{"id":550,"date":"2007-08-22T03:09:12","date_gmt":"2007-08-21T18:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-08-22\/550"},"modified":"2007-12-18T23:38:44","modified_gmt":"2007-12-18T14:38:44","slug":"katz-eye-focusing-screen-for-a-nikon-d200","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-08-22\/550","title":{"rendered":"Katz Eye Focusing Screen for a Nikon D200"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class='img_right' style='text-align: center'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.katzeyeoptics.com\/ccp51\/media\/images\/product_category\/d200_sm.gif\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\"\nalt=\"Katz Eye\nFocusing Screen for the Nikon D200\"\nclass=\"raw\"\nid=\"ism\"\ntitle=\"Katz Eye\nFocusing Screen for the Nikon D200\"\/> <br\/> <b>Katz Eye&trade; Focusing Screen<\/b>\n<br\/> for the Nikon D200 <\/div>\n\n<p style='margin-top:0'><b>(Note: this post will be of interest only to camera geeks)<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n<p>Continuing in the series on the camera toys I've picked up on this trip to The States\n(other entries:\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2007-08-09\/539\">GPS unit<\/a>,\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2007-08-17\/547\">tripod<\/a>), this post is about the\n<a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.katzeyeoptics.com\/item--Katz-Eye-Focusing-Screen-for-the-Nikon-D200--prod_D200.html\">Katz\nEye Focusing Screen<\/a> that <span class='nobr'>I picked<\/span> up for my <a class='quiet'\nhref=\"\/blog\/2006-01-10\/130\">Nikon D200<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>An SLR's <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Focusing_screen\"\nclass='quiet'>focusing screen<\/a> is <span class='nobr'>a frosted<\/span> piece of glass that you're\nactually looking at when you look through the viewfinder, upon which the\nlens projects the scene being viewed by the camera.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.katzeyeoptics.com\/\">Katz Eye Optics<\/a> is <span class='nobr'>a company<\/span>\nthat makes replacement focusing screens for all kinds of cameras. (They're\nowned by <span class='nobr'>a family<\/span> whose last name is &#8220;Katz,&#8221; so <span class='nobr'>I think<\/span> the name is quite\nwitty.)<\/p>\n\n<p class='h550'>The Benefits<\/p>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n  .h550 { font-weight: bold; font-size: 125%; margin-top:45px }\n<\/style>\n\n<p>The stock Nikon focusing screen is apparently designed with autofocus in\nmind, because it's not particularly suited for use when manually focusing\nthe lens. <span class='nobr'>For marketing<\/span> and technological reasons that <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> quite\nunderstand, the stock Nikon focusing screen leaves ample room for\nimprovement, which the $95 Katz Eye provides:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n  <li><p>\nThe Katz Eye adds a split-image prism harking back to the SLRs of old. <span class='nobr'>A split<\/span> circle in the center of the screen, the image in the two halves are\nshifted away from center until the item in the center is in focus, at which\npoint the two halves become one.<\/p>\n\n<p>If you've never used one of these, you're in for <span class='nobr'>a treat<\/span> the first time\nyou're faced with one of the many situations where it's useful (in\nparticular, where there are vertical lines of contrast near the center of\nthe scene that can bisect where the two semicircles join). With it, you can\nachieve perfect focus.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>Outside the split-image prism is <span class='nobr'>a doughnut<\/span>-shaped area of\nmicroprisms, shown as <span class='nobr'>a thick<\/span> dark ring in the photo above. Like the\nsplit-image prism pair of half circles, the image in this area looks normal\nwhen the subject is in focus, but when focus is lost, areas of contrast\nquickly become <span class='nobr'>a jagged<\/span> patterned field that looks sort of like <span class='nobr'>a closeup<\/span>\nof an old <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Half-tone\"\nclass='quiet'>halftone<\/a> newspaper photo.<\/p>\n\n<p>The microprism section is <i>extremely<\/i> sensitive to proper focus, so\nit's with this that you can achieve the most perfect focus. Even the\nslightest hint of movement in the focus ring turns the microprism area from\n<span class='nobr'>a clean<\/span> image to jaggies, so if you see the clean image, you know that the\nfocus is <i>perfect<\/i>.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>Finally, the entire screen shows &#8220;focus snap&#8221; much better than the\nstock screen. It's <i>much<\/i> easier to judge proper focus just by looking\nat the image on the whole screen.<\/p>\n\n<p>(For the same reason, it's also said to render the depth-of-field\nbetter, but <span class='nobr'>I haven't<\/span> yet played with that much.)<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class='h550'>The Katz Eye in Action<\/p>\n\n<p>I love it.<\/p>\n\n<p>I thought I'd love it for the split-image prism, which <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> on my first\nSLR 20+ years ago, but it's turned out that <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> really use that very\nmuch because the microprism is so much easier for most situations.