New Member Registered: May, 2020 Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 22, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very Sharp, even when not used as Macro and wide open | | Cons: | chromatic abberation wide open | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Canon 5D Mark IV and Pentax Spotmatic
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Excellent, relatively unknown brand that excels in optics and lens technology. Novoflex was a high end german brand that made optics and they still make optics for large format cameras, I wouldn't say it's like a Zeiss or Leica lens, but its performance is extremely good, very good build quality and quite rare. All in all, an incredible lens for how much I got it for.
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Pentaxian Registered: March, 2010 Location: Chiang Mai, Bologna, Amsterdam Posts: 1,198
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 10, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $140.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, colour rendition, 1:2 with smallish barrel, UV-photography friendly, compact | | Cons: | dubious ergonomics, possible light leaks fully extended | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-01
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First of all, the ratio of my votes:
1) the evaluation is always relative, apples have to be compared with apples, not with oranges!
2) my votes take into account price vs performance ratio; a surprisingly good vintage lens gets a high rating, a new high cost lens would get a bad vote if the performance is not up to its price
3) the fact that i own a certain lens means nothing to me, i don't need to reassure myself publicly about the worthiness of my purchase, i try to be severe. If i think i got a lemon, well i got a lemon! I don't review the lens and i refrain from giving a bad vote, especially if other experienced photographers are perfectly happy with their samples. Shit happens, i wish myself good luck for the next time.
4) I try to use common sense. I try to take into account other reviews, and understand their worth. Optically identically lenses have quite different average votes, cause often people give very bad votes to what is just a bad/damaged sample, or give a 10 just because (unsurprisingly!) the glass focuses an image on the film/sensor plane and takes decent pictures. That's the minimum we should expect, isn't it? 
The Novoflex Noflexar f/3,5 35mm (Macro) is a very peculiar lens, and a valuable one in my experience, despite its vintage.
I am writing from my laptop away from home, so i have just a single picture of the lens itself, and one i've shot with the lens. The others are stored at home.
A better understanding of the strange mechanical construction of this lens is given by the page that the site Savazzi.net dedicates to it.
http://www.savazzi.net/photography/35noflexar.html
BTW, Savazzi.net is a great site, full of interesting informations about macrography and UV phtography.
In my picture you can see the small pushbutton that disengages the stepped extension helicoid of the lens, while i don't see it in the example portrayed on Savazzi's page. It could be more recent version.
Dr. Klaus, the well known expert of macrography and moderator of MF lenses forum, seems to confirm my impression that Novoflex is/was mainly a very good maker of lens barrels and accessories, and that the optics (but a few very early ones) came from the respected german lens maker: Staeble. In relatively recent years Staeble mainly made repro optics, often rebranded with other names. Their lenses equipped the super expensive Agfa reprocameras, most of the times rebranded as Agfa. I own a few, perfectly comparable with the contemporary Schneider and Rodenstock production. We're talking super-sharp and aberrations-free here The consumer optics sold by Novoflex were not at the same level but were quite good. The 400mm triplet sold for the "machine gun" follow-focus system were very likely in the same league of the super expensive achromat sold by Leitz.
So it came as no absolute surprise. This lens, stopped down a little, is very sharp.
Not super contrasty, perfect for B/W conversion or for handheld "macro hunting" with one or two flashes.
The lens is small, if you don't go too close to the subject its construction allows to play with flash placement without blocking the light.
With a focal of just 35mm, at the fourth and last of the extension steps you're set for 1:2. With tubes i can easily go past 1:1.
My copy is a bit wobbly and evidently has seen a lot of use, but i've never experienced degraded contrast due to light leaks.
Some people report that, though.
This lens is sharp! I can confirm that at f/8 it's as sharp as i need. I have no pics with me to confirm it, though.
I never used it close to infinity, and i've never used past 1:2. There are better choices for both uses.
For close-up photography, camera handheld, maybe with a mix of available light and flash, it's very good. Perfect for walks in the woods, ready to shoot insects, mushrooms, or what else, cause it's small and not heavy.
Why use this lens instead of other recent, very sharp AF or MF 50mm macro's? Because of the bokeh and the way it renders, because of the beautiful subtly muted colours.
The photo i am linking is not for pixel peepers. Focus is off, and it's at 6400 ISO on a K-01, because it was shot at dusk.
I tried to see how the lens rendered, at dusk, with camera handheld.
I could have gone down with shutter speed and used a less noisy ISO level... 
All in all, the construction is smart, but the ergonomics are not at the top and of course, being a M42 mount, you have to either focus stopped down, or be very attentive to not moving the camera when you turn the iris to working aperture after focusing.
Perfectly acceptable for a manual 35mm macro. For faster operation, and a different kind of macro/close focus photography, i'd go for a recent 70mm to 105mm AF.
For relatively static subjects I find this lens perfectly usable.
I'd happily buy it again, especially because of its beautiful rendition, a refreshing change from the clinical, razor sharp optical signature of many modern day objectives.
I found mine, a bit tired but optically spotless, for about 130 euros. Some time ago.
Prices have likely gone up a bit, cause it covers full frame, can be used for UV, and have a certain cult status.
Not so easy to find outside Germany/EU.
If you can find one for a similar price, i don't think you'd regret it.
Looking forward to try it with my new K-1 full frame.
Sooner or later i'll do it and report my findings with an update of this review. I promise, with a less "dreamy" picture
 IMGP1344 by spaulein, on Flickr
Found another pic. The subject is not ideal, not flat enough, but at the plane of focus the sharpness can be seen.
At dawn, high ISO, almost maximum magnification, stopped down 1 1/2 or 2 stops:
 IMGP1346 by spaulein, on Flickr
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