Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/09/25

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: question re construction of Novoflex follow-focus mount adaptor
From: gregm@world.std.com (Greg Mironchuk)
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1996 21:41:06 -0400

At 1:15 AM 9/25/96, Patrick Sobalvarro wrote:
>I was wondering if someone on the list who knows something about the
>construction of the long Novoflex lenses with the follow-focus grip
>might be able to help me with a question.
>


The Canon mount adaptor is held onto the lens by an outer rotating ring...
much like the *OLD* Canon FD mount. The ring (it's chrome, on mine... but
could be black on yours) rotates over and around the non-camera bayonet, on
the lens end of the adaptor... to keep the adaptor from falling off.

The pin on the lens matches up to a notch in one of the bayonet "claws" (on
the lens-side of the adaptor), so that the adaptor won't wriggle around,
laterally, when the chrome ring is tightened over the adaptor's bayonet.

Let's do this, step-by-step...

* Hold the lens on your lap, pointed away from you...

* Turn the locking ring (at the back end of the lens... your side)
anti-clockwise until it stops.

* Remove the old adaptor.

* Replace it with the new adaptor... fitting the notch in the lens-side
bayonet claw to the observable pin.

* Turn the locking ring clockwise, around the bayonet claws, until it stops.

* It is likely that the ring will then continue to turn... this is the 90
degree  camera-rotating mechanism. Let it continue to turn, until it
stops... and then tighten the ring against the bayonet as hard as you can.
It is very annoying to "dump" the camera and adaptor when rotating the
camera, because the ring isn't locked down tightly enough.

Then have a ball. Novoflexes are awesome lenses... very sharp... very quick
and easy to focus... *NOT* a telephoto, incidentally, the lens's length is
equal to its focal length... a telephoto is a lens physically shorter than
its focal length.

My lens has a bellows attached, for literally macro focussing at a
comfortable distance away from your subject... good for shooting snakes,
and other creepy-crawly stuff.

My "handling" advice is to leave the aperture at f/5.6, and set your camera
for aperture priority automation (this oughtn't be a problem... I used this
lens with Minolta XD cameras for many years, which have metering
systems/linkages similar to most "R" Leicas)... it's NOT an auto-diaphragm
lens, either, and is difficult to look through at f/16... and a monopod
attached to the base of the pistol grip isn't a bad idea, either.

                                Good luck, Pardner...

                                                Greg.

                                                      Greg Mironchuk
                                               540 Beach St, Revere, MA 02151
                                              617-284-5950 * 617-362-7417 page
                                                    gregm@world.std.com