 James Spradlin |
Pentax K1000 Focus Screen, Can it be changed? Hi, I have just recently discovered Astrophotography. My problem is that I'm having difficulty getting proper focus. I have seen that most SLRs' have interchangeable focus screens, but I can't find anything one way or another on the K1000. Can anyone help me? Thanks for your time, Jim
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Jon Close |
I don't think the K1000 has interchangeable focus screens. Most SLRs don't, it's a feature more common in the high-end professional bodies. If your difficulty is due to the center split- or micro-prism goes black when using f/4 or smaller aperture lens, then you have to focus using the outer portion of the fresnel screen instead.
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Alex Cabrall |
If you're using it for astrophotograpy, the focus should be set to Infinity. Always. It looks like an 8 laying on its side.
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James Spradlin |
Thanks Jon, Alex. I was afraid that would be the case on the interchangeability issue. As for the Infinity focus, on my 19,24 35, and 50mm lenses that works fine, but with the longer lenses it becomes a problem because they are catadioptric reflex types(Tamron 500mm/f11 and Celestron 300mm/f5.6) that will go beyond infinity to allow for expansion caused by temperature variations, I'm told. The problem here is that when I look through the viewfinder, it's to dark to focus,(or, for that matter, frame the subject photogragh:) and with the added room at the focus wheel, I'm playing roulette. Very time consuming and expensive with the trial and error method. With Prime Focus photograghy, I have to focus with the eyepiece holder, there is no infinity. I have heard that there is a method called 'Knife Edge' focusing, but I can't find any descriptions that make sense. Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. Is there a camera that accepts the Pentax K mount lenses that has interchangeable focus screens? I'd hate to start completely from scratch. Thanks! Jim
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Jon Close |
I'm sure Pentax has made several models over the years with interchangeable focus screens, including MZ-S, PZ-1P, and other older manual focus models. Of their current or recent models I think only the MZ-S, PZ-1P, and digital *istD have interchangeable focus screens.
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