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tadd
Joined: 22 Feb 2018 Posts: 5
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:01 pm Post subject: DIY Focus Screen shims |
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tadd wrote:
Hi all,
I shoot a Nikon D3400. It was my entry-level purchase to learn about photography. I've outgrown it, by far, but even a modest upgrade is not within my budget at this point in time.
Anyways, all of my lenses are manual. That's not totally true, the camera came with the zoom kits lenses, but I don't like them. I inherited a Zuiko 50mm 1.4 and some of the Vivtar TX telefotos, and have expanded my collection a bit.
Becoming super critical of focus with these manual lenses, I realized that my camera's view finder is worthless for focussing. Most people have blamed me for owning an entry level camera, and I agree that I'm pushing the equipment beyond what it was desigend to do.
But "buy a new camera" is not only financially not an option, it also doesn't satisfy my scientific curiosity...WHY is it out of focus? Is there SOMETHING I can do besides throw my camera in the garbase in artistic rage? So I went down that rabbit hole and ordered an e-bay split-prism focus screen. Still no good.
Long story short:
The D3400 comes with a stock shim on the focus screen of 0.1mm thickness (measured by me). I experimented with adding shims, etc, only to discover that the stock setup has a FRONT focus issue (on a different note: the AF indicator has a terrible BACK focus issue). Adding shims was only making it worse.
So I found out that I needed a THINNER shim and given how much difference I saw in my experimentation, I dead-reckoned that 0.05mm would about do the trick.
I bought some 0.05mm shim stock and cut a new shim. It's not the cleanest work I've done, but now the focal plane in the viewfinder matches, to my satisfaction, what hits the sensor. Not perfect, but much much better.
It's amazing what a difference 0.05mm makes.
So now, combined with the eyepiece magnifier from Nikon and the thinner shim, focussing is no longer a guessing game. It was driving me nuts.
Anyway, has anyone else experimented with this sort of thing?
And as a followup, I do have my eye on an upgrage, but I now have NO PATIENCE for cameras with poorly calibrated view-finder optics. I also appreciate mirrorless much more now, because what you see is what you get, which is great for manual lenses.
Anyone have and input as to what DSLRs are the most solid or precise in the view-finder area? I'd like to keep my lense collection.
Thanks! |
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SkedAddled
Joined: 19 Oct 2008 Posts: 1424 Location: Michigan, USA
Expire: 2021-08-12
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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SkedAddled wrote:
Welcome to the forum, tadd.
As long as the focusing screen is removeable/replaceable, you can easily shim it
with all sorts of materials: paper, Scotch tape, etc...
I've recently dialed-in the screen on my Canon; I posted about it recently.
You may find some of the included information helpful:
THIS THREAD _________________ Craig
Of course I'm all right! Why? What have you heard!?
Canon Digital EOS 5D Mk IV, EOS 50D, Powershot S3 iS
Vivitar 28 f/2.8 OM - Zuiko 50 f/1.8 OM - Tamron SP 28-80 f/3.5 AD2[Favorite!] - Hanimar 135 f/3.5 M42 - Soligor 135 f/2.8 T4 - Tamron SP 60-300 f/3.8 AD2 - Soligor 75-260 f/4.5 M42 - Soligor 400 f/6.3 T4 - Soligor 500 f/8 T2 Cat + Matched 2X TC - Addiction Growing!
This is us -- We drive these -- We're named these |
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Ramon
Joined: 01 May 2007 Posts: 71 Location: Kent, UK
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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Ramon wrote:
I have great success shimming with self adhesive foil, the type used for sealing air conditioning ducting. It is about 0.02mm thick, easily cut with scissors and the adhesive makes it easy to put in place and if necessary build up in layers. |
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visualopsins
Joined: 05 Mar 2009 Posts: 10463 Location: California
Expire: 2021-06-22
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Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:19 pm Post subject: |
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visualopsins wrote:
Welcome tadd
Where are you located? _________________ ☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮ like attracts like! ☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮
Cameras: Sony A7Rii, Spotmatics II, F, and ESII, Nikon P4
M42 Asahi Optical Co., Lenses:
Takumar 1:4 f=35mm, 1:2 f=58mm (Sonnar), 1:2.4 f=58mm (Heliar), 1:2.2 f=55mm (Gaussian), 1:2.8 f=105mm (Model I), 1:2.8/105 (Model II), 1:5.6/200
Tele-Takumar 1:5.6/200, 1:6.3/300
Macro-Takumar 1:4/50
Auto-Takumar 1:2.3 f=35, 1:1.8 f=55mm, 1:2.2 f=55mm
Super-TAKUMAR 1:3.5/28 (fat), 1:2/35 (Fat), 1:1.4/50 (8-element),
Super-Multi-Coated Fisheye-TAKUMAR 1:4/17
Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR 1:4.5/20, 1:3.5/24, 1:3.5/28, 1:2/35, 1:3.5/35, 1:1.8/85, 1:1.9/85 1:2.8/105, 1:3.5/135, 1:2.5/135 (II), 1:4/150, 1:4/200, 1:4/300, 1:4.5/500
Super-Multi-Coated Macro-TAKUMAR 1:4/50, 1:4/100
Super-Multi-Coated Bellows-TAKUMAR 1:4/100
SMC TAKUMAR 1:1.4/50, 1:1.8/55
Other lenses:
Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 2.4/35
SMC PENTAX ZOOM 1:3.5 35~105mm, SMC PENTAX ZOOM 1:4 45~125mm
Nikon Micro-NIKKOR-P-C Auto 1:3.5 f=55mm, NIKKOR-P Auto 105mm f/2.5 Pre-AI (Sonnar), Micro-NIKKOR 105mm 1:4 AI, NIKKOR AI-S 35-135mm f/3,5-4,5
Tamron SP 17mm f/3.5 (51B), Tamron SP 17mm f/3.5 (51BB), SP 500mm f/8 (55BB), SP 70-210mm f/3.5 (19AH)
Vivitar 100mm 1:2.8 MC 1:1 Macro Telephoto
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tadd
Joined: 22 Feb 2018 Posts: 5
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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tadd wrote:
Hi all, thanks for the replies.
I did end up using all kinds of stuff, including scotch tape around the edges, as a shim for testing before cutting stock. I also cut one from some card stock for testing.
@SkedAddled: thanks for the link. I did indeed get pretty carried away trying to figure which way to shim. Turns out I had it the hard way and needed LESS shim, which means a new one, since you can't add to it.
@visualopsins: I'm in SoCal, Long Beach area.
I confirmed that the pro setup (the 50mm AF-S f1.4 on the D800E) was out of calibration somehow. The lens just won't focus where you point it, and it's off by more than the AF fine-tune can adjust. Pretty frustrating. So it even happens on the expensive stuff.
I since committed to an upgrade to a used D610 and couldn't be much happier. Well, I WOULD be happier if Nikon would accept 95% view-finder coverage in exchange for some magnification, but when the mirror and focus screen are squeeky clean, the view finder is quite crisp. So I'm happy now, and no more shimming for me. |
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