Previous news story Next news story

Fujifilm creates wide-angle adapter and firmware v1.3 for X100

May 15, 2012 at 16:59:20 GMT

ACCESSORY NEWS FUJIFILM

Pin It

Print view

Fujifilm has announced the WCL-X100 wide-angle adapter lens for its X100 large sensor, fixed-lens compact. The 0.8x adapter extends the camera's 35mm equivalent field of view out to 28mm equivalent. It is designed to match the X100 in terms of both appearance and quality, sharing the camera's Fujifilm's Super EBC coating and made-in-Japan construction. The WCl-X100 will be available from June at a price of around $350. To enable use of the converter, the company has also issued firmware v1.30 which adds a function for its use as well as fixing two minor operational bugs.

Click here to find out more and download Fujifilm X100 firmware v1.30

Press Release:

FUJIFILM ANNOUNCES ALL NEW WIDE CONVERSION LENS FOR THE AWARD WINNING FUJIFILM X100 DIGITAL CAMERA

Valhalla, N.Y., May 15, 2012 – FUJIFILM North America Corporation today announced an exciting new premium accessory for the award winning FUJIFILM X100 – a Wide Conversion Lens (WCL-X100) that will further enhance the exceptional photographic experience of using the FUJIFILM X100 digital camera. The new Wide Conversion Lens will not only maximize the FUJIFILM X100’s shooting versatility and performance, but it will also add to the stunning look and feel of the camera with its exacting design similarities.

“We are extremely pleased to offer this new Wide Conversion Lens for the FUJIFILM X100, which has been enthusiastically received from the professional and advanced amateur photographic communities for its beautiful design and outstanding image quality,” said Go Miyazaki, division president, Imaging and Electronic Imaging Divisions, FUJIFILM North America Corporation. “Fujifilm is committed to giving photographers the premium tools that they need to achieve the best imaging results imaginable, and this new lens will allow the FUJIFILM X100 to exceed users’ expectations by opening up countless new shooting opportunities.”

FUJIFILM Wide Conversion lens (WCL-X100)

The FUJIFILM WCL-X100, a wide conversion lens made in Japan and designed specifically for the award winning FUJIFILM X100, attaches directly onto the camera and increases picture taking versatility by multiplying the fixed focal length by 0.8x, converting it from 23mm (35mm equivalent) fixed focal length to a 19mm wide angle (28mm equivalent). The WCL-X100 delivers superb optical quality and maximizes versatility of the FUJIFILM X100 by ensuring comparable image quality even at the f/2 wide aperture setting, all while retaining all the original optical characteristics, including the attractive bokeh effect.

The FUJIFILM WCL-X100’s optical construction uses four premium glass elements in three groups to keep aberrations minimal, and also employs the unique FUJINON Super EBC (Electron Beam Coating) for outstanding results.

Using the WCL-X100

Achieving the very best results from the WCL-X100 is simple: select the ‘Wide Conversion Lens’ option in the FUJIFILM X100’s menu system (camera must be updated to firmware version 1.30 or later) or select the function via the Function (Fn) or RAW buttons.

After selecting the ‘Wide Conversion Lens’ option, the FUJIFILM X100 automatically applies image processing to shots taken using the WCL-X100 to reduce image distortion, ensuring balanced illumination across the frame and reduced chromatic aberration which can be commonly found in wide conversion lenses.

The WCL-X100 maintains the full functionality of the FUJIFILM X100, including auto focusing speeds, the 10cm macro capability and of course, the extraordinary hybrid viewfinder. With the optical viewfinder (OVF) selected, icons showing the edge of the frame are displayed instead of the frame rim (equivalent to 80% of the frame field of view), while selecting the electronic viewfinder (EVF) gives users a 100% field of view.

The perfect match for the FUJIFILM X100
The design of the WCL-X100 has been carefully considered to ensure a seamless blend with the FUJIFILM X100. It uses the same materials, textures and colors as the existing X100, plus the optional LH-X100 lens hood and PRF-49S protective filter can be used on the conversion lens. Furthermore, the clip-on lens cap for the WCL-X100 can be attached with both the lens hood and filter in place.

FUJIFILM WCL-X100 key features

0.8x magnification factor to convert X100 lens to 28mm wide angle (35mm equivalent)
All glass optical construction using four elements in three groups
FUJINON Super EBC coating
“Made in Japan” for optimum quality
Available in silver and black

The FUJIFILM Wide Conversion lens (WCL-X100) will be available in silver and black in June 2012 for $349.99.

