Introduction

Ease of Use

The Fujifilm TCL-X100 lens fitted to the X100S camera

The Fujifilm TCL-X100 lens fitted to the X100S camera

The Fujifilm TCL-X100 lens fitted to the X100S camera

For a tele-convertor, the Fujifilm TCL-X100 is a rather big lens, adding an extra 46.5mm to the X100S's existing optic, although it's not too heavy at 180g (30g more than the WCL-X100 wide-angle conversion lens).

The Fujifilm TCL-X100 lens alongside the X100S camera

As you would expect from a tele conversion lens that costs this much, build quality is excellent. The Fujifilm TCL-X100 feels very solid in your hand, with the all-metal construction inspiring confidence and black or silver versions matching the X100S camera. As the TCL-X100 simply screws into the front of the X100S's lens, the focus and aperture rings are the standard X100S ones.

Note that the TCL-X100 is big enough to block both the built-in flash and the auto-focus assist lamp.

Front of the Fujifilm TCL-X100 lens

Rear of the Fujifilm TCL-X100 lens

There are no markings of any kind on the TCL-X100. It accepts 67mm filters, so the LH-X100S lens hood and PRF-49S protective filter can't be used on the conversion lens as well as the X100S itself.

Front of the Fujifilm TCL-X100 lens

Rear of the Fujifilm TCL-X100 lens.

The TCL-X100's optical construction employs four glass elements in four groups to help keep aberrations to a minimum and uses Fujinon's Super EBC coating.

Front of the Fujifilm TCL-X100 lens, in-hand

The lens ships with front and rear lens caps and a nice quality cloth bag to store it in.

Auto-focus

The auto-focusing speed and noise with the TCL-X100 are exactly the same as on the X100S - we couldn't discern any noticeable differences between the two. The main change from a usability point of view occurs when using the optical viewfinder - rectangular markers showing the edge of the frame are displayed to help you compose the shot correctly. Note that the TCL-X100S also obstructs roughly a quarter of the frame when using the optical viewfinder. Selecting the electronic viewfinder (EVF) provides a 100% field of view. Otherwise the X100S operates in exactly the same way as it does without the TCL-X100 fitted.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are impressively well controlled with the TCL-X100- the examples below show the worst-case scenario.

Light Fall-off

With the lens wide open at f/2, you can see some slight light fall-off in the corners. Stopping down helps, although to completely get rid of this phenomenon, you will need to use an f-stop of f/4 or smaller.

Macro

The Fujifilm TCL-X100 commendably maintains a close-focus point of 10cm from the film/sensor plane, exactly the same as the X100S's native 35mm optic, and Fujifilm quotes a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:2.9 for the lens. The following example illustrates how close you can get to the subject, in this case a CompactFlash card.

Close-up performance

Bokeh Examples

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. Below you'll find some examples, but you are also encouraged to check out our Sample Images.

Sharpness

In order to show you how sharp this lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following page.