The Katz Eye split prism focusing screen for the E-1 has arrived and is now
installed.
For starters, those who have expressed some concern about the installation
process, fear not. It's just the same as changing screens in the OMs, so if
you're competent enough to do that, you can make the swap in less than a
minute. It helps to have the tweezers that come with the OM screens, since the
tab on the E-1 screen is just about the same size. The only real difference in
the procedure is just that everything's half OM size. Think small.
Now, down to the nitty-gritty. My screen is the new "Plus" version, about
which Katz Eye claims that the split prism won't black out when the lens is
stopped down beyond f/5.6. I have only three lenses that slow at maximum
aperture: 400/6.3 and 500/8 Zuikos and a 1250/10 Celestron. The first lens I
tried, and the one I was most interested in seeing if it could be used without
black-out, was the 500/8. No -- I repeat -- no blackout whatsoever, even in
deep shade, making focusing of this lens more precise and easy than with a
plain matte screen.
Next, to see how far up (or is it down?) the f-stop scale I had to go to get
black-out, I mounted the 180/2.8 Zuiko. Guess what? With careful eye
positioning, there's not even black-out at f/32! Of course, beyond f/11 or
f/16, the split prism isn't all that useful because of the increased depth of
field, but at least there's not the big, constantly shifting, half a black hole
in the middle of the viewfinder when shooting stopped down.
I may, or I may not, have further and even more profoundly elucidating
information to impart, although I'm genetically and habitually disinclined to
test stuff, so anything further, like this, will be mostly casual, anecdotal
observations off the top of my head. Maybe Bill Barber, whose screen should be
getting to him anytime now, can offer more in-depth commentary, so I'll turn
the floor over to him now.
Walt, going back to playing with the gear
--
"Anything more than 500 yards from
the car just isn't photogenic." --
Edward Weston
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|