| Author: | | Forum Member Registered: February, 2011 Posts: 84 | | Review Date: September 12, 2011 | Not Recommended | Price: $18.90
| Rating: 5 |
| Pros: | Really handy | | Cons: | Gets in your way | |
Okay, the thing is, it's all fine and dandy as long as the sun is shining, aperture is wide open and/or you're not actually looking. This ridiculously cheap focusing screen is quite affordable compared to some other brands, it's also fun and really useful as long as it won't really matter if you actually nail the focus or not, but when it does - when it should save the shot, make your day, or, well, actually work at all - it's just not accurate enough, and in some low-light or otherwise weird shot cases it can **** up the shot entirely.
The problems start when conditions are less than perfect (or you actually look very closely), and performance deteriorates fast. There's a reason this is cheap, and it's because it's crap. Really. I used this for the longest time, but eventually switched back to the more bright original focusing screen, figuring I'd see the damn focus better with my own eye.
You know, because at least with the original I can see the damn thing I'm supposed to be looking at.
Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with using this if you like shooting happy people in sunshine.
I'll give it a 5 because I sometimes shoot happy people in sunshine.
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Posts: 6,622 | | Review Date: June 13, 2011 | Not Recommended | Price: $28.00
| Rating: 5 |
| Pros: | improves control over MF | | Cons: | shims required, darkening/blackout | |
This was my first split prism focusing screen, so i was delighted with the idea of more accurately dialing in focus for my shallow DOF photos.
Well, the screen i received (horizontal split) was not the same thickness as the stock screen, so i had to fiddle with ordering shims and then trying to dial in accurate focus with the screen...i never did get it exactly right and found myself applying a compensation to all my manual shots - with practice i got it down but was always annoyed that it never worked perfectly.
I ordered another (diagonal split) for my next camera thinking i wouldn't have as many issues with the newer style, and sure enough, i still had to mess with the shims.
I am not about to buy another one of these and ordered a KatzEye ($105) for my K-5.
BTW - i did ask jfinance if i could return the screen pursuant to his posted guarantee. He happily accepts returns but charges a restocking fee plus i am responsible for return shipping to China. You may not be surprised to know that it was not financially feasible for me to return the product, as i would have been out even more money than i'd originally spent.  | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 509 | | Review Date: April 15, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Inexpensive, shipping fast | | Cons: | lower light transmission than normal. | |
Good for what it is. Got my Kx back from a service at Pentax. I was told that I may need to add 1/3 in exposure compensation because this particular screen reduces light transmission. I could not tell. 
Edit:
Lower the rating to 8 due to the fact that things seen from the viewer is not very clear. Still rate it 8 due to its low prices.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Strand Posts: 1,366 | | Review Date: February 18, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $32.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | An absolute need with manual focus lenses. Correct with K20. | | Cons: | Dirty delivered | |
The screen does have air sealed plastic. Came with 2 plastic shims but no need for these. Installation process is relatively easy.
There is some dust particles in the center prism of the screen that is difficult to clean. Also a tiny drop of oil or gel alike whatever on the screen, but it can be blowed away after several try. Most of the time during installation is for cleaning, mount/unmount several times.
Spot right on in my K20, well, relatively. I tested with minimum focus distances wide open om M50 f1.4. It seems like a few milimeters aberration, but it can also be user error using with this kind of lens/aperture - no tripod.
I also found out that it is best focused when the split is 90 degree relative to the subject, especially in case when I use with f1.4 lenses wide open.
Relative 'expensive' compared to other screen from ebay and came with no tools. The pros is I don't need to worry about calibration.
Thanks and a huge credit to members from this forum who have been tried this before me.
Highly recommend.
| | | | | | | Inactive Account Registered: December, 2007 Location: Tokyo Posts: 16 | | Review Date: February 9, 2011 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | price, quality, ease of manual focusing | | Cons: | installation a bit fiddly, not great with AF zooms, | |
In common with the other reviewers I was pleasantly surprized by the quality of this screen given its price. Its well made, clean and clear. I certainly don't feel the need to upgrade to a more expensive version.
I have installed the double 45 deg split in my k100d along with a VF magnifier to create a body dedicated to manual focusing and fast primes.
The central diagonal split prism definitely aids manual focusing if the image has any straightlines of any kind. It becomes very obvious if the image is not focused correctly.
