Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/10/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]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