I was nonplussed to realise the D700 doesn't have interchangeable focusing screens from Nikon, but I intend to use it with the kind of alternative lenses talked about in this forum. Has anybody ever used the Katz MF screen for the D700 or done any screen changes?
bumped because i'm curious about this to. are nikon alt glass users happy just using focus confirmation, are they using split prisms like katz eye, or are there some fine focus screens out there that they use?
No, unless you screw something up while replacing the screen. The screen replacement itself is completely reversible.
Unless you are really bad at manually focusing by eye, I would avoid focus confirmation whenever possible. Not only is it not very accurate, but it distracts you from your composition by making you look away from the frame along with relying on the position of focus points.
I've tried different focusing screens, but the vast majority of the accessory focusing screens (focusingscreen.com, Katz Eye) have focus aids such as microprisms or split prisms. These might be useful to you, especially if you're used to their use on older film cameras, but focusing on a completely matte screen has been a much better experience for me. If you want to save some money I would grab a Canon or older Nikon screen (see focusingscreen.com for ones that they use that fit) and sandpaper it down to fit your camera by comparing against your existing focusing screen. I've done it with a Canon Ec-L and a Nikon F6-J, and modifying them was very easy. Just be careful not to scratch the focusing sides of the screen, only handle them by the thin edges. I intended to do the same on an Ec-S screen, but had heard they were inferior to the Ee-S. I might give the Ee-S a try sometime, I botched it the first time as an experiment.
If anyone intends to do a screen modification like this, I can explain it a bit more thoroughly.
Yeah, please give us as much info as possible. I hate that there is no good reason to remove the focus confirm dots on only manual focus lenses. It drives me nuts, but they are HIGHLY ACCURATE.
