Interchangeable focusing screens - which dSLRs ?

nospam wrote:
Bruce wrote:

The D200 has optional grid lines too, maybe not the D70 before that?
I'm not sure how many Nikon DSLRs have the switchable grid lines. The
D3 definitely doesn't.

it does in live view, and it also has an artificial horizon.

http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/NikonD3/Images/Captures/TV2007092114501701.jpg

I haven't even tried the artificial horizon... I guess maybe useful on a
tripod but you can't frame the shot while using it hand held as I recall
seeing in youtube demonstrations before.

Live view is useful if you absolutely need a precise focus effect. You
get the real DOF for faster lenses (not true for the optical focus
screen) and can easily zoom in to almost 100% pixel magnification. I
don't use it much though... usually I'll just check after taking the
shot on the LCD.

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

On Sun, 03 May 2009 11:51:06 -0700, Paul Furman wrote:
: Me wrote:
: Bruce wrote:
: Robert Coe wrote:
:
: In my experience, the biggest advantage of a replacement screen is
: grid lines to help with getting the horizontals and verticals right.
:
: The Nikon D700 has grid lines that can be turned on and off. You don't
: need to buy a replacement screen.
:
: On the other hand, the grid lines also work when an aftermarket
: replacement screen is fitted, such as the Katz Eye.
:
: Viewfinder gridlines are standard in most (all?) Nikon dslrs. AFAIK
: Nikon don't offer non-standard screens for any of their dslrs. I think
: that they're on the right track.
:
: I got a Katz Eye for my D200 because I use a lot of old manual lenses. I
: decided that I don't really need it for the D700 because it's a bigger
: viewfinder and sometimes an annoying obstruction on the D200, though
: often useful. It's definitely not the sort of thing you would change in
: the field, it requires tweezers & a clean environment to prevent dust
: getting sandwiched in there. I would be curious to try something like
: Alan mentioned for his Sony, 'Acute Matte' but nobody seems to make such
: a thing for Nikons.
:
: The D200 has optional grid lines too, maybe not the D70 before that? I
: still am pretty bad about keeping the horizon straight :-(

I'm still far from perfect, but I've been doing a lot better since I got Katz
Eyes for my Canons (a 50D and a 400D).

Bob

On 2009-05-03 11:51:06 -0700, Paul Furman said:

Me wrote:
Bruce wrote:
Robert Coe wrote:

In my experience, the biggest advantage of a replacement screen is grid
lines to help with getting the horizontals and verticals right.

The Nikon D700 has grid lines that can be turned on and off. You don't
need to buy a replacement screen.

On the other hand, the grid lines also work when an aftermarket
replacement screen is fitted, such as the Katz Eye.

Viewfinder gridlines are standard in most (all?) Nikon dslrs. AFAIK
Nikon don't offer non-standard screens for any of their dslrs. I think
that they're on the right track.

I got a Katz Eye for my D200 because I use a lot of old manual lenses.
I decided that I don't really need it for the D700 because it's a
bigger viewfinder and sometimes an annoying obstruction on the D200,
though often useful. It's definitely not the sort of thing you would
change in the field, it requires tweezers & a clean environment to
prevent dust getting sandwiched in there. I would be curious to try
something like Alan mentioned for his Sony, 'Acute Matte' but nobody
seems to make such a thing for Nikons.

The D200 has optional grid lines too, maybe not the D70 before that? I
still am pretty bad about keeping the horizon straight :-(

Yup! The D70 has grid lines if you updated the firmware to the D70s v.2.0.
It is #08 in the Custom Menus; "Grid Display" On/Off.

I am still amazed at how tiny my old D70 looks and feels alongside my
D300. It almost feels like a fragile toy.
....but it is serving its role as a lifeboat and an extra body when needed.
--
Regards,
Savageduck

On 2009-05-10 05:53:03 -0700, JT's Keeper said:

Savageduck wrote:

Yup! The D70 has grid lines if you updated the firmware to the D70s v.2.0.
It is #08 in the Custom Menus; "Grid Display" On/Off.

I am still amazed at how tiny my old D70 looks and feels alongside my
D300. It almost feels like a fragile toy.
...but it is serving its role as a lifeboat and an extra body when needed.


The D70 looks even smaller next to a D300 with an attached MB-D10
Multi-Power Battery Pack. ;-)

That is what does it for me. Then there is the weight difference.
The description of "built like a tank" is appropriate


- JT
also has a D70 lifeboat

I just keep mine in my bag with a 35mm f2.0 mounted. With its lack of
use I am more concerned about the D70 battery condition than that of
the D300 + MB-D10, which seems to be a bottomless well of power in
comparison.


