Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Ted, I was flicking through a small book on the Novoflex system yesterday (Friedrich Vogt, Focal Press, London, 1963) and the 400mm F2.8 lens was considered in theory in the book and this is what they wrote: "....People often ask why is the aperture not greater (than their then present lenses). This is easily explained by an example. An aperture of 2.8 for a lens of 400mm focal length would require a diameter of approx. 15cm. Such a glass block would be too heavy, too big and far too expensive! This aperture would be rarely used becase of depth of field considerations nearly always demand a minimum aperture of 5.6." Well I guess that was sound promotional writing for the early Sixties... Just thought I's share that snippet of yesteryear with you. Jem - -----Original Message----- From: Ted Grant [SMTP:tedgrant@islandnet.com] As was explained to me in 1988 after my Winter Olympics "road testing" of the prototype 400 2.8. I put in my after Games report, "But why make them at that price...$20,000? What's the point of making them if we can't afford to buy them?" Ted Grant