\nEspecially when <span class='nobr'>I have<\/span> the luxury of time to focus, the microprisms give me\nexceptional confidence with manual focus.<\/p>\n\n<p>When the situation doesn't allow <span class='nobr'>a lot<\/span> of time to focus (such as with <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2007-08-11\/541\">birds<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2007-08-14\/545\">kids<\/a>), <span class='nobr'>I find the<\/span> enhanced\n&#8220;focus snap&#8221; of the entire screen to be the best way for me to get focus\nquickly: <span class='nobr'>I simply<\/span> adjust focus until the subject looks sharp.<\/p>\n\n<p>I still use autofocus for a lot of things, especially when <span class='nobr'>I have<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a lot<\/span>\nof light and can use <span class='nobr'>a smaller<\/span> aperture (such as with most shots of the <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2007-08-11\/543\">fallen tree<\/a> the other\nday).<\/p>\n\n<p class='h550'>OptiBrite<\/p>\n\n<p>Katz Eye offers an optional &#8220;<a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.katzeyeoptics.com\/page--OptiBrite-Brightness-Enhancement--optibrite.html\">OptiBrite<\/a>&#8221;\ntreatment to its focus screens which, for $55 extra, aims to make for <span class='nobr'>a\nbrighter<\/span> image in the viewfinder, at the expense of some focus snap. This\nwould be appealing with slow lenses (lenses whose minimum <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/F-number\" class='quiet'>f-number<\/a> is\nlarge, such as 5.6 or more) because they don't let in as much light as <span class='nobr'>a\nfaster<\/span> lenses.<\/p>\n\n<p>I did not get the OptiBrite option because <span class='nobr'>I normally<\/span> use fast lenses\n(primarily a <a href=\"\/blog\/2007-03-18\/398\"><span class='nobr'>Nikkor 17<\/span>-55\nf\/2.8<\/a> and a <a href=\"\/blog\/2006-11-06\/275\"><span class='nobr'>Nikkor\n70<\/span>-200 f\/2.8<\/a>, and sometimes a <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2006-10-31\/274\"><span class='nobr'>Sigma 30<\/span> f\/1.4<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n<p>With my lenses, the standard Katz Eye seems as bright as the stock Nikon\nscreen, and I'm very happy with it as is.<\/p>\n\n<p class='h550'>Metering<\/p>\n\n<p>If you're thinking of getting one, there are many discussion threads\nabout them, such as <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/forums.dpreview.com\/forums\/read.asp?forum=1021&amp;message=22538342\">this\none<\/a> that contains <span class='nobr'>a lively<\/span> discussion of the pros and cons. <span class='nobr'>One con is<\/span>\nthat the new screen can effect exposure metering in one specific case: when\nthe camera is in single-point metering mode, and the center point has been\nselected.<\/p>\n\n<p>This is not a mode that the beginning photographer is likely to use very\noften, but it becomes <span class='nobr'>a useful<\/span> tool once you're comfortable with the\ndifferent metering modes. <span class='nobr'>One of the<\/span> posts in the discussion just\nreferenced is one guy's <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/forums.dpreview.com\/forums\/read.asp?forum=1021&amp;message=22561334\">report\non metering<\/a> in that mode with his Katz Eye, and is <span class='nobr'>a useful<\/span> read.<\/p>\n\n<p class='h550'>The Install<\/p>\n\n<p>I received my Katz Eye a few days after <span class='nobr'>I arrived<\/span> from Japan, and while\nthe installation is supposed to be simple, <span class='nobr'>I opted<\/span> to stop by a <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.campuscamera.net\/\" class='quiet'>local camera shop<\/a> and\nhave it installed because the installation involves sticking tools inside\nthe camera and <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> traveling and away from the mental comfort of my own\nwork area. They'd never done one of these, but knew their cameras and did\nit without incident for twenty bucks.<\/p>\n\n<p>However, <span class='nobr'>I later<\/span> noticed that the circle on the screen was not\n<i>perfectly<\/i> centered over the center auto-focus-selector point, and\nonce <span class='nobr'>I noticed,<\/span> it drove me batty. So, <span class='nobr'>I decided<\/span> to go in and fix it\nmyself.<\/p>\n\n<p>Using the verbose installation instructions that comes with the Katz\nEye, <span class='nobr'>I found<\/span> so extremely simple that <span class='nobr'>I felt<\/span> embarrassed for not having\ndone it by myself in the first place. Should <span class='nobr'>I ever<\/span> need to do it again, <span class='nobr'>I can now<\/span> swap the focusing screen in, literally, 20 seconds from start to\nfinish. Well, almost....<\/p>\n\n<p>It's surprisingly difficult get the screen centered properly because\nthere's some side-to-side play in the camera's screen cradle, and the\nslightest sliver of misplacement shows up quite noticeably as <span class='nobr'>a\nmisalignment<\/span> when viewing through the viewfinder. Thus, the desire for\naccurate centering can turn <span class='nobr'>a quick<\/span> install into somewhat more of <span class='nobr'>a\nproduction,<\/span> as I'll write about below....<\/p>\n\n\n<p class='h550'>My Katz Eye Install Hints<\/p>\n\n<p>(These hints will make the most sense once you've seen the Katz Eye\ninstructions.)