Easy as pie:

1. Use a tool to open the latch by pulling it toward you (as viewed from the front of the camera, of course). I found a dental pick worked perfectly. It is strong enough not to deform, has a 90 degree bend, and the point slips neatly into the latch.

2. Carefully let the door swing downward. You'll see a very small handling tab on the screen. Use a pair of tweezers to carefully remove the screen and place it on something soft, such as a lens tissue.

3. Again handling only by the tab and by using tweezers, gently insert the new screen into place.

4. As Photo Tramp indicated, being careful of the gasket gently swing the door upward and push until it latches into place. I used the dental pick, but flipped over so that I used the back part of the pick.

You may want to fold a lens tissue and place in on the mirror to avoid damaging it in case you drop the screen or bump it with a tool. That would be what A.A. Milne would orthographize as A Bad Thing.

The whole process shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes. You might practice by removing and reinserting the original screen a couple of times just to make sure you have the procedure down pat. If all goes well, you probably won't be using it again anyway and there's no point in making a boo-boo with your new screen. Wrap the original screen up in a lens tissue and store it in a safe place to protect from damage in case you ever decide to reinstall it.

Be aware that you may find it necessary to make an EV adjustment to maintain proper exposure. Mine requires about a +0.5 bump.

[zntgrg]

Just wanting to clean the DL2 screen from lint and dust I didn't have the tools that come with a new screen so used the tweezers and toothpick from my swiss army knife - I bet the designers of the tool never anticipated that as a potential use for the combo device.

They have. It's like those 30 degrees angled tweezers:

http://www.etamiya.com/shop/images/tamiya_toolspaints/74003.jpg

I used it, it's perfect for the job...you can even tape the edges to avoid any chance to scratch the screen.

[Arjay Bee]

zntgrg - I was meaning the Victorinox swiss army knife company not the Tamiya modelling company...

[Photo Tramp]

My guess would be that since the K100D is not supposed to have interchangeable screens then replacing it would void the warranty.

@MODERATOR

The title of this thread needs to be changed. We're talking about the K100D here, not the K10D.

Changing the original focusing screen with an aftermarket screen such as the Kat's eye will definitely void the warranty. when I still had the warranty on the DL I needed to have the focusing screen cleaned and tried this my self. (I really did a job on the screen when I first tried to clean it) I now know better how to do this but I'm still very Leary of just taking it out and putting it back in. My first screen was screwed so bad I had to buy another to replace it. I got smart (something new to me) and had my local repair shop do the job. I asked about having the screen replaced with a Kat's eye, and was told it was not a good idea while the camera was under warranty. If I had to send it back to Pentax for any reason to be fixed I would be charged full price for any repairs even if the camera was still under warranty for other problems.
So to make this shorter Until the camera is out of warranty I would recommend waiting to replace the screen with a different one.
I also have the K100D and I'm taking my local repair guys recommendation and letting him clean the screen and leaving the original screen in place.

[TourDeForce]

Changing the original focusing screen with an aftermarket screen such as the Kat's eye will definitely void the warranty.

All of you who have confessed to changing the focusing screen must now each pay me $10 to keep my mouth shut.

PM me for my PayPal addy.

[Mike Cash]

All of you who have confessed to changing the focusing screen must now each pay me $10 to keep my mouth shut.

PM me for my PayPal addy.

Rat on me all you want; I'm out of warranty now.

Now you have to pay each of us $10 for not turning you in for extortion.

[simons-photography]

so do I understand correctly that I can change the focusing screen and have the same type that my MTL5 has for manual focussing with the split line thing that allows acurate focussing, if this screen exists does it impair normal use ?

[turbohugh]

I did this.
The E-bay screen I purchased came with a 30 degree forceps and a plastic set of small forceps, some finger latex, and the replacement screen in a plastic bag [wrapped in a small microfiber].

I did this on my desk, and it took about 15 minutes.
I put on latex [dust free] gloves and used the metal 30 degree forceps to pull the focusing screen lock down. Once I did that, I used the plastic -rubber coated- forceps to carefully take the screen out. The screen came out with the metal shim and I placed it on my plastic sheet. I carefully placed it in the bag [with the replacement screen and using my fingers kept them apart.

Basically using the plastic forceps did not scratch or damage either screen. The hardest part was getting the clip to fasten and this was not that difficult. Using the metal forceps allowed me to apply pressure only to the metal. I took my time and used steady hands, and everything went smoothly.