--
Regards,
Savageduck

Savageduck wrote:
JT's Keeper said:
Savageduck wrote:

Yup! The D70 has grid lines if you updated the firmware to the D70s
v.2.0. It is #08 in the Custom Menus; "Grid Display" On/Off.

I am still amazed at how tiny my old D70 looks and feels alongside my
D300. It almost feels like a fragile toy.
...but it is serving its role as a lifeboat and an extra body when
needed.

The D70 looks even smaller next to a D300 with an attached MB-D10
Multi-Power Battery Pack. ;-)

That is what does it for me. Then there is the weight difference.
The description of "built like a tank" is appropriate

- JT
also has a D70 lifeboat

I just keep mine in my bag with a 35mm f2.0 mounted. With its lack of
use I am more concerned about the D70 battery condition than that of the
D300 + MB-D10, which seems to be a bottomless well of power in comparison.

My D70 met a tragic ending and wound up as an organ donor/dissection
subject. Now I have a D700 with D200 backup. The D200 lives mostly with
a big old beat up manual 300mm f/2.8 Tokina. It's great not to have to
change lenses, the Tokina has a neck strap so I can really be a geeked
out photojournalist with 2 cameras in hand g or just have it ready to
grab if a hawk swoops past... or set it up on a tripod for a time lapse
sequence while I take stills.

The D200 & D700 are very similar size, the difference I notice is how
slow the 200 is to generate previews & save raw files. The menus &
controls are more clunky & awkward for some tasks. I can't just casually
crank up the ISO beyond 640 but that's fine for daylight shooting.

What really looks pathetic and performs poorly is the Oly C3030 P&S g.
That thing was top notch in 2000. It does still work though.

The old Canon AE1 film camera does not work any more but still looks
great. It's photo on the web has somehow attracted a following of
14-year-olds who comment adoringly asking me questions without any
contact email g: http://edgehill.net/Misc/photography/cameras/pg1pc4
I gave it to a 10-year-old photographer as a non-functioning toy, he
keeps it hanging from his bunk-bed post g.

--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

On 2009-05-10 09:20:52 -0700, Paul Furman said:

Savageduck wrote:
JT's Keeper said:
Savageduck wrote:

Yup! The D70 has grid lines if you updated the firmware to the D70s
v.2.0. It is #08 in the Custom Menus; "Grid Display" On/Off.

I am still amazed at how tiny my old D70 looks and feels alongside my
D300. It almost feels like a fragile toy.
...but it is serving its role as a lifeboat and an extra body when needed.

The D70 looks even smaller next to a D300 with an attached MB-D10
Multi-Power Battery Pack. ;-)

That is what does it for me. Then there is the weight difference.
The description of "built like a tank" is appropriate

- JT
also has a D70 lifeboat

I just keep mine in my bag with a 35mm f2.0 mounted. With its lack of
use I am more concerned about the D70 battery condition than that of
the D300 + MB-D10, which seems to be a bottomless well of power in
comparison.

My D70 met a tragic ending and wound up as an organ donor/dissection
subject. Now I have a D700 with D200 backup. The D200 lives mostly with
a big old beat up manual 300mm f/2.8 Tokina. It's great not to have to
change lenses, the Tokina has a neck strap so I can really be a geeked
out photojournalist with 2 cameras in hand g or just have it ready to
grab if a hawk swoops past... or set it up on a tripod for a time lapse
sequence while I take stills.

The D200 & D700 are very similar size, the difference I notice is how
slow the 200 is to generate previews & save raw files. The menus &
controls are more clunky & awkward for some tasks. I can't just
casually crank up the ISO beyond 640 but that's fine for daylight
shooting.

I guess sometime in the future I will pick up a D700 to FF match the
D300. It is just hard to justify the cost, considering my
non-professional, retired geek amateur status.
....but then what else am I going to spend my money on?

What really looks pathetic and performs poorly is the Oly C3030 P&S
g. That thing was top notch in 2000. It does still work though.

The old Canon AE1 film camera does not work any more but still looks
great. It's photo on the web has somehow attracted a following of
14-year-olds who comment adoringly asking me questions without any
contact email g: http://edgehill.net/Misc/photography/cameras/pg1pc4
I gave it to a 10-year-old photographer as a non-functioning toy, he
keeps it hanging from his bunk-bed post g.

