John, Alan,
did you do some additional testing ?
I have called Pentax here in Holland for a ZX-M screen, and they quoted
a price of USD 25,-- excluding shipping and handling.
Wuld it be better ( and possible ) by installing an ever better screen
like the one of an MX or LX. Guess an optician could do some small
alterations to the size of the screen, if necessary.
Regards
John
Alan Chan wrote
> I did the same thing to my Z-1p and some quick test. I discovered everything
> worked okay, except the spot metering which would be way off. The reason is
> that the split image would affect the spot meter accuracy significantly.
> Exposure compensation did not seem to work because it seemed to be situation
> dependency. Another thing I have discovered is that you can use any newer
> Pentax screens in older Pentax bodies with correct focus. The reason is they
> are all flat on both sides so there should not be any focus shift. The only
> concern is exposure compensation. For instance, I can use the C74
> (MZ-M/ZX-M) screen in MX without problem. However, older screens are
> phyically bigger (if not thicker) so they might not fit in Pentax AF bodies.
> Of course, if you called Pentax, they would tell you those screens were not
> designed for other cameras so would not work.
>
> regards,
> Alan Chan
>
> >DISCLAIMER!!! If you attempt anything I mention in this post you do so
> >at your own risk! Neither I, nor Pentax accept any liability if you
> >wreck your camera! I do not know if this voids the warranty.
> >
> >Some of you may vaguely recall many months ago I posted a question about
> >whether or not a ZX-5n can have a different focusing screen installed.
> >I'm proud and pleased to report the answer is a resounding YES!
> >
> >After waiting on a 6 month (!!!) backorder of focusing screens I
> >received in the mail a screen for a ZX-M camera. This screen is a
> >drop-in replacement for the factory screen in the ZX-5n. By changing
> >out the screen you add one very important feature to what IMHO is one of
> >the BEST cameras Pentax has made since they discontinued the K1000
> >(which I have one of)... MANUAL FOCUSING AID!
> >
> >It took me almost 9 months of phone calls to get this screen. Why?
> >Because when I first began my quest I made the foolish choice to call
> >Pentax's tech support to see if they knew of a screen for this camera.
> >Needless to say the very unhelpful and rude tech I talked to (I should
> >have written his name down) said it was impossible and I was an idiot
> >for wanting to do this. Needless to say I was a bit demoralized after
> >my conversation with him (way to go Pentax Tech.) I had long suspected
> >that the screen from a ZX-M would probably work... after all they're
> >nearly identical cameras in terms of their physical size and layouts.
> >So on a lark I called the parts department and asked what a screen for a
> >ZX-M costs.... $3.36 for the screen... $5.00 shipping/handling. DOH!!!
> >for <$10 I can try this out?!? If I had known that I wouldn't have even
> >BOTHERED calling Pentax Tech. I'd spent more than that in terms of time
> >and effort. So I ordered the screen... waited 6 months for the
> >back-order to clear out, and got it in the mail. A quick flick of the
> >screw driver and out comes the original screen! I popped in the ZX-M
> >screen and was delighted to have manual focusing aid! My initial
> >cursory tests have not shown any negative effects on the in-pentaprism
> >metering mechanism. I'll be doing more rigorous testing in a couple
> >weeks.
> >
> >So for those of you who have some really nice OLD manual focus glass and
> >a ZX-5n camera, rejoice in the knowledge that you can give this camera
> >the one thing it truly needs to be perfect... a split-image range finder
> >with micro-prism collar.
> >
> >Take care!
> >
> >-- John
> >
> >P.S. Yes... I bashed Pentax Tech a bit in here. Does it mean I don't
> >like Pentax? No. Does it mean I was less than satisfied with the
> >quality of aid I received on my phone call. Yes. Will I continue to
> >buy Pentax equipment. Yes. If this ruffles anyone's feathers please
> >feel free to ignore me. That's all.
omeone can recommend an excellent sh
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