Fujifilm FinePix X100

Add to: Login to add this item to your gear lists.

Comments

Total comments: 185

35-->28mm for $350? Umm...yay?

4 upvotes

Yes, yah. I'm in.

0 upvotes

Yeah I know what you mean. I realize this is an oversimplification that ignores the artistic expression but $350 for 7mm seems a bit much.

1 upvote

That's what she said.

2 upvotes

I doubt that the quality is not affected, glass on glass, something gets lost. Is mathematics. Anyway, it is a nice idea have this option.

Comment edited 37 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

Mathematics? I thought it was physics.

0 upvotes

You are probably right. Maybe they should have said, "optical degradation is statistically insignificant".

0 upvotes

No physics without math. :)

0 upvotes

Gravity worked just fine before Galileo, Newton or Einstein. (Sorry, I couldn't resist. I tried, but the monkey wouldn't get off my back.)

0 upvotes

Indeed, the math came refine the physics :)

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

I also wish to make the point that zero, usable market data can be garnered, from the goodness benefits of this camera, or any camera, that is likewise not well enough balanced, with all it's most important benefits. No just guess, at what people will buy, can be well ascertained, with such odd mixing of needed benefits. You would never know, what data is misrepresented, because of what you left out. Such as being soft, at the widest aperture.

Comment edited 3 times, last edit 3 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

Absolutely. 100%. Quite agree.

(??)

4 upvotes

"Edited 3 times" - wow. What was the first draft like??

7 upvotes

Thank you Professor Neodp,

You were soooo close, just ONE more edit . . . ?!?!

Comment edited 1 minute after posting

2 upvotes

Great job Fuji; for adding this option!

Fuji is showing every sign, of making better cameras, for photographers (imagine that!) and they deserve the sales, and good reputation they're attracting.

That said, a conversion lens should be a better value, and along with the X100, it's not yet, for my choice. Save for the softness, at wide open, menu quirks, and lack of some sport/kids speed abilities, when compared to less expensive options, the camera concept is near perfect, and almost, well benefits balanced. Also, the point of a fixed lens, is less cost, also. This is a good sized camera (with right sized sensor), in any case. Unlike the X-pro1.

Please, make the new X100 model, with removable lenses, or fix that one, and drastically lower the price.

0 upvotes

Bravo Fuji.

Im impressed how they continue to support a camera well into its life cycle. Too many manufacturers tend to give up after a year or so.

Continued firmware improvements and, now, hardware developments too, only make Fuji even more attractive to me.

This lens addition is a sensible, good value creation. Pop it in your pocket and away you go.

Well done Fuji.

8 upvotes

Surely it would be far better if Fujifilm, rather than faithfully replicating all Leica's bad mistakes were to think for themselves, and produce a zoom lens version of the X100.

That would be an APS-C compact camera with a 28-70 equivalent zoom, not the two thirds X10, or the brick sized X1-Pro.

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

3 upvotes

Such a camera would either be large or had a very slow lens. Look at the Canon GX-1.

Still - I do believe that many would not mind a bigger size if the lens would be good and with some interesting focal range. I would vote for 21-75/2.8 (or f/4 if 2.8 is too much). That would make it a great travel camera.

0 upvotes

Would not make much sense. A zoom lens would be pretty huge if it was fixed, and I don't fancy some telescopic monstrosity like a Canon GX1.

And if you look at camerasize.com you will find that the X Pro1 is not much larger than the x100. Its quite a bit thicker to accomodate the distance required between the sensor and the lens, but it weighs the same.

2 upvotes

Thank you for that site reference!

camerasize.com

Comment edited 23 seconds after posting

1 upvote

@topstuff and @slncezgsi

I'm not at all sure that a zoom for the X100 would have to be large. Ok I know it wouldn't have to be.

For years I listened to people saying that it would be impossible to produce a small camera with a large sensor. Then of course Olympus did just that, and now we have APS-C cameras the size and weight of the tiny Sony NEX-C3.

