Focusing Screens for Nikon N90(s) Beattie or Nikon

A (replacement) focusing screen for the N90's with grid lines on it runs
about $29 (18 used) for a Nikon screen and $109 (85 used) for a Beattie at
Adorama. Can the Beattie be that much better?

Yes, I really need the lines because about 1/4 - 1/2 of my pictures on my
upcoming vacation in Italy will be of buildings and similar things.

Norm

 

Norm:

I use the Nikon's focusing screen with my F90/N90 since day
1 and I do not miss anything... maybe Beattie has a web page
explaining what is so valuable on their screen.

However, considering that the F90 is unfortunately out of
current technology loop (no G lens or VR support) personally
I would say: Take Nikon, do not invest such amount of money
on an unknown product for a body, which might bring you $100
on eBay!!! With F100 or F80 the things might look different.

Thomas

 

http://www.intenscreen.com/

the point of the more expensive product is to provide a substantially
brighter viewfinder image, notably for low light applications.

 

Do you really believe this? I am not sure what is precisely the
transparency rate, or percentage of absorbed light while passing
through such a thin layer. Find the correct value and you will
just how substantial this improvement may be. If I take out the
screen, I see no difference in the light intensity in the finder,
thus I believe that the improvement cannot be big, if visible at
all.

On their web page Beattie claims that their "screen will increase
image brightness by 1 to 1½ stops". I cannot imagine how that
would be possible. This is a huge amount of light, which they
claim Nikon's genuine product absorbs.

Thomas

 

Are you familiar with the coatings on lenses and how they work? Try looking
up interference filters on Google. Indeed, since the Beatie product has
been around for many years, you might check and see what others have said
about it via googlegroups over time.

It is certainly not simply the case that transmission is dependent on the
transparency of the material -- substantial improvements are made by
coating the surfaces to reduce reflected light.

 

That's a really interesting point. I've got a D70, an N90, and an N90s and
I need to buy screens for both of the film cameras -- $60 is a lot more
palatable than $218 invested in what's perfectly usable but, yes, obsolete
technology. As long as the Nikon screens are no dimmer than the standard
one, I see no crying need for that much ($80) more brightness.

Norm

 

I am an Olympus OM user, so whether or not my experience applies to the
Nikon product needs to be considered.

Yes, the Beattie is brighter than the 1-x series of Olympus screens. In
fact if you put them in the OM1 / OM2 series of cameras your meter will
be off. Not being a Nikon user, I don't know if the sensor for the
meter in a Nikon is in front of or behind the focusing screen. If it's
behind like the OM1 / 2, you've got another issue to contend with.

And yes, the price is stiff (they jumped up signficantly this year).

And for my eyes, it was worth it (but then I bought mine before the
price jump).

Jay

 

Jay,

I am sure that what you observe in the OM2, we will observe
in the Nikons as well.

Interesting, thanks for the comments, I will followup on this
as suggested by Colin in the other message.

Thomas

 

The sensor on Nikons is located just above the eyepiece of the pentaprism,
so, YES, it will be affected by the brighter Beattie screen: you will have
to compensate for the brighter screen. On a manual camera like the FM series
(FM, FM2, FN2n, FM3, ..., and others) a simple correction of the ISO dial
will suffice. Unfortunately this is not true of automatic cameras.

~Robert C.

 

No, it's not that much better. It's brighter when you stop down DOF
preview, and maybe for macro work, but that's about it. Bill Maxwell can
take your existing screen and enhance it to do the same thing (only better,
to some degree) for $80.
www.mattclara.com/maxwell

 

For explanations of how such screens work, check the web for matters such
as "interference filters" and "coated optics" and how they work.