  We have detected 535 planetary nebulae (PNs) in NGC 4697, using the classic
on-band, off-band filter technique with the Focal Reducer and Spectrograph
(FORS) at the Cassegrain focus of the first 8-meter telescope unit of the ESO
Very Large Telescope. From our photometry we have built the [O III] 5007
planetary nebula luminosity function (PNLF) of NGC 4697. It indicates a
distance of 10.5 Mpc, substantially smaller than a previous estimate of 24 Mpc
used in earlier dynamical studies. The PNLF also provides an estimate of the
specific PN formation rate. Combining the information from on-band images with
PN positions on dispersed, slitless grism images, we have obtained radial
velocities for 531 of the 535 PNs. They provide kinematic information up to a
distance of almost three effective radii from the nucleus. Some rotation is
detected in the outer regions, but the rotation curve of this galaxy appears to
drop beyond one effective radius. Assuming an isotropic velocity distribution,
the velocity dispersion profile is consistent with no dark matter within three
effective radii of the nucleus (however, some dark matter can be present if the
velocity distribution is anisotropic). We obtain a blue mass-to-light ratio of
11. Earlier M/L ratios for NGC 4697 were too small, because of the too large
distance used for their derivation.
