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D700 turning off point indicator square

tjv

Active member
Hello.
Today I received my replacement split prism focusing screen for my D700. I'm wondering if there is a custom setting where I can turn off the black square focus patch indicator as it's getting in the way of actually seeing the split image. I don't want to move it off center as I'd like to have the option to use the electronic focus confirmation as well.
Thanks in advance.
TIm
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
Tim, in the Custom Setting Menu, a6, "AF point illumination", you can at least get rid of the red illumination of the focus point by setting the illumination to OFF (p. 288 in the english manual).

But I doubt you can make the selected focus point completely invisible, because in that case you wouldn't know where in the frame the focuspoint was located, and then the focus confirmation indicator (green dot) displayed in the viewfinder wouldn't be of much help.

Isn't it so that the crucial split is located exactly in the middle of the centered focus patch and therefore is sufficiently visible ?

Otherwise I see no other solution than moving the focus point a couple of steps up or down to get it out of the way and then just rely on the split focusing only.

Let us know what you think about your new screen and how easy or difficult it is to get it perfectly installed and calibrated (with or without shims) in the D700 for accurate manual focus.
 

tjv

Active member
Hi Bondo, thanks for the reply.
I thought that might be the case but I was hoping I could get rid of it all together and only have it appear when half pressing the shutter to take a light reading. Oh well. The split prism is in fact wide enough to allow for slightly off center framing and the frenzel (sp?) is very useful as its 13mm in diameter and easy to use. I'm impressed with the screen overall, though I am disappointed about the not being able to get rid of the focus patch.
But... The Frenzel doesn't seem to be anywhere near accurate. I don't know if this is a shim issue or, even worse, a decentered lens?

Brightscreen actually sent me the wrong screen, which I only found out after having it installed. I wanted 8x10 crop etchings but instead was sent a basic grid. Also, and this concerns me more, but I'm not sure if the manual focus was calibrated properly in the first place as it seems on distances further than 1.5 meters I'm getting significant back focus issues. The problem is that I'm pretty sure I was getting the same problem with the stock screen. I thought it must have been my eyes so I was relying on the electronic focus confirmation, which vastly improved things and seemed accurate enough for me not to worry.
On the other side of things, I'm wondering if it could be a lens issue. The only MF lens I have is the Zeiss ZF 35mm and it seems, when reading off the distance scale on the lens when focused, it isn't accurate at all. It reads further than the intended point of focus is.

Anyway, so I'm returning the screen (if they accept it) and getting it changed for the 8x10 mask I wanted. The Frenzel patch doesn't seem accurate and I'm getting bad back focus...

Help!:deadhorse:
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
I had the same focus issues with a Katz screen too with the D700. If I trusted the focus indicator led then the images would be sharp (but not on the Katz screen). If I focused to the screen, it would be off and the led would not illuminate. With the stock screen both were in agreement so it wasn't a diopter issue.

In the end I went back to stock as it seemed that maybe the screen needed shims or wasn't quite correct. The hassle to gain equation wasn't worth it and I figured I'd wait for a more mature solution since I was an early adopter.
 

tjv

Active member
Yeah, I've had the tech uninstall the screen but before doing so he checked the focus. The microprism AND the split image indicators were drastically off the mark (back focusing by about a meter at two meters distance to subject) but when focusing using the surrounding matte surface sharp images could be made. NOT a good solution, especially since the only fix would be to use the shims and throw the matte surface off. Useless. I've sent two emails to Brightscreen and have yet to receive a reply. I've tested the stock screen again with the 35 ZF and it's perfect at all distances. An expensive mistake?
 
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