How to deal with 60mm f/2.4's annoyng lens flare?

Hi,

Nice night-light-stars, but I see what you mean about the flare.  Whats not absolutely clear is what is causing it.

• Filters can exacerbate flare, though plenty of lenses flare by themselves. Can you tell us?  If there was a filter on, try it without one.
• If it's caused by the lights actually in the image, no hood of any kind can help you with that.  Obviously, their light has to be visible to the lens and sensor to be photographed.  You may find it varies a bit with aperture.  Other than trying alternative apertures, I've no other solution to suggest..... 
• If  OTOH, if it's caused by a light just outside the field of view, that is, just outside the image, that's a different issue.  Then a good hood may well cut it out.  I see Vic has already made some suggestions there. 

Be aware that a number of Fuji's lenses have hoods that don't work all that well.  Some of the issues relate to attachment and fit.  Others relate to effectiveness.  With a few exceptions, the hoods bayonet onto the outside of the filter rim of the lenses.  But Fuji chose the diameter of the rims rather poorly in my view.  It appears to be a cosmetic choice that suits the outer diameter of the barrels.  Some are way outside the FOV of the optics.  Eg, the 23/1.4 has a 62mm thread but works perfectly well with 52mm filters at all settings.  So does the 55-200 and there are a few others.  All of which means that the hoods start off being bigger in diameter than they need to be at the point of attachment and I'm not convinced that they all shade the front element as much as they might.  And zoom hoods can't possibly work with the same level of effectiveness at all FLs.  But I digress.....

The 60mm lens is one where the hood bayonet is bigger than the 39mm optical opening.  OTOH, the front element is reasonably recessed at distant focusing distances.   I suggest doing some experimenting -  filters off, different apertures, different hood arrangements.  See if you can cut it out.  And tell us how it goes......

Cheers, Rod