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Re: [OM] focusing screens

Subject: Re: [OM] focusing screens
From: VELUWEH@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 11:25:43 -0400
Artur Chmielewski wrote:

>Hi everybody!
>I'm Olympus newbie, so please apologise these stupid questions.

Maybe some answers can be stupid, but there is no such thing as a
stupid question. That is, as long as you don't ask anything like "When
will Olympus introduce a professional AF SLR camera?".

>I would like to become more familiar with the Olympus focusing
screens. You
>often use the terms: 1-x, 2-x, what is really the difference between
>them? I suppose they have different patterns, but does anybody can tell
>me what patterns they have?

There are 14 screens in the "1" series (1-1 to 1-14) and only 2 screens
in the "2" series (the 2-4 and the 2-13). The "2" series screens have
the same patterns as their "1" series counterparts, but the matte area
is 2 stops brighter, enabling easier focusing under low light
conditions or when using low-speed lenses; w/o modification they only
fit in the OM-2Sp, OM-3(Ti) and OM-4(T[i]) because of the position of
the tab.
The 1-4 and 2-4 screens are all-matte, that is w/o any further focusing
aids, the 1-13 and 2-13 "standard" screen have the split image and
microprism focusing aids that darken when slow speed lenses are used
(slower than F4).
Personal opinion: once you learn how to focus just on matte, you won't
use those "13" screens anymore - they force you to focus on the middle
and then recomposition - undoing the faster focusing advantage that a
focusing aid provides.

To briefly describe the other "1" series screens (hope I make no
mistakes, don't have a screen table available where I am right now):
1-1 and 1-2 have microprisms/matte; 1-3 has split image/matte; 1-5, 1-6
and 1-7 have microprism/clear field (no matte); 1-8 has fine matte for
astro/super tele; 1-9 works only with endoscopes; 1-10 has a
'checker'line pattern on matte "intended" for shift lenses; 1-11 has
cross-hair and matte for macro up to lifesize; 1-12 has
cross-hair/clear field (no matte) for macro larger than lifesize; 1-14
is like the 1-13 but has a diagonal split image.

>Another words - can I find the screen pictures somewhere in Internet?

Don't know any sites that contain this, but I know it would be a nice
add-on to Lee's superiour OM site. Maybe a scan of the table that
accompanies a 2-4 or 2-13 screen, Lee?

>My second question is: what about Beattie screens. I've heard they are
much brighter than >the original Oly screens, I've heard too: they can
fool meters in some cameras. Does it
>happens in case of Olympus OM4?

This only applies to the OM-1, and OM-2 in manual mode. They can be
used in the OM-4(T[i]) without any restrictions, but I'm not quite sure
they are really brighter that the Olympus "2" series; they are
certainly more expensive. Are there any subscribers that have
experience with both the Beattie's and the "2" series?

Hans

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