perfect one has a round hole for the bold and a slot for the wire; just like this one...

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Edited by KateB
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Now you would not believe it, but there is probably only one shop in Qatar that might have sold them. Luckily they had some, but not with slots; but I bought a couple in any case, so that I could try modifying the tag to suit my needs. Here's one of the ones I bought...

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Anyway, it has a tubular protrusion which I flattened down and then carefully filed grooves in either side. I also had to file down the end a little to fit the space. This was actually a great advantage as the tag fits snugly in a recess and can't rotate because it's mechanically locked in place.

 

Here's the result with the Peak Design camera strap attached...

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... and here's a closer view...

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Here's one of the ones I bought...

Kate, that is not a solder tag, it is meant to be pressed onto a wire by a special clamping tool. You could press it onto a loop made of a wire to get an eyelet for tying the hand strap. I can make you one if you like, or I can look for the solder tag with two holes, pm me and I will send it to you. Or I can flatten it and drill that hole into it. Or I can make you something on my cnc that will be worthy of sitting on a Fuji :-) 

Edited by George_P
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Kate, that is not a solder tag, it is meant to be pressed onto a wire by a special clamping tool. You could press it onto a loop made of a wire to get an eyelet for tying the hand strap. I can make you one if you like, or I can look for the solder tag with two holes, pm me and I will send it to you. Or I can flatten it and drill that hole into it. Or I can make you something on my cnc that will be worthy of sitting on a Fuji :-)

 

Hi George; thanks I know it's a crimp tag, I was just keeping it simple. If I were back in Europe, I'd have bought solder tags. Unfortunately the Peak Design quick release cords do not have enough length to thread through the hole and loop and if I crimped it into place, I could not reuse the cord nor the crimp tag. I could have shortened the crimp tag and crimped a loop of wire in the end, but space would have been tight and I'd have no mechanical lock to prevent rotation which I do with this set up. I did think about drilling a hole, but I felt that the wrap around solution left fewer sharp edges.

 

Thanks for the offer; but I think it's just fine and has no issues whatsoever. :)

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That's right, the thing can't slip off as the tag is filed to fit the hole. Moreover, to stop it slipping, I filed a groove on either side, and the srtring is sandwiched between the tag and the bottom of the camera. I love modifying things to suit my needs; that's the engineer in me!

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