Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/10/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thank you Doug for your wonderfully informative reply. On 10/7/03 11:36 AM, "Douglas Herr" <telyt@earthlink.net> wrote: > Simon Pulman-Jones <simonpj@comcast.net> wrote: > >> There is currently a Novoflex telephoto outfit, with 280, 400 and 600mm lens >> heads on eBay, at a price which compares very favorably with what you would >> pay for the equivalent Telyt outfit. The Novoflex outfit is outwardly very >> similar to the fast-focus long Telyts (it is covered quite extensively in >> Jonathon Eastland's Leica compendium book). >> >> Does anybody (Doug Herr?) know how the Novoflex system compares with the >> Leica system, and whether there is any relationship between the two? > > A number of years ago I used a very similar Novoflex system which had a 640mm > f/9 instead of the 600mm f/8 included in this auction. I found the 400mm > f/5.6 the most useful part of the kit. > > The Novoflex squeeze grip can focus the 400mm lens very quickly and accurately > (assuming a good viewfinder - I was using a Nikon F with E screen) but if you > should need to hold focus at one distance for very long you either get muscle > fatigue in your left forearm or you use the other hand to tighten the focus > lock knob. Of course when the subject moves you then have to take the right > hand away from the shutter release to loosen the focus lock knob. > > The 640mm lens was too long and too unbalanced and too slow to use hand-held. > Consider the 600 in this outfit to be a tripod-only lens. I didn't use the > 280mm lens much because I had a 300mm f/4.5 Nikkor at the time and the squeeze > grip made accurate focus of a lens this short questionable - and besides the > Novoflex 280mm lens is only f/5.6. > > Overall the Novoflex setup was heavier than the f/6.8 Telyt. IMHO it's a bit > steadier when used hand-held at the cost of muscle fatigue. I can use the > f/6.8 Telyts all day; I couldn't do that with the Novoflex. I'm not sure how > the weight of the Novoflex compares with the Televit lenses. Except for the > 280mm lens, I consider the Televit lenses tripod-only equipment. Advantages > of the Televit 280/400/560 setup are: > > 1) faster 280mm and 560mm lenses > 2) focus locks with one hand, when you let go of the grip > 3) fine focus is much easier > > This particular Novoflex kit has a very handy feature: a bellows between the > focus grip and the camera body. With the bellows compressed, you get a > 'normal' focussing range; extend the bellows and it's like you've added > extension tubes. I didn't have that accessory on my Novoflex. > > Optically the old Novoflex I had didn't measure up to the Telyt. It was > sharp, but the color saturation wasn't there. I believe the lens covered in > Eastland's book is the Leica optics with the Novoflex mount. As far as I know > this was a one-time business arrangement. Novoflex had a similar arrangement > with Tamron where the put a squeeze-focus grip on a Tamron 300mm f/2.8. > > > Doug Herr > Birdman of Sacramento > http://www.wildlightphoto.com > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html