amen.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Frantisek Vlcek" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Lon Williamson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 9:11 PM Subject: Re: Question about manual Petaxes. > > Once again I got tempted into replying :) > > K bodies have dimmer focusing screens than M bodies. I own a K2DMD and > several M and LX body. The LX is brightest and easiest to focus. > > K bodies have older technology groundglasses. These are dimmer and > more cluttered than these found from M onwards. The groundglass > portion is divided into two portions on some "pro" K bodies > (KX,K2,K2DMD afaik): central fine matt circle and less fine fresnel > surrounding which fills the rest of the frame. The central fine is > good for fine focusing if the focusing aids cannot be used because of > insufficient image detail or features or too slow lens. > > Based on my experience: > > best viewfinder - LX. bright, features additional condenser above > screen (UNLIKE all other M & later bodies) to which LX screens are > computed for with it in mind (other screens in the LX give dimmer > corners). > > second best - MX. Higher magnification than LX by 0.05, but viewfinder > not as good in the corners (the LX finder is sharper in the corners). > Also, it's good to install a new screen in the MX (requiring either > recalibration of the meter or deliberately setting iso to lower). I > like the MZ-M's screen there, whose focusing aids don't blacken out > even with 5.6 lenses (especially useful with screwmount wides which > are used stopped down via the adapter and 400/5.6 lenses), unlike > LX/MX default screen's focusing aids. But the MZ-M has slightly worse > microcontrast. But it's brighter. I found it the meter had to be set > to "overexpose" 1/2 stop. > > ME-Super: nice viewfinder too. But can't interchange screens. Still > quite brighter than K series. > > K series - good with fast lenses. Is dim but still very usable in > normal light. But for available light - no no. Same for the > Spotmatics. For available light with fast lenses - it's sort of > unusable. I have Spotmatic, K2DMD,ME-S,MX,LX and other cameras not > from Pentax, and I shoot a lot in available light. The Spotmatic had > worst screen for this (I exchanged it for another camera's screen, but > with recalibration of focus). > > What's good about lasermatte screens (M and later) is that you can > focus and see image detail all over the frame, unhindered by fresnel > rings. What's bad about older screens with traditional fresnel lens > builtin is that you can't focus well in the corners of the frame. > > In my opinion, Pentax's screens were not very good until the M series > for available light. For plenty of light all screens are good. That's > because Spotmatic and K bodies screens use two parts - a fresnel with > another groundglass/fresnel on it, causing visible fresnel lens rings > and worse brightness (but the traditional groundglass they employ > makes very fine focus assesment possible in good light. I use a > Spotmatic screen as the groundglass on film plane with which to check accuracy of > focusing system). The M and later use single screen which combines all > of these, produced by laser technology. The latter the better (but the > AF screens are too much bright, making manual focus worse). > > That's all :) I would say if you photograph landscapes, in daylight, > etc, get the KX - it's heavy but good old brass and glass (the K2DMD - > another brass one - is real joy to use), offers true MLU. If you shoot > a lot in available light or quick focusing reportage, get the MX. It's > smaller, quieter and MLU can be engaged via the MLU trick. And the > screen is better. > > > Best regards, > Frantisek Vlcek >
