Canon F-1 focus screen

[CMoore]

I have the New F-1.
I am not familiar with the screens for the older models.
I guess i am curious as to what screen you are are using most of the time.?
I started out with the Center Weighted screen. It worked fine. Perhaps i should have stayed with that.....

Recently i have been using the Partial Spot, i guess it is called a...12 degree spot.
I think i am going to stay with this 12 degree.
I was, kind of, missing the exposure quite a bit at first. Mostly over-exposing.
But now i have gotten the hang of it. I think it has actually made me a "Better Photographer".
It has made, or forced, me to think a lot more about Zone-5.
The center-weighted did a pretty good job getting a decent exposure in most cases. The 12 degree makes it much easier to miss the "Proper Exposure"...... but if you think about what the meter is seeing, it is kind of liberating, if that is not being too dramatic.

It certainly has been satisfying to think about what i am about to make Zone-5 and adjust the aperture or shutter speed accordingly.
It sort of feels like i am in manual mode for the first time.

Anyway...... you guys can see what made me wonder about which screen(s) others might be using.
Maybe some of you change the screen quite often.?
I kind o doubt it, but who knows.........
Thank You

 

[AgX]

old F1 screens:




new F1 screens:

 

[benjiboy]

I have 4 of the old type screens for my Canon F1ns and 7 for my New F1's and although I don't change them all the time they are handy to have a couple in your pocket to have .access to if you need them.
The last screen I bought was an old type split image one I got from a man in Germany on Ebay, when it arrived it came in a cardboard box that was about a foot square with about a half a mile of parcel tape on it !, I had heard that Germans were thorough but this for an item that was about 2" X 1 1/2" was ridiculous, but when I eventually dug out the focusing screen from the mountain of newspaper in the box it was in perfect condition.

 

[benjiboy]

I have the New F-1.
I am not familiar with the screens for the older models.
I guess i am curious as to what screen you are are using most of the time.?
I started out with the Center Weighted screen. It worked fine. Perhaps i should have stayed with that.....

Recently i have been using the Partial Spot, i guess it is called a...12 degree spot.
I think i am going to stay with this 12 degree.
I was, kind of, missing the exposure quite a bit at first. Mostly over-exposing.
But now i have gotten the hang of it. I think it has actually made me a "Better Photographer".
It has made, or forced, me to think a lot more about Zone-5.
The center-weighted did a pretty good job getting a decent exposure in most cases. The 12 degree makes it much easier to miss the "Proper Exposure"...... but if you think about what the meter is seeing, it is kind of liberating, if that is not being too dramatic.

It certainly has been satisfying to think about what i am about to make Zone-5 and adjust the aperture or shutter speed accordingly.
It sort of feels like i am in manual mode for the first time.

Anyway...... you guys can see what made me wonder about which screen(s) others might be using.
Maybe some of you change the screen quite often.?
I kind o doubt it, but who knows.........
Thank You

I tend on my New F 1's to use them on aperture priority Chip, and in that mode I get the best exposures with an A screen ( slightly centre weighted ) that's the one the instructions for the AE head recommend. I hope this helps.

 

[Les Sarile]

I was, kind of, missing the exposure quite a bit at first. Mostly over-exposing.
But now i have gotten the hang of it.

Curious as to what film you are using?

 

[CMoore]

Curious as to what film you are using?

Most of the time..... HP5

 

[Les Sarile]

Most of the time..... HP5

Being able to overexpose medium contrast b&w film would suggest the meter is off by quite a bit. Perhaps comparing to a known good meter would be a good thing to do?

 

[dynachrome]

I have many screens for the F-1 and F-1n models. Different screens are good for different situations. My favorite and most used screen is the L D (grid type). It's especially good for slow lenses, zooms and macro lenses. I have fewer screens for the F-1N. Good (exposure) results can be obtained with all screen meter patterns as long as you know how to use them. I actually prefer the 12% center pattern of the F-1 and F-1n cameras and can make that work with any situation. I also prefer the way screens are changed in the F-1 models to the way they are changed in my Nikon F2 and F3 cameras. My favorite Nikon screen? The E screen (grid type).

 

[cooltouch]

As far as I know, the New F-1 is unique in that its focusing screens not only provide particular views of scenes but they also determine metering patterns. New F-1 users have the choice of Centerweighted, Partial, and Spot metering patterns. I've always preferred Partial.

Back in my film days I made heavy use of old F-1s and FTbs, and I was a huge fan of those cameras' 12% selective area metering patterns. The more I used them, the more comfortable I became with them. I would often use the sharply defined pattern to determine exposure in unusually lit situations by moving the rectangle around a scene and watch how exposure changed. I almost always nailed it -- and I was shooting primarily slides back then with their notoriously narrow exposure latitudes. I used the plan matte laser screens in my F-1s. I frequently used slower lenses, so the plain matte screen was the best choice. I still own a couple of old F-1s and I have the laser plain mattes installed in them as well.

When I bought my New F-1 about five or six years ago, one of the first things I did was replace the A screen with a (plain matte) C screen with the Partial metering pattern. The New F-1's partial pattern was intended to emulate the 12% pattern in the old F-1. I've become so used to plain matte that I have installed it in every camera I own that has user-interchangeable focusing screens. And of those cameras I own where I can select different metering patterns, I always select partial. Old habits run deep.

To this day, my favorite 35mm camera is the F-1n and its metering pattern and ability to take the plain matte screen is a big reason why it is.

 

[CMoore]

Very Informative..... Thank You