Beattie Intenscreen for Nikon F2

[DavidClapp]

Hi there

Is the Beattie screen the same as the F2 screens, a lens and a fresnel screen combined in a frame?

I have just trashed my Nikon H screen by trying to clean it in an ultrasonic cleaner, as I followed a post here on Photrio. I removed the tape and put each section into a cleaner, rinsed with distilled water.... and its way way worse than it was. I should point out the camera has been refoamed so its not muck from deteriorating camera foam.

I have plenty of film cameras and this camera is hands down the very worst for screen dirt. All the mamiya cameras I own (C330S / C3 / C330F / RZ67 II/ 645 ProTL) literally clean up to perfect with a few puffs of a blower brush.

I love the look of the camera, the design and the feel of the F2AS, but I utterly despise the two piece focusing screens. I have trashed two now. They are clean for a week or so and then they get dirt clogged between the lens / fresnel that just will not shift. Mine looked like someone had ground pepper all over it, then thrown a few pubes in there...(!) so I took a risk of cleaning it and literally destroyed it. It has marks all over the fresnel... Oh well...

I don't want another Nikon screen, so I thought I would try a Beattie screen, hoping they are a one piece design. If its the same two piece lens / fresnel then I am going to sell the camera as I just cant get on with it.

Any help gratefully accepted!

 

[BrianShaw]

Sorry to read that you destroyed your focus screens. It might be advisable to not clean them so thoroughly in the future.

“H” is a rather specialized screen and, frankly, not the easiest to use. Why not replace it with a Nikon “K” screen? The 2-piece screen was a successful professional product for many decades. Can’t fault the design.

If you’re going to sell, wouldn’t it make sense to sell it in original factory configuration?

 

[DavidClapp]

Sorry to read that you destroyed your focus screens. It might be advisable to not clean them so thoroughly in the future.

“H” is a rather specialized screen and, frankly, not the easiest to use. Why not replace it with a Nikon “K” screen? The 2-piece screen was a successful professional product for many decades. Can’t fault the design.

If you’re going to sell, wouldn’t it make sense to sell it in original factory configuration?

Yes youre right, perhaps a K would be the way to go. I just get so sick of looking at a really dirty focusing screen, I just cant get round it. Its like wearing filthy glasses or your car windscreen covered in dirt.

 

[BradS]

Good grief! What are you doing or where are you using the F2 to get the focus screen dirty like that? I have and use the Nikon F2. I've carried it everywhere with me - hiking in the Sierra Nevada, dust trails, city streets, even near the ocean.
I just can't imagine the focus screen getting so dirty - especially between the lens and the screen itself. They're sandwiched together. Is your camera is missing the rubber seal around the base of the finder?

 

[DavidClapp]

Good grief! What are you doing or where are you using the F2 to get the focus screen dirty like that? I have and use the Nikon F2. I've carried it everywhere with me - hiking in the Sierra Nevada, dust trails, city streets, even near the ocean.
I just can't imagine the focus screen getting so dirty - especially between the lens and the screen itself. They're sandwiched together. Is your camera is missing the rubber seal around the base of the finder?

Thats exactly what I thought...

I had an older black F2AS that failed on me *the DP12 failed and in the end I sold it on Ebay for parts. The screen on that was utterly horrendous, so I bought an H screen (only one I could find at the time) to go in a newer silver and black F2AS I bought to replace it. The screen with this new camera was also utterly filthy, so I put the H in there and a month or so later the H screen now cannot be cleaned, the dirt is in-between the fresnel and the lens.

So today I thought I would follow someones post on Photrio about using an ultrasonic cleaner, but the fresnel has scuffs all over it. I know, its a ridiculous situation, considering I have many manual cameras and they're all spotless with a quick blast of a blower brush. This whole two screen lens / fresnel screen is something I want to bypass if I can.

 

[reddesert]

How is dirt (or foam grit or whatever it is) getting into the screen? Where is the dirt coming from? If you get a different screen, where do you expect the dirt to end up on it? I think you should address this problem before getting another screen.

FWIW, I am pretty sure you can put a Nikon F screen into the F2. It will also have the two piece construction etc, but it's just another option for finding a fairly normal screen like the A type rather than something unusual like the H. I've had a Nikon F with the same A screen for over 30 years, and although it probably doesn't meet every standard of cleanliness, it's never turned to garbage in a week.

 

[wiltw]

Before you decide on a Beattie for your F2, you should be made aware that in the early 1990's I tested a Beattie (with Jim Beattie's cooperation, with a loaned screen) screen made to fit the Bronica ETRS. While the Bronica AE-III metering finder had an exposure adjustment control built it, the Brightness difference due to the Beattie was in the wrong direction from the built-in Bronica meter adjustment...so I returned the focusing screen to Jim Beattie, advising him that the Bronica metering finder could not correct for the brightness difference inherent to use of his screen (vs. a Bronica factory screen).
As I was professionally covering weddings and using a variety of emulsions during a job, use of a metering compensation factor would introduce too much opportunity for user error dialing in the wrong EI for the film that was loaded. Admittedly, using a single 36-exp roll of film in 135 format camera has less of an issue about confusion of EI.