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If you're interested in a Katzeye focus screen...

docmaas

Member
You might want to let Rachel Katz know you are. Here is her response to me:

--- On Thu, 1/28/10, Katz Eye Optics - Customer Service <[email protected]> wrote:

> From: Katz Eye Optics - Customer Service <[email protected]>
> Subject: RE: Sony a900
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010, 6:50 AM
> Hi Mike,
>
> Thank you very much for your inquiry. There is no
> specific number of
> interested buyers that will trigger an automatic decision
> to produce screens
> for a particular camera. We base those decisions on
> demand, extent of R&D,
> difficulty of manufacture, and several other
> considerations. At this point,
> the A900 is certainly a viable candidate but has not yet
> reached the tipping
> point for us to start on that model. Your feedback is
> certainly appreciated
> and I will keep you in the loop regarding any future
> developments on the
> A900. Thanks again for your interest in Katz Eye
> Optics products and I am
> sorry we cannot meet your current need.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Rachael Katz
> Katz Eye Optics
> Tel. +1.413.743.2523
> Fax +1.888.251.5477
> www.katzeyeoptics.com
>
>
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]]
> >Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 2:49 AM
> >To: [email protected]
> >Subject: sony a900
> >
> >The following information was just submitted via the
> Katz Eye Optics
> >Contact Form.
> >
> >First Name: Mike
> >Last Name: Maas
> >Email Address: [email protected]
> >Telephone Number: 7079641238
> >
> >How many committed buyers would you need to make a sony
> screen for the
> >a900?
> >
> >thanks,
> >
> >Mike
>
>
 
Thanks for the heads up. Do you have any personal experience with the Brightscreen's?

Regards,
Graham
Sorry, no... it's somewhere on my to-do list though. I ran across the info, bookmarked it and moved on. I'm still sorting through slides & negs, making contact sheets, etc. and will probably look into these if I find my type-M focusing screen wanting for my purposes. I've also considered this for MF lenses; I have one that I am still playing with, though the combination of my schedule and the weather lately hasn't been conducive to checking up on infinity focus issues. :(
 

GrahamB

New member
I have the type M installed in my a850. I find it better than the stock screen for manual focus, especially with an angle finder, but it's no split focus screen.

I ordered the Brightscreen #5 this afternoon. With the 10 day money back, it's a pretty risk free experiment. I'll report back with my observations.

Regards,
Graham
 
I'd appreciate that Graham. I bet that model/style works really well - it was fantastic on my dad's Zeiss Contaflex that he handed down to me, and works well on the other cameras I have with the setup. I'm also curious about how the focus point indicators behave when they are used, since the "P" versions do not have the etchings for focus points. I should dust that old Zeiss off and run some B&W through it.
 

gsking

New member
Focusingscreen.com has screens for $40-70 (for the A700, at least...not sure if the FF screens are more expensive.) Has anyone used them. Their demo shots look rather promising.
 

GrahamB

New member
I received my Brightscreen http://brightscreen.com/styles2.html) #5, a split screen with microprism collar for my a850 today. I originally placed my order Jan. 29th, so about 2 weeks including shipping. The cost was $176 including Fed Ex 2 day (their standard) shipping.

The good: I currently have the Sony type "M" installed. Using the same type M setting in the menu, the Brightscreen is actually a bit brighter (from the histogram). I may have to reset the camera to the stock screen setting for accurate metering. The microprisim collar and split screen performed as I remembered, giving me sharp focus with the several lenses I tried. I will note that because of rain, all my test's were indoors.

The bad: The screen lacked the tabs of the Sony screen's. I was able to close the screen tray, and register the screen in the center of the focusing pips, but a slight bump would shake the screen out of register. The movement wasn't big, but I couldn't see living with such an obvious defect. I figured the best think to do was RMA the screen.

I emailed Brightscreen describing the problem, and requested a RMA. Within the hour, Jim Lakey, the owner of Brightscreen, called me. He's a very low key fellow, no pressure, but just wanted to know in more detail what problems I experienced. He said the screen had been developed with a Sony screen in hand, but without an a850/a900. I let him know that I think the tabs are neccesary to maintain registration.

I'm sending the screen back, but I have all confidence Jim will develop a better solution for us Sony users. He said he's had a lot of interest for Sony screens, so I hope to have a working replacement soon. My brief testing leads me to believe the Brightscreen split screen will offer spot on manual focusing, with no change in metering. The only thing better is for Sony to offer one for $40. ;-)
 

docmaas

Member
Thanks for the update. Back in the day when no screens were available for the Sigma SD10 I modified one from a canon I believe and it worked fine. Others used one from a Nikon for the SD14 IIRC. I suspect that there are screens out there that could be similarly modified for the A900.

But I think I'll wait and see what Bright screen comes up with or Katzeye should they decide it is worth their time and effort.

Right now I am using a CYZ 28-85 zoom, a Leica 80-200 zoom, a leica 400 telyt, a Minolta 200 APO (f2.8 soon to be sold), a Minolta 28-135 that I may or may not keep and the 16-35 zeiss which may be replaced with a 21mm distagon. All the adapted lenses have focus confirm but a focus screen would help even more.

Mike
 

GrahamB

New member
I received a call from Jim yesterday. He now has a Sony full frame in house, and was calling to let me know they now offer focusing screens for Sony with tabs.

I had the opportunity to use the non tabbed screen outside for several days this past week. The metering in matrix mode overexposes from 1.5-2 stops. This was after resetting the menu to the stock screen setting.

I've decided to stick with the Sony type "M" acute matte for my landscape photography. I applaud Jim Lakey of Brightscreen for the speed in developing the new "stock" tabbed screen for Sony full frames. Although I decided a split prism wasn't the best choice for me, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Brightscreen for the wedding shooter desiring better focus in low light, or other photographers looking for a split prism screen.

If interested, you'll probably want to give Jim a call, as I don't think there's a listing for the tabbed screen on their web site.

Regards,
Graham
 
Graham, did you try the different focus screen settings in the menu to see if metering was closer with a different setting? For dark subjects it would be less than ideal to have to use up two of the three stops of negative comp before even metering the scene...
 
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