[gawan]

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I have been thinking to buy a split-image focusing screen, but am a little confused on which to bye.

I have the impression from discussion here that Katz Eye screens should be excellent, they are quite expensive though.

I found a cheep one in fleebay: Split-image Focusing Screen set for Pentax K20D 10D bei eBay.de: Film Camera Accessories (endet 23.07.08 01:49:43 MESZ)

Has anyone acquired one of these cheep ones? How good they are? Or to put it in an other way, is the Katz Eye worth the much higher cost? I would think there would be differences at least in brightness?

[deejjjaaaa]

I have been thinking to buy a split-image focusing screen, but am a little confused on which to bye.

I have the impression from discussion here that Katz Eye screens should be excellent, they are quite expensive though.

I found a cheep one in fleebay: Split-image Focusing Screen set for Pentax K20D 10D bei eBay.de: Film Camera Accessories (endet 23.07.08 01:49:43 MESZ)

Has anyone acquired one of these cheep ones? How good they are? Or to put it in an other way, is the Katz Eye worth the much higher cost? I would think there would be differences at least in brightness?

buy the one cut from Minolta X700, not the one cut from K1000 - I have both.

[pschlute]

I have bought 2 on eekbay from chinese sellers. One for my DS and one for my K10

Both work great, and missed focus shots are a thing of the past.

[George Lama]

buy the one cut from Minolta X700, not the one cut from K1000 - I have both.

Any particular reason why one over the other?

[gawan]

buy the one cut from Minolta X700, not the one cut from K1000 - I have both.

I am lost - what are those cuts?

[Fritz]

I am lost - what are those cuts?

I think its that the Minolta x700 and K1000 screens are larger then the screen for your K10D. So the screens are cut down to the size that fits your K10D.

[F8&Bthere]

I bought one from an Asian seller on EB for my K100D and I am very happy with it. My only regret was that i didn't buy the optional install kit (tweezers- was only a few extra bucks). And one thing I've read about is that the much more expensive Katz Eye versions are "brighter". Mine definitely starts getting pretty dark beyond f5.6 when i'm indoors or in less than perfect lighting.

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Last edited by F8&Bthere; 07-24-2008 at 08:46 AM.

[George Lama]

One of those ebay sellers, JinFinance claims that the Pentax cut screens are better than the Minolta cut screens. I think he says it's because of the thickness of the screen.

I bought one from him and installed it. No instructions were included but I looked around on the net and found something. The screen included a shim but the info on his website is says you don't need it.

Which is where I have a problem. It seems to do great at shorter focusing distances, but not so good at further distances. Not sure what to think of it and I haven't had much time for any extensive testing, so some feedback would be appreciated.

[Ben_Edict]

I have bought one screen from virtualvillage and one from jinfinance for my K10 (and tried them later in the K20). In both cases the AF and the AF confirmation when focusing manually do not coincide with the split screen. As it is the same in both cameras and with different lenses, I blame the screens and don't use them. It is always the same: buying cheap is expensive because you have to buy again. Next time: KatzEye...

Ben

[gawan]

Thank you for the responses!

One more question, do you (would you) prefer to have also micro prism and guide lines (rule of third lines) in your split image screens?

[Ben_Edict]

Thank you for the responses!

One more question, do you (would you) prefer to have also micro prism and guide lines (rule of third lines) in your split image screens?

I don't find microprisms necessary, but want a grid. The jinfinance grid is so obtrusive (thick black lines), that it makes (at least for me) the screen unusable. The Pentax grid screens are quite good - but lack the split screen...

Ben

[ghelary]

Mine (from focusingscreen.com, see related thread) have transparent lines for rule of 1/3, so it's ok.

The feeling of it is that the whole focusing screen is blurry (excepted the line and the prisms) when out of focus, and becoming transparent when focused.

I just checked in dark light, and it has if the whole screen is covered by microprisms.

[deejjjaaaa]

Any particular reason why one over the other?

Minolta's works w/o u-shim and microprism collar is "finer"

[deejjjaaaa]

I have bought one screen from virtualvillage and one from jinfinance for my K10 (and tried them later in the K20). In both cases the AF and the AF confirmation when focusing manually do not coincide with the split screen. As it is the same in both cameras and with different lenses, I blame the screens and don't use them. It is always the same: buying cheap is expensive because you have to buy again. Next time: KatzEye...

Ben

in my case both screens are working fine in both K10D and *istDL... unlike Pentax AF

[Ben_Edict]

in my case both screens are working fine in both K10D and *istDL... unlike Pentax AF

That is quite possible the case. I wouldn't expect these cheap screens to be produced in any consistent manner. So some (or even many) might work, others don't, like mine...

Ben