I said something in my Is $5,000 A Bargain or Bust? article that caught a couple people’s attention. In regards to the upcoming fixed-lens GFX camera, I stated, “I really hope for conversion lenses—both wide and telephoto—like the X100-series has. I highly doubt that the WCL-X100 and TCL-X100 will work on it (although it would blow my mind if they somehow did), but something similar should be made for the GFX100RF.” I received two messages from people wanting to further discuss the idea that the wide and telephoto conversion lenses for X100-series cameras might be compatible with the upcoming medium-format model.
Just to be clear from the top, I’m highly skeptical that the WCL-X100 and TCL-X100 will be officially compatible with the GFX100RF. It’s possible that they might be, but that seems like improbable engineering. I don’t think Fujifilm designed the lens on the new camera to be compatible with those two conversion lenses. More likely—if there are conversion lenses—new ones will be designed specifically for the GFX camera. But…
Above: Surprisingly, the world’s smallest lens covers the APS-C sensor.
There’s a strong likelihood that you could actually use those two conversion lenses if you want to. Now, the camera is unlikely to account for and fix the distortion (unless the engineers programmed it to). There’s a good chance that the conversion lenses won’t cover the whole frame, or—if it does—there could be strong vignetting and soft corners. But maybe it won’t be as bad as you might think. For example, Pentax Auto-110 lenses, which are tiny, cover the APS-C sensor. The Helios 44-2 lens, which is for 35mm cameras, fully covers the GFX sensor. So there is a possibility that the WCL-X100 and TCL-X100 conversion lenses will cover most or maybe even all of the GFX sensor.
If they don’t, that may not be a big deal. Using a different aspect ratio will likely crop out whatever isn’t covered. If the conversion lenses cover almost all of frame, then the 3:2 ratio might be all you need. If the coverage isn’t quite that good, 16:9, 65:24, and 1:1 should do the trick. Or, with 100mp to work with, a simple crop should do—I could see using the teleconverter lens in conjunction with the in-camera digital teleconverter, which would crop out whatever isn’t covered.
The real question is if the adapter ring on the GFX100RF will be the same size as the X100-series. My guess is no. Most likely it will be larger on the GFX—I think that’s a pretty safe assumption. In the unlikely case that it is the same size, you’d be able to just screw on the conversion lenses just like you would on the X100VI. Much more likely, you would need a step-down ring to attach the conversion lenses. This would have (at least) two side effects: less coverage of the sensor, and more close-focusing capabilities—maybe even macro—like using an extension tube.
My hope is that Fujifilm releases conversion lenses for the upcoming GFX100RF. If they don’t, or if they do but they’re unaffordable or difficult to find in stock, then adapting the WCL-X100 and TCL-X100 should be possible; however, it may not be ideal. There will certainly be some vignetting and soft corners, and they probably will not cover 100% of the GFX sensor, among other potential issues. But, technically speaking, it should work. If I do purchase the upcoming camera at some point in the future, I’ll be sure to test it out and report back to you what I discover.
Curious, the announcement is out and the filter adapter goes to the same 49mm but that doesn’t mean the converters will adapt. Has anyone heard anything yet? If both the wide and tele converted worked this would be idea for my use.
I asked someone at Fujifilm who told me that the WCL and TCL are not compatible with the GFX100RF. But that may have been more of a “they are not supposed to work” than a “they won’t work” statement. Of course they can be made to work one way or another, but how easily or how well is the question. If the thread is the same (and it may not be), it will work easily, but perhaps not perfectly well (but I’m sure well enough for some folks). If the thread is different, it will take some effort to get it to work (but I’m sure not impossible), but maybe it will work less well (but maybe still well enough for some). It will be interesting once someone figures it out.
Anyone tested this? Both the Fujinon Tele Conversion Lens and the Fuji GFX100 RF do indeed have the same 49mm thread size.
Someone told me that the threads are not the same. I’m not sure if that’s true or even what it exactly means, but it seems like it may not work easily (but if there’s a will, there’s a way, I’m sure).
I tried both the wcl and tcl on the gfx 100rf, unfortunately the thread doesn’t fit. Even if if hold the conversion lens in front of the RF by hand the image circle did not cover the sensor.
Thanks for the update—it is much appreciated.
It won’t work on the RF. The conversion lenses have much smaller threads and the image circle won’t cover the sensor.