[GoremanX]

This question goes out to those who purchased a screen from focusingscreen.com: What did you think of the change in brightness in the viewfinder? Was it excessive? I'm specifically considering the Ec-B, Ec-L and K3 screens.

I have a couple of manual lenses that I use fairly frequently, and I'd like to improve my focusing accuracy. The manual lenses I have have are fairly fast (f1.4 to f2.8), but I frequently use them indoors in poor light. I also frequently use them at f4 or more, depending on the depth of field I require.

One of the things I love about my K-7 is the brightness of the viewfinder. My understanding is that a lot of this is due to the new focusing screen design. I'd really rather not lose that brightness, if at all possible. I also can't afford a fancy schmancy Katz Eye Optibright focusing screen, so I'm pretty much limited to the options from focusingscreen.com and eBay.

I'm not terribly concerned about metering. I'm mostly concerned about brightness and accuracy.

[systemA]

Definitely check out WheresWaldo's thread here for great reviews on many of focusingscreens.com screens. The consensus regarding brightness seems to be that the Canon Ec-B and Ec-L are a smidget brighter than the rest, but the difference is almost too close to call.

[JohnBee]

This question goes out to those who purchased a screen from focusingscreen.com: What did you think of the change in brightness in the viewfinder? Was it excessive? I'm specifically considering the Ec-B, Ec-L and K3 screens.

I have a couple of manual lenses that I use fairly frequently, and I'd like to improve my focusing accuracy. The manual lenses I have have are fairly fast (f1.4 to f2.8), but I frequently use them indoors in poor light. I also frequently use them at f4 or more, depending on the depth of field I require.

One of the things I love about my K-7 is the brightness of the viewfinder. My understanding is that a lot of this is due to the new focusing screen design. I'd really rather not lose that brightness, if at all possible. I also can't afford a fancy schmancy Katz Eye Optibright focusing screen, so I'm pretty much limited to the options from focusingscreen.com and eBay.

I'm not terribly concerned about metering. I'm mostly concerned about brightness and accuracy.

I've tried many screens over the years and the Katzeye with Optibright is the best you can get in terms of brightness and blackout performance.

[GoremanX]

Definitely check out WheresWaldo's thread here for great reviews on many of focusingscreens.com screens. The consensus regarding brightness seems to be that the Canon Ec-B and Ec-L are a smidget brighter than the rest, but the difference is almost too close to call.

Dude, the default forum search tool really sucks. I never found that thread on my own. Shoul've taken my own advice and used Google search instead.

That thread is excellent! However, it compares viewfinder brightness on the K20D (and other cameras), but not on the K-7. I'm pretty sure the K-7 has a brighter viewfinder than the K20D, or at least that's what others on this forum have been saying.

That thread really has me interested in the K3 focusing screen right now.

[GoremanX]

I've tried many screens over the years and the Katzeye with Optibright is the best you can get in terms of brightness and blackout performance.

yeah... no way I'm spending that much. Besides, from what I've read, the Katz Eye focusing screen isn't so accurate on K-7's right now, even with a lot of fussing around with calibration.

[JohnBee]

yeah... no way I'm spending that much. Besides, from what I've read, the Katz Eye focusing screen isn't so accurate on K-7's right now, even with a lot of fussing around with calibration.

It's true about the price.
However, I've spent more on trials with alternate screens.

On the issue of calibration, its pretty much a given on any unit.
I've used screens on the S5 Pro, K200 and K20's and all required shimming and adjustments in order to get right. That's the nature of the product unfortunately. This is why the AF systems are so practical. No more screen calibrations

[GoremanX]

It's true about the price.
However, I've spent more on trials with alternate screens.

I wish I could afford to do that!

OptiBrite Katz Eye with grid lines: $205!!!!!!!!!!!

What a rip! Especially when they use the exact same K3 blanks as focusingscreen.com does for their K3 models! I can't even begin to justify that. I'd rather just replace my MF lenses with AF ones.

