Beattie Focussing Screens

Kev M

Kev M

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Has anyone used Beattie focussing screens? I've found one for a little over £100 but that's £100 I was going to put towards a lens. I was doing some close-up work in the kitchen yesterday with a 150mm F4 and even the my kitchen is relatively bright I was struggling to focus the image as it was quite dark. Beattie screens are meant to make the viewfind 2-3 times brighter but is it that noticeable and does it make a difference in practice?
 
I don't know about MF cameras, but I did get one for my Nikon FA and found it did make the image brighter in the view finder and found it easier to focus the 35-105 zoom I had.

Mind you it only cost £20 for the FA.

So not much help I am afraid
 
Hi Kev I borrowed a Beattie screen when I damaged the focusing screen on my bronica , it was a bit brighter /sharper than the standard bronica screen but certainly not by 2 or 3 times .

Ron
 
Thanks for the responses. A brighter screen would be nice but I'm not sure it would be the most effective use of £115 if it doesn't make that big a difference.
 
Kev

Have you tried the chinese route. I was watching on ebay some chinese made screens; even for Hasselblads. Claims to be brighter etc.

The costs are a laughable 6 £ delivered; so might be worth a punt. Not much more than a pint of beer. I am thinking of getting one to check out whats the quality
 
If you see one for a Bronica on your travels punt me a link:thumbs:
 
Kev, you may already be using it, but the split image in the middle of the Bronica WLF I found indispensable for accurate focus with it's rangefinder-type system of focusing (lining up horizontal lines in the image). If it's one of the metered finders you're using then nevermind - I know these ones are a lot darker than the WLF.
 
I've got a Beattie focussing screen for my Bronica :)

It does add about two stops more light into the screen which does make it easier to focus.

So it's up to you really and depends if you want to drop £100 on just a screen. Try looking at 2nd camera websites as well, rather than just eBay ;)
 
ekimeno said:
Kev, you may already be using it, but the split image in the middle of the Bronica WLF I found indispensable for accurate focus with it's rangefinder-type system of focusing (lining up horizontal lines in the image). If it's one of the metered finders you're using then nevermind - I know these ones are a lot darker than the WLF.
Click to expand...

The split image is good Mike and I was sing the WLF at the time but it was doing close up stuff in my kitchen so it was pretty dark. Some continuos lights instead of flash would have helped but that would be more expensive than a Beattie screen! I don't personally find the prism any darker but it's definately more of a strain on the eye when doing close ups.

cherryrig said:
I've got a Beattie focussing screen for my Bronica :)

It does add about two stops more light into the screen which does make it easier to focus.

So it's up to you really and depends if you want to drop £100 on just a screen. Try looking at 2nd camera websites as well, rather than just eBay ;)
Click to expand...

If you see any around Matt I'd appreciate the link. I check FFordes now and again, MXV is gone and Mr Cad is waaaay expensive so I'm mostly looking on eBay.
 
They went bust a few weeks back, there was a thread on here about it. I think they just struggled with specialising in 2nd hand film gear, as far as I know they didn't have anything to do with the bigger digital market which is why they probably struggled. Shame though, they were really good when I dealt with them.
 
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