Fuji X-mount gets twice the tele reach with weather-sealed 2x teleconverter, now available for preorder

 

 

Fuji X-mount shooters: Want to bring faraway subjects right up close? The impressive FUJINON XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens -- for which we recently posted our first impressions and a raft of sample images -- does a great job by itself. And the company's 1.4x teleconverter, which first started shipping last December, will take you all the way out to an 853mm-equivalent telephoto after accounting for your camera's focal length crop.

But if that's not enough and you need even more power, Fujifilm has great news for you today. The company has now introduced a 2x teleconverter that will get you even closer to those distant subjects. Pop this puppy in behind the 100-400mmf/4.5-5.6 lens, and it will effectively become a 200-800mm f/9-11. After accounting for the focal length crop, that's a truly jaw-dropping 305 to 1,219mm-equivalent focal range.

 

 

Of course there's no such thing as a free lunch, and like any teleconverter you're making a compromise with this optic. As we've already alluded to above, that compromise is a much dimmer maximum aperture that starts from f/9 at wide angle, and falls to f/11 by the telephoto position. That's sufficient to ensure that regardless of which body you're using, phase-detection autofocus won't be available. Instead, your camera will need to focus using contrast detection with this combination.

 

Paired with Fuji's 100-400mm lens, the new 2x TC provides an effective 305 to 1,219mm f/9-11 zoom on an X-mount camera body like the Fuji X-T1 (shown).

Like the 1.4x tele before it, the FUJINON TELECONVERTER XF2X TC WR is also compatible with one other X-mount optic, the FUJINON XF50-140mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR. Paired with this lens, you'll manage a rather less extreme 100-280mm but with a brighter f/5.6 aperture across that range -- enough to use phase-detection autofocus. And you'll still get a 152 to 427mm-equivalent focal range after accounting for the focal length crop of your sub-frame sensor.

 

Paired with Fuji's 50-140mm lens, the new 2x TC provides an effective 152 to 427mm f/5.6 zoom on an X-mount camera body like the Fuji X-T1 (shown).

As its name would suggest, this teleconverter is weather-sealed and can be used in temperatures as low as 14°F without concern. The optical formula includes nine elements in five groups, and dimensions are 2.3 x 1.2 inches with a weight of six ounces.

Available from early June 2016, the FUJINON TELECONVERTER XF2X TC WR is priced at around US$450. Want one for your camera bag? You can place your preorder now with IR affiliate B&H Photo Video, which as of press time is forecasting availability on June 9th.