Arca-Swiss Compatible Lens Foot For The Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8 Lens

The iShoot XF514 Lens Foot attached to my Fujifilm 50-140mm f/2.8 lens and Arca-Swiss compatible ballhead.
(click to enlarge)

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One thing that I thought was lacking for my Fujifilm 50-140mm f/2.8 lens was that the lens foot supplied with the lens lacked an Arca-Swiss compatibility.  Most photographers I know use tripods that have ballheads with Arca-Swiss (A-S) type mounts.  I have used that method for more than 20 years.  I have owned other lenses that have lens feet that are Arca-Swiss compatible and it makes a difference in security, bulkiness and weight.

Most of the time, when directly attaching a camera body to the ballhead, one uses an L-plate (Arca-Swiss compatible) or other A-S type adapters in order to quickly and securely attach, rotate or detach a camera.  This method of attachment is much quicker and much more secure than screwing the 1/4" x 20 tripod head screw into the bottom of your camera body.

For long and heavy lenses, which require the lens to be directly mounted onto a ballhead in order to relieve the leveraged weight  of the lens on the lens mount, one typically buys an Arca-Swiss compatible adapter and attaches it directly to the lens foot that is supplied with the lens.  Really Right Stuff and Kirk Enterprises, to name two, manufacture replacement lens feet with Arca-Swiss compatible mounts so the lens can be attached to the ballhead with no intermediate device, again, a more secure mounting method.

Unfortunately, those two companies don't manufacture a replacement lens foot for my 50-140mm f/2.8 lens.  Is there one out there and if there is, is it well made and of a quality where it would hold my lens/camera combination steady?  Turns out, in my opinion so far, there is.  

After scouring the web, I found the iShoot XF514 lens foot.  The website on which I located it is www.photoloving.com, a Chinese company that carries various photographic accessories.  You can find the iShoot XF514 here.

This is how the combination looks in its entirety. (click to enlarge)

Needless to say, I am always a bit hesitant to buy something directly from a foreign company of which I have no knowledge of its reputation and no knowledge of the quality of products they sell.  But, I took the chance and purchased the XF514.  It was only $29.95 US, so I thought, even if the product wasn't up to the quality standards I felt necessary, the investment was minimal.

Not long after I ordered the product, I received an email indicating my XF514 had been shipped and they provided an international shipping tracking number.  That made me feel somewhat better.  At least it actually had been shipped and I could track the lens foot from China to the U.S.  It turns out that I received my XF514 about a week sooner than they estimated.  I was pleasantly surprised.

I opened the box and examined the product.  It is machined out of aluminum and anodized black.  It has all the appearances of being of good quality.  Fit and finish is good.  Then, and before I attached it to a lens, I attached it to all of my Arca-Swiss devices to see how well it fit.  I didn't want to initially put my lens on the ballhead and it fall off due to a poor fit.  I found the machined angles were correct and the fit on my ballheads was good.  I know there are other Chinese made products which don't machine the interface correctly, therefore raising the possibility that the device will detach from the ballhead.  This lens foot fits well.

I then attached it to my lens.  The fit was perfect.  The 50-140mm f/2.8 has a third, small connection besides the two machine bolts with knurled knobs that attach the foot to the lens.  On the foot, there is a small bolt that protrudes a few millimeters above the surface of the lens foot that fits into the hole on the lens.  See below.  The fit of the XF514 was perfect.  The two knurled bolts securely fastened the foot to my lens and tightened securely.  

The knurled bolts on either side fit perfectly into the threads on the lens. (click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Notice the silver colored bolt head protruding below the bottom surface of the lens foot to prevent the lens
from sliding off the ballhead if the ballhead is not sufficiently tightened.  There is one on the rear as well (click to enlarge)

Also, as you will see in the images included in this post, the XF514 is two piece, held together with machined hex bolts while the OEM Fujifilm lens foot is one piece.  The connection is tight and I don't expect the two bolts to loosen.  However, if they happen to loosen over time, my plan is to take the two pieces apart, apply a drop of "superglue" then re-insert the bolts for a permanent bond.

Comparison of the iShoot XF514 on the left and the Fujifilm lens foot supplied with the lens.  The fit
is perfect. (click to enlarge)

On the iShoot lens foot, left, you see two bolts to hold the two pieces together while the Fujifilm supplied lens foot
is one piece.  The bolts appear very tight and the joint is perfect.  If the bolts ever loosen, I will detach the two
pieces and place a small dab of "superglue" between the two surfaces.  That will make the bond permanent. (click to enlarge)

Another nice touch is that iShoot included two small protruding bolt heads that stick up above the surface on the bottom of the foot, which manufacturers sometimes do to prevent the lens (or whatever other accessory you might have attached) from sliding forward or backward off your ballhead if you forget to fully tighten the ballhead.  Nice touch as that provides an additional measure of security.

iShoot also supplies two threaded holes in the XF514, one is 1/4" x 20 and the other 3/8" so you can directly attach the lens foot to a tripod head that is not Arca-Swiss compatible or, alternatively, if you use a sling-type lens strap, you can screw the bolt directly into the bottom of the foot rather than the camera as it hangs from your shoulder.  Since the lens is heavier than the camera, that again takes excessive weight off the camera tripod bolt hole.

Finally, when using the Power Grip on my X-T2, the 50-140mm f/2.8 lens with the XF514 attached sits nicely on flat surfaces.  

(click to enlarge)

So far, I am very happy with my purchase.  The XF514 fits well, appears to be very well made of machined aluminum, has a nice finish and most importantly of all, provides a very secure platform for me to quickly attach my lens to my ballhead.  I've only had it for a couple of weeks and I'll report back if I find any issues.  As of now I can recommend this product to other 50-140mm f/2.8 lens users.

As a reminder, I have no affiliation and receive no compensation, discounts, gear or anything else from any company.  I buy all of my gear at the same prices that you pay and I am beholding to no one.  Also, I have no advertisers and no "click through" purchasing arrangements either.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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