Photography News 75 WEB

First test PRICE: £749

FUJIFILM.EU

Fujifilm GF1.4X TC WR A teleconverter is a popular optical accessory because it is an effective, relatively inexpensive and portable way of expanding your telephoto lens armoury

SPECS › Price £749 › In the box Back cap, front cap, pouch › Format GFX format › Compatibility GF100-200mm f/5.6, GF250mm f/4 › Construction Seven elements in three groups › Special lens elements No › Magnification 1.4X › Aperture range Same as lens but 1EVslower › Autofocus AF retained › Minimum focus Same as the lens it's attached to › Weather-sealed Yes › Dimensions (dxl) 62x26.7mm › Weight 400g › Contact fujifilm.eu

The FujifilmGF1.4X TCWR is currently compatible with the GF100-200mm f/5.6 and GF250mm f/4 lenses, transforming them into 140-280mm f/8 and 350mm f/5.6 lenses. (For reference, the 35mm format equivalent focal lengths are 111-221mmand 277mm). The GF1.4X is a substantial accessory on a FujifilmGFX body, protruding nearly 3cmbeyond itsmount, which explains its limited compatibility. It’s weatherproofed someshes perfectly

with the two compatible lenses and the GFX cameras. Any optical accessory in front or behind a lens is going to impact the final image to some degree. The clever bit is how this impact ismanaged so that quality loss is kept to aminimum, and in the case of this teleconverter, Fujifilmhas employed a seven-element design. I tried it with a FujifilmGFX 50R and GF100-200mm f/5.6 lens using the combination handheld and on a tripod.

The lens features an image stabiliser with a 5EV benefit, but that is countered because with the converter in place it is a 140-280mm f/8 telephoto, so the whole set-up is a serious proposition to handhold. I did a handholding test on a still day with shutter speeds down to 1/8sec using the camera’s electronic front shutter with the lens at its longest setting. In both cases, 1/8sec was too much but at 1/15sec a high percentage of shots were pin sharp. On the tripod, the converter is a very good performer at its best apertures. The converter causes the loss of 1EV; it’s the effective apertures that are quoted here rather thanwhat is set on the lens. At f/8, f/11 and f/16 picture quality was very good across the image with the centre very impressive. By a small margin the best lens apertures were f/10 and f/11 but the wider values were good too. From f/16, image sharpness starts to fall away. F/22 is probably the last aperture capable of high quality, as diffraction kicks in and overall performance falls away at smaller apertures; not an issue in the real world as it’s wider apertures that telephoto users favour.

Verdict At £749, the GF1.4XTC WR is a low cost way of extending the reach of a telephoto lens, it’s still a significant commitment. But nothing in the world of medium format photography comes cheap, and there is no doubt GFXowners will find the converter worth its place in the camera bag.

BELOW The GF1.4X converter has a significant benefit; here the pictures show the difference between the 100- 200mm used at 200mm and then with the converter fitted to give 280mm

200MM

280MM

PROS High-quality results at the best apertures; good AF CONS It weighs 400g; price

F/8

F/11

F/16

F/22

The test shots were taken with the GF1.4X with a Fujifilm GFX 50R and GF100-200mm f/5.6 lens mounted on a Gitzo Systematic three carbon-fibre tripod with the shutter fired using the self-timer. Exposures were made with the lens set to 100mm, 160mm and 200mm so with the converter in place the effective focal lengths were 140mm, 224mm and 280mm respectively. Raws were processed in Lightroom and no extra sharpening applied. The test shots shown here were taken at 280mm – equivalent to 221mm in the 35mm format

F/32

F/45

88 Photography News | Issue 75

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