svlindbe
9-Dec-2006, 19:25
I own a Novoflex 400 mm 1:5,6 , wich is a preset aperture telephoto for 24x36 mm having a special pistol grip focusing mechanism, making it very fast to operate and loved by wildlife photoraphers. These lenses came in some other focal lenghts, too, I think 200, 240 and 600 mm. There were also Leitz Telyt versions for people with thicker wallets. The Noflexar 400 is a 3 element design, all the glass being at the front of the tube, much like many other preset telephoto designs of the past (Spiratone Sharpshooter and others).
For curiosity i unscrewed the front part containing the lenses and held it in front of a white paper. It made a rather big image, amply covering at least 4x5". When I added the tube containing the iris/aperture the image circle diminished somewhat, but possibly still covering 4x5". I think these lenses came in a version for use with 6x6 cameras (2 1/4 x 2 1/4). Now I wonder: Could they be used for bigger formats, too? My small experiment was at best only a suggestion. It showed some about illuminated image circle, but nothing about the extent of the reasonably sharp image. One of the reasons these very simple constructions (sometimes just 2 lenses) were reasonably sharp, was that at 24x36 mm just the very middle of the image was used.
The aperture blades are about 16 cm behind the front lens. With a diameter of 73 mm (glass of the front lens) it is not a small tele, and it would make a considerable strain to any front standard.
Does any of you know more about what would happen if one tried to mount this monster on a LF camera?
Best wishes
Svein Lindberg
For curiosity i unscrewed the front part containing the lenses and held it in front of a white paper. It made a rather big image, amply covering at least 4x5". When I added the tube containing the iris/aperture the image circle diminished somewhat, but possibly still covering 4x5". I think these lenses came in a version for use with 6x6 cameras (2 1/4 x 2 1/4). Now I wonder: Could they be used for bigger formats, too? My small experiment was at best only a suggestion. It showed some about illuminated image circle, but nothing about the extent of the reasonably sharp image. One of the reasons these very simple constructions (sometimes just 2 lenses) were reasonably sharp, was that at 24x36 mm just the very middle of the image was used.
The aperture blades are about 16 cm behind the front lens. With a diameter of 73 mm (glass of the front lens) it is not a small tele, and it would make a considerable strain to any front standard.
Does any of you know more about what would happen if one tried to mount this monster on a LF camera?
Best wishes
Svein Lindberg