[JohnBee]

Especially when they use the exact same K3 blanks as focusingscreen.com does for their K3 models! I can't even begin to justify that. I'd rather just replace my MF lenses with AF ones.

Actually I would say that they are not the same stock(but I only know what I've been told so.. take it with a grain of salt)
However I have a K3 for my K20D and a Katzeye(without treatment), and they are different in both texture and transmission.

I also asked the owner of Katzeye(last year I believe) and was told that they're screen material was proprietary.

I was going to do an in depth review because my wife and I had collected a number of screens and I though it would help others because Optibright Katzeye's never seem to end up in any type of head to head in reviews. So I really wanted to put something out there. And so I tried to get as much information as I could from the company.
However, someone on the forum beat me to a focusing screen review and... though they didn't cover the treated Katzeye's, it sort of took the shine off the motivation I had to finish my own review.

[GoremanX]

Actually I would say that they are not the same stock(but I only know what I've been told so.. take it with a grain of salt)
However I have a K3 for my K20D and a Katzeye(without treatment), and they are different in both texture and transmission.

I also asked the owner of Katzeye(last year I believe) and was told that they're screen material was proprietary.

See my understanding is that the treatment they apply to the blanks changes the surface texture and is what makes them "OptiBrite". What I've read is that their non-OptiBrite Katz Eye and the focusingscreen.com K3 are virtually identical.

In any case, since no-one has any further feedback regarding the viewfinder brightness change on a K-7, I've decided to order one anyways and see for myself.

Of course, the ideal solution would be for Pentax to produce focusing screens with a focusing aid on them, thereby banking on their heritage of outstanding vintage lenses. But that's a whole 'nother thread...

[Jewelltrail]

GoremanX: This question goes out to those who purchased a screen from focusingscreen.com: What did you think of the change in brightness in the viewfinder? Was it excessive? I'm specifically considering the Ec-B, Ec-L and K3 screens.

I have a couple of manual lenses that I use fairly frequently, and I'd like to improve my focusing accuracy. The manual lenses I have have are fairly fast (f1.4 to f2.8), but I frequently use them indoors in poor light. I also frequently use them at f4 or more, depending on the depth of field I require.

One of the things I love about my K-7 is the brightness of the viewfinder. My understanding is that a lot of this is due to the new focusing screen design. I'd really rather not lose that brightness, if at all possible. I also can't afford a fancy schmancy Katz Eye Optibright focusing screen, so I'm pretty much limited to the options from focusingscreen.com and eBay.

Hi: I spent many hours in this forum trading information on focusing screens. One of the perplexing mysteries of this forum be its greatness yet its search engine is close to worthless--bizarre indeed. But this has a brighter side to it, since old topics are renewed & engaged with a fresh perspective, rather than in the encyclopedic, research approach. Anyway, your thread has brought me back 2 years, back when I bought my k20d and had the same mission as you to acquire the best focusing screen , without over paying for it. I spent many hours researching and discussing possibilities and finally opted to do this.

I ordered 2 screens for my K20d, one from Katz Eye with the "Optibrite" treatment, and one from an EBay seller (Jinfinance). The former cost me in the $160 range, with shipping, and the latter was less than $30. I tried them both out, trying to be objective as I could. Of course, I only had 1 K20d, so I could not do a side-by-side comparison of their performance. However, I reasoned, I should be able to keep swapping out the 2 screens and come to a verdict--that was my methodology, hardly scientific. The results were surprising.

As far as screen brightness, my memory, which needed to hold a vision of 1 screen's performance long enough for me to uninstall/install the other, could not decisively grant either screen an advantage. For utility, I ended up preferring the Chinese screen because it had a diagonal split, which I find more useful than the horizontal split. For blackout, and this was a revelation, the Chinese screen was a more consistent performer than the Katz Eye screen! On pretty much all of my old glass, Pentax and other, the blackout would come into play @ f 5.6. But with the Katz Eye, I was getting blackout, on a few lenses, @ larger apertures, and no blackout on one lens until smaller apertures. I processed all my findings and called the results a wash. I then called Rachael Katz and discussed this with her. She was at a loss, but offered to give me my money back. This was exactly what I did. Ultimately, I felt if I was going to fork over that kind of money for the Katz Eye, then I needed convincing it was worth it.