I still have my battered, but functioning K1000
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechute/K1000.jpg
and my Yashica Electro 35G
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechut...ctro35G-c1.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechut...ctro35G-W2.jpg


--
Regards,
Savageduck

Savageduck wrote:
On 2009-05-10 09:20:52 -0700, Paul Furman said:

Savageduck wrote:
JT's Keeper said:
Savageduck wrote:

Yup! The D70 has grid lines if you updated the firmware to the D70s
v.2.0. It is #08 in the Custom Menus; "Grid Display" On/Off.

I am still amazed at how tiny my old D70 looks and feels alongside my
D300. It almost feels like a fragile toy.
...but it is serving its role as a lifeboat and an extra body when
needed.

The D70 looks even smaller next to a D300 with an attached MB-D10
Multi-Power Battery Pack. ;-)

That is what does it for me. Then there is the weight difference.
The description of "built like a tank" is appropriate

- JT
also has a D70 lifeboat

I just keep mine in my bag with a 35mm f2.0 mounted. With its lack of
use I am more concerned about the D70 battery condition than that of
the D300 + MB-D10, which seems to be a bottomless well of power in
comparison.

My D70 met a tragic ending and wound up as an organ donor/dissection
subject. Now I have a D700 with D200 backup. The D200 lives mostly
with a big old beat up manual 300mm f/2.8 Tokina. It's great not to
have to change lenses, the Tokina has a neck strap so I can really be
a geeked out photojournalist with 2 cameras in hand g or just have
it ready to grab if a hawk swoops past... or set it up on a tripod for
a time lapse sequence while I take stills.

The D200 & D700 are very similar size, the difference I notice is how
slow the 200 is to generate previews & save raw files. The menus &
controls are more clunky & awkward for some tasks. I can't just
casually crank up the ISO beyond 640 but that's fine for daylight
shooting.

I guess sometime in the future I will pick up a D700 to FF match the
D300. It is just hard to justify the cost, considering my
non-professional, retired geek amateur status.
...but then what else am I going to spend my money on?

Pick up your K1000 and look through the big bright viewfinder for
inspiration! Actually they scrimped a little on the D700 vf but it's
still 1.5x more light and tons better than the D70 vf. The old Canon's
vf is way better than the D200... I never compared to the 700.


What really looks pathetic and performs poorly is the Oly C3030 P&S
g. That thing was top notch in 2000. It does still work though.

The old Canon AE1 film camera does not work any more but still looks
great. It's photo on the web has somehow attracted a following of
14-year-olds who comment adoringly asking me questions without any
contact email g: http://edgehill.net/Misc/photography/cameras/pg1pc4
I gave it to a 10-year-old photographer as a non-functioning toy, he
keeps it hanging from his bunk-bed post g.

I still have my battered, but functioning K1000
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechute/K1000.jpg

Beautiful.


and my Yashica Electro 35G
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechut...ctro35G-c1.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechut...ctro35G-W2.jpg




--
Paul Furman
www.edgehill.net
www.baynatives.com

all google groups messages filtered due to spam

On Sat, 09 May 2009 22:16:19 -0400, Robert Coe wrote:

On Sun, 03 May 2009 11:51:06 -0700, Paul Furman wrote:
: Me wrote:
: Bruce wrote:
: Robert Coe wrote:
:
: In my experience, the biggest advantage of a replacement screen is
: grid lines to help with getting the horizontals and verticals right.
:
: The Nikon D700 has grid lines that can be turned on and off. You don't
: need to buy a replacement screen.

I wanted to get an aftermarket screen for my D3, for better focusing
in really low light, but Katzeye doesn't offer one. Are there any
other manufacturers?

Father Kodak wrote:
On Sat, 09 May 2009 22:16:19 -0400, Robert Coe wrote:

On Sun, 03 May 2009 11:51:06 -0700, Paul Furman wrote:
: Me wrote:
: Bruce wrote:
: Robert Coe wrote:
:
: In my experience, the biggest advantage of a replacement screen is
: grid lines to help with getting the horizontals and verticals right.
:
: The Nikon D700 has grid lines that can be turned on and off. You don't
: need to buy a replacement screen.

I wanted to get an aftermarket screen for my D3, for better focusing
in really low light, but Katzeye doesn't offer one. Are there any
other manufacturers?


There are only three manufacturers of aftermarket focusing screens; Katz
Eye, Beattie and Haoda. At this time, none of the three offers one for
the Nikon D3.

However, Katz Eye offers a screen for the Nikon D700. I wonder if it
would be possible to adapt this to fit the D3?