The surrounding microprism is also useful but only for fast lenses e.g f/1.4, f/2 etc -but for f-numbers of 4 or greater I found that its transmission did not change noticeably whether the image was in or out of focus. The central split image is better in this respect.
Focusing on the matt portions of the screen is in my opinion harder than the original screen in my k100d.
As for installation the only part I found tricky was opening the VF release catch in the camera as I didn't have a special tool for doing this and had to mess around with a safety-pin / tweezers which was a pain. Once its open, fitting the new screen is quite simple but you do need to watch for dust and make sure that you dont contaminate the VF screen with fingerprints, dust etc.
Once in, I kept the original metal shim in place, focusing (and AF) appeared to be spot on and agree with each other.
The only slight frustration was the delivery time was a little long at 3 weeks, but that's only a minor quibble.
All in all I think that if you use only / mostly fast manual primes than such a screen is definitely useful and its very good value. But I wouldn't recommend it if you also regularly use AF or slower zooms as the prisms will black out and you lose the AF brackets.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2008 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 4,180 | | Review Date: January 9, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $23.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Makes manual focus possible again | | Cons: | none | |
For the $23 this cost me, including shipping, I have to give it a 10. After comparing this to my nearly $200 Katz Eye screen, I sent the Katz Eye back. It is not that the Katze Eye was inferior--it is just that I could not justify, in my comparison of the 2 products, the much higher cost of the Katz Eye. I find the screen especially useful for Macro shooting, though it helps with manual focus in general. Lenses with an aperture larger than 5.6 are needed, since @ 5.6 and smaller the screen begins to darken.
Mine has a diagonal split, and I use it on my K20d. I installed the screen without needing any shims and it has not been moved in 2 years now. I also found it helpful to add a magnifying eyepiece to the camera.
BTW, it actually came with tooling and finger cots--it helps to use them.  | | | | | Inactive Account Registered: October, 2009 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: November 29, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $16.00
| Rating: N/A |
| Pros: | cheap, works | | Cons: | dark | |
The screen I received was from a 4th party, but claimed to be jinfinance stock.
It has a diagonal split image surrounded by a microprism. Came with finger cots, but no tweezers or instructions. Since I had read that I shouldn't touch the screen even wearing cots, I instead used my own tweezers. The mechanism for changing the screen on the K2000 is not immediately obvious, and while trying to pry it open my tweezers slipped and scratched the screen. Once you know how to do it it is fairly easy, but be careful if it's the your first time.
It came with no shims and I kept in place the original shim. Focusing seems to be accurate - it agrees with the green hexagon on manual lenses, and with the AF on AF lenses.
It is noticably dimmer than the original screen. I'm sure a Katzeye would be brighter and thus more pleasant to use and would come with installation tools+instructions. But it fulfils its purpose - it makes it easier to focus. A brighter image would be a nice luxury for the photographer but unlike focus it makes no difference to the end result. And you could buy 10 of these for the cost of one Katzeye.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: August, 2010 Location: United States Posts: 278 | | Review Date: October 5, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Cheap, split prism, works | | Cons: | mat finish needs work. | |
It does exactly what it's supposed to do. I'm impressed with the quality overall and for the price it really can't be beat. The dual diagonal split prism and micro-prism is great. Really helps with getting the focus just right on manual lenses. I've seen a definite improvement in the number of sharp images I take.
The only bad thing I've come across is that the mat finish over the rest of the screen is a little hard to see through and use to help focus sometimes.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2009 Location: Cork Posts: 1,882 | | Review Date: October 1, 2010 | Not Recommended | Price: $29.00
| Rating: 4 |
| Pros: | Its a splitprism and it works | | Cons: | Build quality is not the best | |
I got this but was not happy with the microprism, the circle was not completely round. Jinfinance was willing to replace, but I did not take up the offer. Once bitten, twice shy, bought a Katzeye instead.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: October, 2008 Location: Albuquerque NM Posts: 9,830 | | Review Date: July 14, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $35.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Cheap and it works | | Cons: | Installation a little tricky | |
The best improvement I made to my K10d. Manual lenses now focus almost like they did on the cameras of the same period. I've had no problems with exposure and the finder worked perfectly without shims.
It did manage to scratch the first one I bought with tweezers. Use the finger cots!
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