So, to this day, I still manually focus some awesome old Pentax glass, as well as other awesome glass, and shoot my macros, with my $29 Ebay, Chinese screen. I am happy. I know many other happy users of this screen at the forum, and I know many other happy users of the Katz Eye at the forum. Now, I know your thread goes specifically out to "those who purchased a screen from focusingscreen.com," but feel my experience is pertinent here. I know many happy purchasers of screens from Focusingscreens.com, and have read much about their screens too. I can't imagine you would be unhappy with their product--it is just a matter of which screen you prefer, since they offer greater variety. There are many threads here, with pictures of viewfinders, to show brightness and functionality. The best way I find to search this forum is to remember the name of the person who posted the thread, then go that person's statistics and query all threads they ever posted. This usually works for me. Best of luck to you on your decision.

GoremanX: I'm not terribly concerned about metering. I'm mostly concerned about brightness and accuracy.

Good, because, from my experience, your spot metering will surely be affected---BUT, you retain the other 2 modes of metering.

[GoremanX]

Thanks for all the great feedback!

So I placed my order for a K3 screen from focusingscreen.com. It said they had it in stock, I was all excited to have it by next Friday or so. Then I got an email saying it wouldn't even ship until next Friday.

poop...

[JohnBee]

Thanks for all the great feedback!

So I placed my order for a K3 screen from focusingscreen.com. It said they had it in stock, I was all excited to have it by next Friday or so. Then I got an email saying it wouldn't even ship until next Friday.

poop...

I think you'll be happy with the K3, it comes in a really nice package with all the tools needed to to adjust it just right(shims included).

And though it is darker than stock, I found it worked pretty well because the split prism is intensified by the darker surrounding.

I used one for several months(still have it) on our first K20. But then I found the idea of light loss was gnawing at me, so I swapped it with a Katzeye w/ optibright. For what it's worth, the prisms are identical in terms of quality and function. The only difference I could find was in the brightness.

[Jewelltrail]

Goremanx: So I placed my order for a K3 screen from focusingscreen.com. It said they had it in stock, I was all excited to have it by next Friday or so. Then I got an email saying it wouldn't even ship until next Friday.

Please, when you get it installed and have had enough time to evaluate, post for us with your findings. Best of luck to you!

[snostorm]

I'm pretty sure the K-7 has a brighter viewfinder than the K20D, or at least that's what others on this forum have been saying.

Actually, this may not be true:

translated from the K-7 review posted at dc.watch.impress.co.jp on July 14th.

"Looking through the K-7 finder, it seems slightly darker in comparison to other Pentax's up until now. This reduction in light transmission was done in order to attain ease of manual focus and see boke. Generally when you increase the transmission of a camera's focusing screen diffusion decreases making it harder to grasp the exact point of focus. In other words, brightness of the finder and ease of focus are inversely proportional. A lot of cheap, popular cameras are sold with slow zooms, and ease of manual focus is not seen as important. So there is a strong trend to pursue brightness. In terms of the screen, you could say that the K-7 is aimed at experts. Particularly when using large aperture, fixed focal length lenses, and select the optical preview, you can shoot while confirming subtle changes in the flavor of the boke through the finder."

Fumio Nakamura

Personally, I don't notice any difference, but I do feel that I can detect critical focus better with the K7 than with previous pentaprism models.

Scott

[JohnBee]

Personally, I don't notice any difference, but I do feel that I can detect critical focus better with the K7 than with previous pentaprism models.

When I had both camera's, I could of sworn the K7 was darker at times.
But I shrugged it off as "all in my head" because the spec's seemed to indicate otherwise.

Now that I read this, it all seems to make sense now.