Then I had, and still have (!) people telling me that any zoom lens for a large sensor camera must invariably - due to the laws of physics etc etc - "be huge". Everyone who claims this must I presume, be totally unaware of Panasonic's diminutive and high performing pancake 28-84 equivalent power zoom.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2011/8/26/panasonic14-42Xpreview

So I'm sorry but I no longer believe a word of these "it would have to be huge" posts.

And I ask Fujifilm again to please get on and produce an APS-C compact camera with a pancake zoom. Thanks.

Comment edited 4 minutes after posting

1 upvote

It's called the G1X by Canon...That's as good as it's gonna get for large sensor, zoom combo for now...

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

6 upvotes

Small, sharp, fast

With a zoom lens it's pick any two; with a prime lens you can have all three.

As an example, the Panasonic 14-42 you reference is F3.5-5.6 and that lens can't even provide coverage for an APS-C sensor. Even if Fuji could pull it off, very few people want to spend over a thousand dollars for a camera with a slow mediocre zoom.

Comment edited 7 minutes after posting

3 upvotes

I don't get it.

The whole object of a fixed lens camera is to avoid having to carry extra gear around and "change lenses." This camera was intended for people who didn't want an ILC, so why make it into a halfway ILC? The X1-Pro can do that better.

Build it with a 3X zoom lens (or even a 2.5X zoom, like the Panasonic LX3).

Or, perhaps a 28mm or 43mm fixed lens, like the Sigma DP cameras for that niche market.

Fuji is trying too hard to make this wonderful little street shooter into "something for everyone." They have other cameras for that.

1 upvote

That's why it is optional! If you need the extra wide angle, then you have the option. Plus not like this little lens is going add a ton of bulk while shooting.

If you want the zoom lens, by the X10 with the 4x zoom!

1 upvote

at least now the people who shelled out for this camera have a affordable solution to getting a wider field of view. Supporting current customers is actually quite nice, especially since they could have just told all the X100 owners to buy a X1Pro if they wanted to go wider.

And the benefits of these converters is that you still have a fixed lens with less dust issues, and they are cheaper and lighter than a dedicated wide angle lens. Also brightness doesn't drop as much (with teleconverters particularity). If done well image quality can be quite good (Nikon TC-17ED for example)

It's much harder to get a zoom lens' especially one like the LX3 with a sensor this big. The G1X has a zoom lens' but it's much dimmer and also has a slightly smaller sensor.

4 upvotes

It's optional. What's wrong with offering an additional, optional accessory to a product? Plus, are you seriously implying that you would rather Fuji *not* provide this optional accessory, and instead force people to buy entirely separate cameras to achieve other focal lengths? Great idea! Instead of carrying this optional conversion lens, I can just carry two or more separate cameras with their own fixed lenses! Or I can go out and buy an entirely new camera just to have a wider zoom range, even though the X100 still works great!

I don't know why you're getting so bent out of shape over a company simply offering accessories to expand the potential of their product. Companies, including camera companies, have been providing additional accessories to their products for decades. And, yes, camera companies have been providing "wide angle conversion" lenses for their fixed-lens cameras, too. This is nothing new.

2 upvotes

nobody is forcing anybody to buy adapters for this camera Marty, and why produce fixed focal lengths of somebody elses niche market, and the beauty of fuji is that they do without the snobbery and make a great product "for everyone"

2 upvotes

You don't HAVE to buy it. Its a choice. Would you prefer fewer choices?

0 upvotes

Fuji keeps things interesting yet again with this new lens. The X100 just got better both firmware wise, and lens wise. Sure not many will buy the lens, but it's nice to know the option is there if you need the extra wide angle.

With all the firmware updates and new lens housing to fix the sticky aperture issue,the X100 can possibly be one of, if not, the greatest camera of all time...

9 upvotes

Fuji will be in the future what Leica was the past century. Just give them time... I was thinking in an M8 but what the heck, I will go for the X-Pro1!!

2 upvotes

Why not just buy a camera that isn't stuck with one focal length?

Oh yes, because the Fuji and leica fanboys will buy just about anything

1 upvote

Dave you do realize that most people who frequent this site own more than one camera right? This camera does a superb job for what it was intended to do and I will enjoy it for a very long time!

0 upvotes

A pointless accessory for a pointless camera

Well, at least you can shoot in color with this one.

6 upvotes

Spoken like a guy who knows nothing about cameras...

24 upvotes

bigdaddave - and a pointless comment.

