>> Which is certainly a good thing, but _how_? What about the matte screen >> indicates that you're in focus, or the location of the plane of focus, >> or similar? > > Ummm, because the image in the viewfinder looks sharp? Your eye and > brain indicate that it's in focus sending a signal to your right index > finger to trip the shutter.
You're lucky. My vision is just not that good. I can't shoot properly without AF or a split screen. A few nights ago I was playing with my macro gear, photographing a US quarter coin just for the fun of it, and I had to take dozens of shots to get the focus right simply because I couldn't quite tell what was in focus. Granted, I was using a K10D with the stock screen, BUT i do have experience with many other kinds of screens and I know I need a split prism if I'm going to be able to manually focus accurately. Here's one of the macro photos: http://www.neovenator.com/2009/04/pixel-therapy.html Shot with the K10D, Pentax Helicoid extension tube (fully extended), three vivitar extension tubes (can't remember the sizes), Pentax Macro Bellows K (fully extended), Pentax reverse mounting ring, D-FA 100mm macro (reversed and set to somewhere halfway in its focus range) and an AF540FGZ off to the left. I have no idea what the macro ratio of all that together was, but it sure is fun to play with. :) John -- http://www.neovenator.com http://www.cafepress.com/calemp http://www.cafepress.com/neovenatorphoto -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
