Bill_Green
Member
Has anyone ever drawn or etched grid lines on a matte screen before? I love my M screen, but I need some sort of horizontal/vertical reference.
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Adding grid lines to M screen
- Thread starter Bill_Green
- Start date
Bill,
I have the M screen installed on my a850. I'm comfortable using the wide area AF points, and mentally drawing a line to establish a "grid" on the field. Just outside the outer points corresponds to where 1/3 lines would appear.
If you feel only "real" lines will do, you might consider this. Establish your grid, either on the computer from measurements of the M screen and printed on paper, or with deviders on masking tape. Affix the paper or tape to the screen.
Using a straight edge and x-acto type knife, score the lines on the paper or tape mask several times ensuring you're making it through the mask and lightly cutting the M screen. Before removing the mask, use india ink or permanent marker to highlight the score lines.
You could alternately use a permanent marker guided by a straight edge on the naked screen, but I think the mask and blade would give you the thinnest lines.
You could also order a ready made matte screen from Brightscreen, with standard 1/3 grids or a custom layout to your specifications. Brightscreen now offers their screens with stock type tabs for the a900/a850. Jim Lakey, the owner of Brightscreen, is a nice guy to work with. You might give him a call an see if he would establish a grid on your stock Sony M screen.
Regards,
Graham
I have the M screen installed on my a850. I'm comfortable using the wide area AF points, and mentally drawing a line to establish a "grid" on the field. Just outside the outer points corresponds to where 1/3 lines would appear.
If you feel only "real" lines will do, you might consider this. Establish your grid, either on the computer from measurements of the M screen and printed on paper, or with deviders on masking tape. Affix the paper or tape to the screen.
Using a straight edge and x-acto type knife, score the lines on the paper or tape mask several times ensuring you're making it through the mask and lightly cutting the M screen. Before removing the mask, use india ink or permanent marker to highlight the score lines.
You could alternately use a permanent marker guided by a straight edge on the naked screen, but I think the mask and blade would give you the thinnest lines.
You could also order a ready made matte screen from Brightscreen, with standard 1/3 grids or a custom layout to your specifications. Brightscreen now offers their screens with stock type tabs for the a900/a850. Jim Lakey, the owner of Brightscreen, is a nice guy to work with. You might give him a call an see if he would establish a grid on your stock Sony M screen.
Regards,
Graham
Bill_Green
Member
Thanks Graham, I may give that a go. I have done pretty well using the AF points to line up the horizon, but that didn't work out too well on a recent shoot.
edwardkaraa
New member
What's wrong with the L screen?
Quino Terceño
Member
Not as good for MF as the M is. Mine hasn't come off the camera since I installed regardles of how I focus, it is really much better for manual and doesn't bother me in auto. I wish sony made a gridded M too.
Dave_Anderson
Member
A long time ago, I used an x-acto blade held vertically and pulling away from the cutting edge to scribe 8x10 crop lines in the focusing screen of my Minolta SLR, as shown in the ASCII diagram below.
Basically instead of cutting I scraped out a shallow v-shaped channel. It worked fine, without needing any other treatment. I was afraid to use ink, figuring once it got into the matte it would ruin the screen.
It worked very well, BTW.
Code:
| |
| |
| /
| / <-- Direction of cut
__|/___It worked very well, BTW.
Bill_Green
Member
Thanks Dave, I'll try that.
Yes, if Sony offered a gridded M screen we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Yes, if Sony offered a gridded M screen we wouldn't be having this discussion.