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[OM] Re: OM4t focusing screen

Subject: [OM] Re: OM4t focusing screen
From: Tris Schuler <tristanjohn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 08:50:12 -0800

> > I've got four 2-13 screens.  There's one in the OM-3 and one in
> > each of the three OM-4Ti's.  I've got Beattie screens, the ones
> > with the 45-degree split-image prism, in a couple of old OM-4's.
> > Yes, the grain is coarser, but I don't find it to be either a
> > hindrance or distracting.  While the 2-13 is more "refined"
> > perhaps, the Beattie ain't that far behind, and it seems to be
> > every bit as bright.  If you can't get your hands on a 2-13, then
> > get a Beattie.  I doubt you'll regret it.
> >
> > Walt


I haven't 2-13s but rather 2-4s installed in two of my bodies. I bought 
them from John H a couple years ago on a whim--he just happened to have 
them in stock and I wanted to compare these for myself against the Beattie 
product as this same debate then raged on the list. So, I had John throw a 
couple (perhaps three, I forget now) in with my NiCd pack he had just 
rebuilt fro my MD2 and installed two of these, leaving my third camera body 
still sporting a Beattie.

Conclusion? To my eye there is little if any real difference between these 
screens out in the street. I suppose one could stand in front of a good 
light source (say, a window inside the house around noon) and then go back 
and forth with a couple of bodies in a sort of poor-man's A-B test, one 
camera rigged with a Beattie and the other a 2-4 and somehow manage to see 
from that effort that the OM screens were "less coarse" or "more refined' 
or whatever. But try as I might (and I have, believe me) I cannot discern 
this difference in the Olympus screens compared to the Beattie product. 
Neither can I tell which maker's screen (if either) is brighter. They are 
both appreciably brighter than the OM 1-series, that's for sure. (John, by 
the way, agrees with those others on the list who insist the OM screens 
have a bit less-coarse matte surface--and with my eyes nowadays being about 
as reliable as my memory I'm inclined to believe these good people. <g>)

At one time the Beattie screens did cost more, though. Don't know about 
that now. Wouldn't surprise me, though. I also wonder if these are even 
sold as Beattie product any longer. The old site seems to have become a 
different company:  http://www.brightscreen.com/enter.html, though focus 
screens certainly look to be the same old Beattie screens to judge from the 
graphics on the site. (I didn't jump inside very far and it could be 
they're still sold as the original.)

Someone mentioned the etched lines available from John H: these have proved 
to me to be a wonderful innovation, especially for fast composition (of my 
thinking process) on the fly out in that street I normally find myself 
working in. For "studies" (off the tripod) they seem to just disappear of 
their own accord. Anyway, they're a boon and I can warmly recommend this 
work from Hermanson.

John's screens are etched more conservatively than the one displayed on 
Brightscreen.com, the grid described being like the one we play tic-tac-toe 
on. I'm also told his lines are finer and less distracting than what used 
to come on the Beattie--don't know about that as all I ever bought was the 
plain matter with focus circle, then had John etch those for me. I do think 
John's more simplistic approach is the one which would work best in the 
real world--why would anyone want 2 and half times as many lines etched on 
their screens? To my way of thinking that's no longer a visual aid but noise.

However, I notice now (upon further inspection) that a simpler tic-tac-toe 
etched pattern is available and can be found here (bottom of the 
page):  http://www.brightscreen.com/styles.html

I judge this stuff to be of good quality, for whatever reason. It just 
reads that way to me and I personally would have no large problem buying 
one or two screens from these people on a flyer.

One last item: as I haven't given him one in months my current plug for 
John H runs along the order of "in my experience his work is top drawer and 
he stands behind it, no ifs, ands or buts." And surely no one could do 
better than that.

Tris
www.tristanjohn.com


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