Manual focus lenses

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
I just want to take a moment to thank Scott Murphy who by his shots gave me the extra push to get myself a microprism focusing screen. I got one for my D700 and one for my D7000 and the difference for my old AI and AI-S lenses is just phenomenal. I can now be sure to acquire focus. What a relief.

I got both from focusingscreen.com and the delivery took about a week and the installation went without a hitch.

Thanks Scott!
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Which screen did you get for the D7000? Nothing yet for the D600 or D800 (though there's a slot for the latter).


EC-A, just simple microprism, no split. I can now have fun with a few lenses that didn't see much use before. Specially the 105 2.5 which is the portrait lens of choice.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Funny thing is that they both were packed in a Canon box. I don't know if they had to be cut and shaped for size, but they might just be straight from Canon.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
On their screen comparison page it says that particular type are "Canon made" so it makes sense. Might need to check one out for my D7000.
 

Eye-level

Banned
Cool...I have a microprism screen no split on my F2 and it is just crazy how fast you can lock on with that sucker...I will absolutely get one for the D5000 if I keep it much longer because just like Murphy I use only the old lenses.
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
Since I have had my dslr I have been frustrated by the difficulty in manually focusing, this is looking like a good solution.

Are they very difficult to fit Marcel ?
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Since I have had my dslr I have been frustrated by the difficulty in manually focusing, this is looking like a good solution.

Are they very difficult to fit Marcel ?


Very simple install. The tools come with it and there is instruction on the net. I like it.
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
Very simple install. The tools come with it and there is instruction on the net. I like it.
Thanks Marcel. I dont think I will get one for my D3100, as I wont have it for too much longer, but will look to put one in whichever body I upgrade to when they become available.
I see in the instalation section, they have D600 listed, but not in the product section. So hopefully it wont be long til they have one available for the D600.
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
I was just doing a bit of reading up on these focusing screens. Another brand called "Katzeye" also gets good reviews.
On one forum, someone contacted them to see if they were going to make a screen for the D800, this was reported to be their reply,,,,




"Unfortunately, we are not able to support the Nikon D800/D800E at this time. This is certainly a model we would like to support, but after our initial examination, we found that current technical limitations prevent us from making screens for these cameras and it is unknown if we will support them in the future or not. Work is ongoing, but no short term solution is apparent.
At this point, we have not yet had the opportunity to study the D600, so I cannot say with certainty if we will support that model. However, given the difficulty we have encountered with the design of Nikon's recent full frame cameras, and the unavailability of Nikon parts for use in R&D (due to their new restriction on parts sales), it is unlikely we will be able to support the D600 model."




EDIT--- Apparently there are problems that arise with full frame camera's with 100% viewfinders.



 
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STM

Senior Member
I just want to take a moment to thank Scott Murphy who by his shots gave me the extra push to get myself a microprism focusing screen. I got one for my D700 and one for my D7000 and the difference for my old AI and AI-S lenses is just phenomenal. I can now be sure to acquire focus. What a relief.

I got both from focusingscreen.com and the delivery took about a week and the installation went without a hitch.

Thanks Scott!

Glad to help!. I take it that the microprism screens don't interfere with the autofocus lenses?
 

STM

Senior Member
Funny thing is that they both were packed in a Canon box. I don't know if they had to be cut and shaped for size, but they might just be straight from Canon.

From what I could gather with the screen for my D700, it was actually a Canon screen which was cut down a little to fit the D700. Mine came in a little Canon case too. I don't know why Nikon has not gotten in on this action. One of the things I really love about my F2S and F4S is the fact that in addtion to being able to change finders, you can also change focusing screens to fit different applications. I have a full screen microprism one I use with my F4S, which is actually an H4 screen for the F3. The F3 and f4 screens and condenser lenses are the same size, you just have to swap out the frames around them because there is a slight difference between the two. It is designed for fast telephotos like my 300mm f/2.8 and 600mm f/4. It is a simply amazing screen and it is so bright you almost need sunglasses to look through the viewfinder! I wish there were some way to convert it for use with the D700!
 
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