07-20-2010, 08:07 PM
For those who have never used a split image focus screen before, when the object is not focused, the image in the upper and lower half circle at the center won't line up. When you are getting closer and closer to the correct focus, the upper and lower circle image would start to line up. Only when the object is in focus then the top and bottom half image will line up perfectly. So with the split image screen installed, it definitely makes manual focus a lot easier.
Just got one of this "ebay/generic" split image focus screen for my D700. Thought i should just write a quick review and share with you guys..
anyway, this is a cheap splt image focus screen that you can buy from ebay or other places for under US$30. My one has the brand name Travor but i believe they are also sold under a few different brand names.
![[Image: split1.jpg]](http://www.nikonjin.com/images/splitscreen/split1.jpg)
Inside the box, there is a multilingual instruction sheet, the split image focus screen, one plastic and one metal tweezers. Also included are two rubber finger cots so your fingers won't touch the screen and leave fingerprint or oil on it..
Just be careful when handling the focus screen. If you leave any fingerprint or oil on the screen, it would be very hard to remove it
![[Image: split2.jpg]](http://www.nikonjin.com/images/splitscreen/split2.jpg)
To install the new screen is pretty simple and only takes you a few minutes, just have a look at this thread for some info on how to remove the original one:
http://www.nikonjin.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=397
This is what the split image screen look like compare to the original screen
![[Image: split3.jpg]](http://www.nikonjin.com/images/splitscreen/split3.jpg)
The quality of the split image screen seems okay and fits on my D700 no problem. But even though the screen comes with a protective film on each side, there were still a few tiny dust stuck on it and i just couldn't remove it even with my compressed air spraycan.
The viewfinder seems to be slightly dimmer with this manual focus screen installed. Another problem with the split image focus screen is that it would affect the camera's metering. The better one should affect less but they'll all affect the metering to some extent. But so far i haven't use it enough or carry out any controlled testing to find out how does (and how much) it affect the metering.
Another thing i noticed is that with the split image screen, the area outside the center circle is always slightly blurred. It might not be a problem with the old manual focus SLR as you focus on the center area most of the time. But with camera like D700 which has 51 autofocus point spread across most of the frame, it makes checking the picture a lot harder when you are using the non center AF point.
Overall, i think if you are primarily using MF lenses, it is definitely a good upgrade. (but you may want to look at the more expensive ones as well as i heard they are much better quality) On the other hand, if you only uses MF lenses occasionally, it's probably better just stick with the original focusing screen as the split image circle + blurred outside area makes the frame much harder to see when you are not using manual focus lenses.
For me, i've already switched back to the original screen.
Just got one of this "ebay/generic" split image focus screen for my D700. Thought i should just write a quick review and share with you guys..
anyway, this is a cheap splt image focus screen that you can buy from ebay or other places for under US$30. My one has the brand name Travor but i believe they are also sold under a few different brand names.
Inside the box, there is a multilingual instruction sheet, the split image focus screen, one plastic and one metal tweezers. Also included are two rubber finger cots so your fingers won't touch the screen and leave fingerprint or oil on it..
Just be careful when handling the focus screen. If you leave any fingerprint or oil on the screen, it would be very hard to remove it
To install the new screen is pretty simple and only takes you a few minutes, just have a look at this thread for some info on how to remove the original one:
http://www.nikonjin.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=397
This is what the split image screen look like compare to the original screen
The quality of the split image screen seems okay and fits on my D700 no problem. But even though the screen comes with a protective film on each side, there were still a few tiny dust stuck on it and i just couldn't remove it even with my compressed air spraycan.
The viewfinder seems to be slightly dimmer with this manual focus screen installed. Another problem with the split image focus screen is that it would affect the camera's metering. The better one should affect less but they'll all affect the metering to some extent. But so far i haven't use it enough or carry out any controlled testing to find out how does (and how much) it affect the metering.
Another thing i noticed is that with the split image screen, the area outside the center circle is always slightly blurred. It might not be a problem with the old manual focus SLR as you focus on the center area most of the time. But with camera like D700 which has 51 autofocus point spread across most of the frame, it makes checking the picture a lot harder when you are using the non center AF point.
Overall, i think if you are primarily using MF lenses, it is definitely a good upgrade. (but you may want to look at the more expensive ones as well as i heard they are much better quality) On the other hand, if you only uses MF lenses occasionally, it's probably better just stick with the original focusing screen as the split image circle + blurred outside area makes the frame much harder to see when you are not using manual focus lenses.
For me, i've already switched back to the original screen.
