Viltrox has announced a new 2x teleconverter for Sony E-mount systems. According to Sony Alpha Rumors, the teleconverter is comprised of 9 elements in 5 groups, including 3 high refractive index elements. What's more, thanks to a full compliment of electronic contacts, it supports EXIF data transmission, along with lens-based image stabilization. It's also claimed to be dust and splash resistant and is said to weigh 229g.
This is actually a world-first: it's the first aftermarket teleconverter we've seen for E-mount cameras. Until now, Sony shooters have been restricted to Sony's own 1.4x and 2x teleconverters. And as you might hope, the new Viltrox teleconverter is very well priced: at USD $280, it's less than half the cost of a Sony SEL14TC or SEL20TC teleconverter.
Even more remarkable is that Viltrox is claiming its teleconverter supports the blistering 120fps continuous shooting mode offered by cameras like the Sony A9 III. This is particularly noteworthy as Sony has always restricted this headline-grabbing performance mode for use exclusively with its own lenses. There have been exceptions, such as the Tamron 50-400mm F4.5-6.3 Di III VXD, which does support 120fps burst shooting, but only when the focus mode is set to AF-S, DMF, or MF. Crucially, AF-C autofocus - the very setting you'll most likely want when shooting fast action - can still only be used at 120fps with Sony lenses.
It's not clear whether the Viltrox E-mount teleconverter will permit 120fps shooting in any focus mode with Sony-brand lenses, or even if it might act as a cheat adapter to fool a camera like the a9 III into enabling AF-C autofocus at 120fps with third-party lenses. If the latter turns out to be possible, we'd expect Sony execs to be rather annoyed.
Story credit: Sony Alpha Rumors