<\/p>\n\n<ol>\n  <li><p>After removing the lens and placing the camera lens-mount-up on\nthe table, <span class='nobr'>I placed<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a lens<\/span>-cleaning cloth over the mirror, to provide <span class='nobr'>a bit<\/span>\nof protection &#8220;just in case.&#8221; <span class='nobr'>I used<\/span> a <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.alpineproducts.com\/products\/Spudz.php\">Sputz<\/a>, another\nof my new toys.\n\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\nTo clip and unclip the focusing screen's small retaining wire, rather than\n<span class='nobr'>a small<\/span> screwdriver that the instructions recommend, <span class='nobr'>I used what<\/span> turned out\nto be a <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/dealsbuzzhealth.com\/LA-CROSS-Cuticle-Trimmer-Pack-of\/M\/B000QCPZ5W.htm\">cuticle\ntrimmer<\/a>. <span class='nobr'>I found<\/span> it lying around the house and thought it'd be perfect\nfor controlling the retaining wire because it has <span class='nobr'>a head<\/span> that sort of\nresembles <span class='nobr'>a flat<\/span>-head screwdriver with <span class='nobr'>a center<\/span> notch. <span class='nobr'>I had no<\/span> idea at the\ntime what it actually was, but it turned out to be perfect.<\/p>\n\n<p>This <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/dealsbuzzhealth.com\/LA-CROSS-Cuticle-Trimmer-Pack-of\/M\/B000QCPZ5W.htm\">online\nstore<\/a> is selling what looks to be exactly what <span class='nobr'>I used,<\/span> two for $5.\n\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\nWhile working the wire (clipping or unclipping), rest the thumb of your\nfree hand across the bottom of the lens mount, then rest the tool (cuticle\ntrimmer or screwdriver) on your thumb with <span class='nobr'>a fair<\/span> amount of pressure such\nthat the tool's movement is just <span class='nobr'>a rocking<\/span> that pivots on your thumb. This\neffectively removes much of the worry about slipping (which could easily cause you to\nscratch the focus screen).\n\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\nAfter placing the screen, but before resetting the retaining wire,\ncarefully lift the camera so that you can look through the viewfinder at <span class='nobr'>a\nbright<\/span> wall\/ceiling so that you can judge whether the screen is properly\ncentered. While doing this, you have to be careful not to rotate the camera\ntoo far toward the vertical, or else the un-retained screen will flop out. <span class='nobr'>I found<\/span> it easier to hold the camera mostly upside-down when doing this.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nIf you see that the centering is not perfect, lightly tap the camera with\none hand to nudge the screen <span class='nobr'>a bit.<\/span> <span class='nobr'>It can be<\/span> very touchy, so may require <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span>\nback-and-forth taps.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nOnce you think it's perfect, <i>carefully<\/i> put the camera body back down\nand reaffix the retaining wire. It's <i>really<\/i> easy to nudge the screen\nout of alignment when you do this, so you may have to repeat this step over\nand over again until you get it aligned to your liking.\n\n<\/p><\/li><li><p>\n\nWhen reclipping the retaining wire, don't worry if it doesn't catch right\naway. While futzing with the alignment, <span class='nobr'>I clipped<\/span> and unclipped the wire\ndozens of times, and even after that much practice, there were times when\nit would take me quite <span class='nobr'>a while<\/span> (30 seconds of frustration) to get the clip\nto catch. Sometimes, it took one second. <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> know what <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> doing\ndifferently to cause such <span class='nobr'>a difference.<\/span>\n\n<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n\n<p>From start to finish, it took perhaps 10 minutes for me to get\ncomfortable with what <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> doing and get the alignment perfect.<\/p>\n\n<p>Because I'd had the lens off for so long and was working around the lens\nmount, after <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> done <span class='nobr'>I did<\/span> a <a\nhref=\"\/dust-reference-page.html\">simple test for dust<\/a>\non the camera's sensor. There was quite <span class='nobr'>a bit<\/span> (which may have been there\nbefore; <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> know), so <span class='nobr'>I cleaned<\/span> the sensor, and then <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> done.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Continuing in the series on the camera toys I've picked up on this trip to The States (other entries: GPS unit, tripod), this post is about the Katz Eye Focusing Screen that I picked up for my Nikon D200.<\/p> <p>An SLR's focusing screen is a frosted piece of glass that you're actually looking at when you look through the viewfinder, upon which the lens projects the scene being viewed by the camera.<\/p> <p>Katz Eye Optics is a company that makes replacement focusing screens for all kinds of cameras. (They're owned by a family whose last name is \"Katz,\" so I [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}