K3, B3, E3 focusing screens -- better?

I have an FA with a K2 screen. I was wondering how much of an

improvement the newer screens (released with the FM3a) are over the

original one that came with the FA. Also, I'm mainly interested in

quick focusing with telephotos -- is a b-type plain matte screen

better for that?

Focusing might be more difficult with very fast lenses. DOF might not be quite as easy to judge. If the K3, B3 and E3 screens are similar to F3 Red-Dot screens and K2, B2 and E2 screen are half way between the Red-Dot(s) and the older F, F2 and (F3 non-Red-Dot) screens then maybe they are a best compromise?

I don't know that the screens I'm talking about are directly comparable with the F or F3 screens. Those ones are made of glass and have their own little condensor lenses, I think (could be wrong).

The brighter the screen, the worse the manual focusing.

 

F3 and F4 screens are completely different from FA/FE2/FM2 screens.

The F Series Nikons, F through F5, have an optical acrylic focus screen. The focus screen is paired with an optical glass condenser. There is a thin strip of clear tape that holds the pair together and keeps out dust. Then they are mounted in an aluminum or fiber reinforced polycarbonate frame with four thin steel tabs and screws. The split image rangefinder or micro prism if any and the matte focus surface is located on the bottom of the focus screen and faces the lens. A Fresnel lens is on the top side of the focus screen proper excepting the C and D screens which have no Fresnel.

 

The FM2n and FE2 (and others) use an optical acrylic focus screen. These cameras do not have a condenser. That job is handled by a single Fresnel instead of the Fresnel and condenser pair of the F series. The Fresnel lens is on the bottom of the screen facing the lens and the split image rangefinder if any and matte focus surface is on the top.

 

Although there are differences the similarity lies in the optical performance of the focus surface of the optical acrylic focus seen. Some screens have a smoother matte surface and some course. The new screens are brighter and smoother and older darker and course.

 

Now whether these screens are the directly comparable or not I�ve done it. I�ve compared the F2, F3 (Red-Dot), F5, F100 and FE2/FM2n screens and done this quite carefully. What I can say for sure is the FE2 and FM2n are the easiest to focus on the matte surface. The F3 with Red-Dot screen comes second and the F3HP Red-Dot and F5 come next. The optical characteristics of the F3 Red-Dot screen and the F5 are very similar. In some case and with some lenses they are probably brighter than optimum. The F3 beats the F3HP and F5 by having 0.8x finder magnification v. 0.75x for the later. The F100 comes in last due to its lower 0.7x finder magnification.

 

It would be interesting to compare the B2 and B3 or E2 and E3 screens but I don�t have a B3 or E3 screen to compare. The price of doing your own test is about $35.00 by N.Y. prices.

 

Regards,

 

Dave.

Not sure if you're still looking two years on but as I stumbled upon your question about the K3 relative to the K2 screen in my own search for advice on the matter, and the fact someone else has got away with utter dribble about 'the brighter the screen, the worse the manual focusing' I thought I'd add that the K3 screen works very well, is noticeably clearer and therefore gives the impression of being brighter and that focussing is therefore less stressful and quicker too. The black outer circle seems more pronounced than with the K2 but it might be simply in starker contrast now the screen itself is brighter. No exposure adjustment required for the meter, on the FA at least and so presumably for all cameras that it fits.

Not sure if you're still looking two years on but as I stumbled upon your question about the K3 relative to the K2 screen in my own search for advice on the matter, and the fact someone else has got away with utter dribble about 'the brighter the screen, the worse the manual focusing' I thought I'd add that the K3 screen works very well, is noticeably clearer and therefore gives the impression of being brighter and that focussing is therefore less stressful and quicker too. The black outer circle seems more pronounced than with the K2 but it might be simply in starker contrast now the screen itself is brighter. No exposure adjustment required for the meter, on the FA at least and so presumably for all cameras that it fits.

 

a_tonkin, I totally agree with you regarding brighter screens DO NOT make manual focusing worse. I've got a B3 screen on my FE2 and have no problem with manual focusing. I had a B2 on it and switched. It's perfect!!!

Nice to know, but is 13 years a record?