Comment edited 1 minute after posting

3 upvotes

Spoken like someone who doesn't know this camera at all and isn't qualified to judge it.

2 upvotes

Ha ha, not qualified after 30+ pro years.

This is a niche product that is so out of date Fuji have had to do something like this to make up for it only having one focal length. It's just pointless.

Yet you can still tell the fanboys by their posts

1 upvote

What a great way to spend time - to wait on a photo site to comment on gear you are not interested in.

2 upvotes

Well, it looked like copy of "something" ... Now the copy looks even cheaper ! (not in cash /you got it ...)

2 upvotes

would have preferred a tele adaptor but there you go. wont be buying it anyway

2 upvotes

$350?!!!

2 upvotes

Seems expensive.

2 upvotes

Cheaper than spending $1700 on a XPro and $600 on the 18mm f2.0 to get to 28mm equiv

2 upvotes

@millsart why on earth would anyone do that anyway ?

1 upvote

That is good news, however I think that a wide-angle adapter with conversion factor of 0.6 or at least 0.7 would be much more interesting. 28mm is too close to 35 IMO. But I supposed Fuji did not want to compromise too much on IQ.

Still - nice to see that Fuji continues to support and develop the X100

Comment edited 54 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

Kind of funny, before you know it, there will be a fisheye adapter, then a tele-adapter, and then the X100 is no longer a fixed-lens camera. ;)

4 upvotes

For the money they want, it needs more oomph. If they could have made it 24mm equivalent instead of 28, I think it might almost be worth the asking price.

A 2x doubler would nice for portraits....

3 upvotes

Get a Nikon WC-E68 .68x converter if you want a 23mm equivalent lens on your X100. This launch motivated me to finally write a mini review of that set up: http://www.portraitsf.com/blog/fuji-x100-with-nikon-wc-e68-68x-wide-angle-adapter-not-wcl-x100/

1 upvote

They most likely chose 28mm for the exact reason that it's not too far from 35mm, keeping the OVF usable. It is a conversion adapter after all, so the less extreme you go, the more quality is maintained. Nobody bought this camera with the idea to change lenses to begin with, but this is a very welcome and unexpected courtesy.

Conversion adapters may have a bad name, and normally i would never get one, but this looks more like a two part lens than any sort of toy. It's designed to match, well built (in japan), and coated all the same. With 4 elements in 3 groups on top of the 35/2 with 8 elements in 6 groups already, it could very well be a more than decent 28/2 with 12 elements in 9 groups as if built to be as such in the first place.

Comment edited 5 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

Total comments: 185


Just Posted: Fujifilm X100 wide conversion lens real-world sample images Sep 25, 2012	Fujifilm offers X100 firmware v1.11 and Japanese company offers custom covers Oct 24, 2011	DCWatch reports on Pentax's Astro Tracing function using the O-GPS module Jul 8, 2011	Just posted: Our updated in-depth review of the Fujifilm FinePix X100 Jul 8, 2011

	Olympus PEN E-P5 May 10, 2013
	Samsung NX2000 May 1, 2013
	Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX50V Apr 24, 2013
	Panasonic Lumix DMC-G6 Apr 24, 2013
	Panasonic Lumix DMC-LF1 Apr 24, 2013
	Ricoh GR Apr 17, 2013
	Samsung NX1100 Apr 11, 2013
	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 Apr 9, 2013
	Fujifilm FinePix S8400W Mar 22, 2013
	Fujifilm FinePix XP200 Mar 22, 2013

Why Canon made 1Dx best specification ... II	68
My first wedding with OMD	67
I would like to discuss the aesthetics of ...	61
Leica Mini M	57
Leica entering m4/3?	50
Firmware upgrade causes AF slow down on 18-55!	49
about new XF55/200: I've seen only now	46
Is Apple getting people by their brain-balls?	44
When size matters (D800 pixel count)	40
Should I buy a NEX?	39
A few observations.	38
Hassy's Lunar gets real	38
2 Sigmas (19&30), or 20mm 1.7	38
*** MINI CHALLENGE 303 *** UNDER 6 MP ...	37
Just returned my 80-400mm VR AF-S lens	35
Seeking ways of tracking birds in flight with ...	33
New Forum?	33
What might go wrong with GX2	32
can you tell the IQ/ISO difference game: ...	30
Pentax — a Japanese Leica? Not really ...	29

Your email address:
Your name: