StevenPA
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**I've corrected (in bold) some misinformation about how the screen was modified.**
I thought I had found the holy grail of 5D focus screens in the modified Ec-L. It gave me a high level of accuracy, and having both vertical and horizontal splits proved to be very convenient. The problem was vignetting/corner darkening at F2.8 (and severe vignetting beyond that) in the viewfinder. This made it really difficult to use two of my main lenses, the OM 21/3.5 Contax and 35-70/3.4. At night, which is when I do a good portion of my photography, it was like looking into a closet with a single light bulb hanging in the middle. Well, maybe not that bad, but it was enough to irk me.
Then this week I saw an ad on a local website for a modified FM3a K3 screen. $60 later I have my viewfinder back! No vignetting! In terms of brightness, it's about halfway between the standard 5D screen and the Ec-L, maybe a touch closer to the standard screen, and none of the nasty vignetting, none.
The tab where one would grab the screen has been clipped off, and if you look carefully at the bottom of the screen in the first pic, you can see two thin strips of metal (0.5mm? each) that have been glued on. There is also one shim on each side of the screen.
Going in, the screen is a tight fit. It fits snug in the tray with little play around the edges, but locking it up requires a bit of extra pressure. No need for shims and I thought of removing the shim that was already in the 5D until I did a focus test. It's more accurate than what I was getting with the Ec-L.
The spilt is bright at F1.4, greys down at F2, stays there until about F5.6, and then becomes difficult to see after F5.6 without careful eye placement. I haven't done a serious field test yet, but the split seems to be better than that of the Ec-L.
For those who don't know, the K3 screen has a horizontal split surrounded by a microprism collar, then an etched circle and grid lines. Pleasantly arranged, I might add. My first visual impression is that it's a killer screen, both aesthetically and functionally.
http://www.pbase.com/stevenpa/image/91806847/original.jpg
Edited by StevenPA on Jan 20, 2008 at 03:11 PM GMT
Edited on Jan 20, 2008 at 12:11 AM
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Might be best to go through me because of the language barrier. The shop owner may not speak English. Our conversation was entirely Korean anyway. And he loved to talk, mostly about what slide film I liked best and where I buy my black and white films.