>>Jan Decher wrote:
>> Someone had a question about Novoflex Follow Focus lenses. Since I have
>>owned various versions of these lenses...
----
>From: Frank Ernens <fgernens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Do you have an opinion on the merits of follow-focus v. autofocus
>for wildlife photography (e.g. birds)?
----
>From: Warren Kato
>BTW, since this topic has come up, KEH has a "BGN" 400mm Novoflex set >up
>for $310. I think I will stick with my 300/4.5 with 1.4X.
====
To Frank:
Follow Focus is extremely fast for hand-held bird photography. A single
AF spot may get you out of focus as soon as your bird is off center, with
Follow Focus your squeeze or release of the "pistol grip" quickly scans the
whole focus zone and you hold it where you see the bird in focus. Perhaps
systems like the new Canon A3 get arround that with their distracting array
of AF spots in the viewfinder. Some of those new viewfinder remind me of
flight simulators on my Computer;-).
Most people probably think the pistol grip has a trigger for the shutter
release, but it is actually your mode of spring-loaded focussing. The new
version of the 400 mm Follow focus does have a second smaller grip in front
of the focus grip which can connect to the OM winder or motor by cable and
serve as a shutter release. It is right below the aperture ring of the
lens. With an OM-2 or 4 you set the f-stop and then just focus and "fire"
without switching hand position - ingenious!
If you buy the 400 try to get this newer system with the three-lens
T-Noflexar that got excellent test results in Pop. Photography a couple of
years ago.
To Warren:
Zuiko 300/4.5 plus 1.4xTC gives you the same 5.6 aperture as the 400mm
Noflexar. But it is much slower to focus, though perhaps optically a
little bit better.
Main advantage of the Olympus: it doesn't look like a gun and is fairly
compact though not as compact as some other manufacturers internal focus
4.0/300 mm lenses (Pentax, Tokina, etc.).
Hey, any wildlife photographers out there who want to start a Novoflex
discussion group??
Jan
P.S.: Novoflex website: http://www.novoflex.com/html/home.htm
(Novoflex does't pay me for this ;-). I just like their concepts and field
tested gear.)
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