I’m a proud owner of the wonderful Fujifilm X100S camera and I love it. I like to keep it very handy for shooting, so no fiddly case or lens caps to remove and/or lose, just a UV lens filter and a lens hood and that’s it. However, I’m worried that the screen will get scratched in a bag or pocket (there’s already a small scuff) so I’ve invested in an X100S screen protector by Expert Shield from Amazon. You can check out their website here.
Just quickly, I like it. Simple to apply, great fit and finish, and Expert Shield offer a lifetime guarantee, replacing it for free should it get air bubbles or a scratch. After I’d made my Amazon purchase Expert Shield UK followed up with me by email to re-state how seriously they take their guarantee, and there was also a note attached to the packaging that re-stated it one more time just to be sure, which is handy because after I applied it I subjected it to a little stress test that went a bit wrong, after which I needed to take them up on that offer…
Despite that, the Shield does what I got it for – to protect my screen – and I intend to keep using it.
Packaging and application
The Expert Shield comes in a little cardboard sleeve packed inside Amazon’s own flat cardboard envelope that will fit easily through a letterbox. Inside the sleeve is a small plastic envelope that contains the Shield itself with simple instructions printed on the application tabs, and a small branded cleaning cloth. First impressions are very good – it all looks and feels like a quality product.
Application is straightforward: first use the cloth to clean your X100S screen. Then, in as dust-free a room as you can find, peel off the first of the tabs to reveal the sticky side and apply it to the camera.
This is a skill in itself! The trick is first to make sure that dust doesn’t land on the sticky side of the Shield because once it does it’s very hard to remove without leaving behind more dust or oils from your fingers; when applying to the screen use something to apply even pressure along the Shield as you lay it down, pushing out the air bubbles as they appear. I used the stiff cardboard sleeve it came in, but you might also try a credit card or similar object.
Once it’s in place the second tab should be facing you – pull on it to remove the reverse backing layer and your Expert Shield is now in place. Done!
Testing that lifetime guarantee
A couple of hours after applying the Shield I decided to give it a stress test with my house keys. Before I tell you how this went I must be very clear that I would not normally put the camera in a bag or pocket with a lot of hard, pointy metal objects so this would not be indicative of my personal real-life wear and tear. But, they say it doesn’t scratch and I wanted to test that because as I mentioned above I’ve already managed to lightly scuff the screen by slinging it in a bag with ‘stuff’ and running to a location during a shoot.
I scraped my house key across the protected screen a few times, with increasing briskness. Which is a polite way of saying I was a bit rough! Like most keys it’s a bit pointy but the edges are worn and not especially sharp, making a good stand-in for the various pointy-but-not-especially-sharp things that can find their way into my shoot bag in a hurry.
With most scrapes I managed to leave very light scuffs across the Shield which are still kind of visible but didn’t physically damage the Shield; then I accidentally caught a rough edge of my key and it carved out a hairline scratch – ouch.
I poked a fingernail under a corner and peeled off the Shield and the actual screen was just fine, thank goodness. I was able to replace the Shield as it retained stickiness even after being put under a running tap to remove some dust that had got stuck to it, but the corner I had peeled up isn’t sticking, probably due to oils from my fingertip where I lifted it.
A chance to put the lifetime guarantee to the test, then. I emailed the same address that had got in touch after my purchase and explained truthfully what had happened. They replied within a few minutes to confirm that under normal wear and tear it should perform perfectly, but they had no problem replacing it right away. Guarantee tested successfully!
In conclusion
I like it, and I’m going to keep using it. It’s a perfect, easy fit for the X100S screen, doesn’t affect the display clarity and feels smooth to the touch unlike the more rubbery-feel and slightly milky look of competing products.
You might think the self-inflicted scratch would be damning but I know I’ll always take care not to subject my camera to that sort of treatment in normal use, and if/when it does take a nasty scrape I know the screen is protected, plus Expert Shield will replace it as promised, and for £6.95 that’s all I need from it.
You can buy the Expert Shield for the Fujifilm X100, X100S & X100T from Amazon.
Disclosure: if you purchase via my links I get a small (tiny!) Amazon Associate kickback, but I don’t allow it to influence any of my reviews. I purchased this product independently for my own use; Expert Shield did not request this review, or supply me with any review samples.
