Laowa has a habit of making weird and wonderful lenses, like their 15mm f/4 Macro Lens, and the new Magic Format Converter for the Fujifilm GFX is no exception. The Fujifilm GFX 50s is a weird little beast; combining the pitfalls of a full-size DSLR (namely size and weight) and a mirrorless camera (slow auto-focus, terrible battery life) and combines it with a sensor that is slightly bigger than full frame, making adapted lenses other than tilt-shift lenses vignette. Laowa Venus Optics has recently announced an adapter called the “Magic Format Converter”, magnifying Nikon and Canon full-frame lenses to fit a Fuji GFX sensor.’
[REWIND: WIDE ANGLE VENUS/LAOWA 15MM MACRO LENS FOCUSES AT 4.7MM]
The technology behind the adapter is nothing new; similar adapters exist converting old Canon FD-mount lenses onto newer EOS bodies. What is essentially a small teleconverter, Magic Format Converter multiplies the focal length of a full-frame lens by 1.4x and losing 1-stop of light in the process. When the 0.79x crop factor of the GFX itself is taken into consideration, the math roughly equates to a crop of 1.106 times. In real world situations using their 105mm f/2 STF lens, it becomes the equivalent to an 116.13mm f/2.8.
Laowa says the Magic Format Converter is particularly useful for ultra-wide angle lenses as vignetting tends to be stronger when those are adapted. The MFC allows GFX users to shoot ultra-wide angle without the need to crop. With something like the 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D lens, it roughly becomes the equivalent of a 13.4mm f/4 lens.
The currently limited lens selection of the GFX 50s has photographers lusting for more options in their medium format arsenal, and companies like Laowa, Cambo, and Fotodiox are tiding over photographers until the Fuji’s native lineup becomes more fleshed out. The Laowa Magic Format Converter will come in Canon & Nikon variants and both variants are expected to start shipping in July 2017. Pricing information will be announced at later date.
