[twitch]

Tonights the night I'm going to try and install this screen that has been sitting in the draw for weeks. Can someone confirm whether this has the potential to mess up AF calibration?

Any tips on not screwing this up as I seem to have a unique talent to find ways to screw up any DIY process?

[Nuff]

It has nothing to do with AF, only manual focus and exposure values.

[wizofoz]

Twitch, I installed a focus screen in both my K-5 and K-7 a couple of weeks ago. It's a peice of cake, takes about 30 seconds.

Have no fear grasshopper.

[dlacouture]

...I also (drumroll please) finally got through to Pentax USA parts, which is sending me a full set of 10 or so metal shims at different sizes for about $15 shipped, I'm hoping they will ease the shim nightmare.

Oh man, I'm so jealous... Pentax France runs them at 5€ piece!
Would there be any chance you could mail one or two sets to me, so as to make a whole bunch of French pentaxians happy? I'd pay you in advance by Paypal!

[twitch]

Thanks all, well I like the screen Had to have a few goes at it to get it shimmed OK and have a dust free view finder Seems good now. Had to remove stock metal shim and swap for red shim.

[twitch]

What do you guys do when you have to use a lens like the DA55-300 ? I did today and it was pretty dark, even in really bright sunlight. Do you swap out the screen, or just suck it up? But man, is it awesome for my K50/1.2!

[Nuff]

Well, my slowest lens is DA15mm f4 ltd and it performs just fine. It's dim, but I can still see what I'm framing. Even in dark places I didn't have much trouble.

[vonBaloney]

What do you guys do when you have to use a lens like the DA55-300 ? I did today and it was pretty dark, even in really bright sunlight. Do you swap out the screen, or just suck it up? But man, is it awesome for my K50/1.2!

Yeah, I got the S-screen and it is pretty dark on the 18-250, which is my main walking around lens, but I will just suck it up. It is great for the faster lenses, and metering is also better. Even though it is dark on the slower lenses, it seems to be mainly the bright sun that makes it look dark in contrast. Indoors where it actually is dark it seems less noticable -- eyes adjust I guess.

[twitch]

I think I'll just suck it up. I used it with my fa77 and fa31 today and it was awesome, never had such confidence shooting the 77 wide open and nailing focus. It's made me want a A*85

[VisualDarkness]

Amazing improvement! I just got my second hand focusingscreen.com S-type. Now when shimmed correctly (the 0.25) I get perfect focus when testing with the Pentax-M 50/1.4 but I realized how wrong the focus confirmation is with that setup. Time to fix that somehow...

[Boris]

I've recently bought a K-5 with shimmed Canon ee-S screen from a fellow forum member. I can wholeheartedly attest that this screen is very good for manual focusing. I did not run any scientific tests or comparisons versus Katz Eye (no marks, no optibrite) in my K-7, but this ee-S screen seems to be at least just as good.

[littledrawe]

I just have to add my endorsement for the S type focusing screen from focusingscreens.com which is supposed to be the same as the ee-S from canon according to this thread. Its great and other than the dust/fibers that might get in when you switch them out its great!!

[RickyFromVegas]

I just got my type s screen from focusing screen.
I had to use the thin shim with it, but the focusing is perfect with my sears 55mm 1.4
AF confirmation is a bit off, so I turned off the beep, and that allows me to focus manually without being distracted by the beeps.
And I gotta say, I am very impressed. Until now, I had been relying on AF and Katzeye focusing screen on my K20D, but I can see that this screen is a much better alternative without the distracting focus aides (split, microprism circles).

This is great and all that until f/2.8. Past that point, the viewfinder gets noticeably dark. 4.7-5.6 tele lenses are pretty much shooting in low light settings.I almost have to rely on AF to save my day in low light settings.

[twitch]

This is great and all that until f/2.8. Past that point, the viewfinder gets noticeably dark. 4.7-5.6 tele lenses are pretty much shooting in low light settings.I almost have to rely on AF to save my day in low light settings.

I agree, this is the only downside for me. I now use my K-x (with stock screen) if I want to use my DA55-300. I find my f/4 lenses bareable on my K-5 (with e-SS), but the 55-300 is just too dark.

[Siegfried]

dlacouture,
thank you very much for your research. And many thanks to other fellas who contacted focusingscreen.com pushing them (ok, him - Deki) to start offering that very kit for K-5.

I picked up my order recently and installed that EEs-based screen and I'm really impressed with it (I was looking primary for manual focus assistance). As a side note I can only add that it's really worth going with LCD moire AF adjustment technique when working on those focus screen shims: the result is very accurate and it doesn't take too much time to nail it down.

Alles gut,
Zig