Nikon F3 H1 screen and 24mm f2.8D

Hey all,
I'm trying to pair my Nikon f3 body with my 24mm 2.8D lens. Usually I have it on my nikon f4 to get AF but fine the F4 (even with the smaller battery pack) to be quite heavy.p

My issue is low light focusing,

Has anyone tried the H1 screen for the F3? Currently using the K screen. Tried the H2 screen but didn't really work and don't think it was designed for this wide a lens,

theoretically, the H2 is the right screen for that lens: http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf3ver2/screens/NikonF3screens.pdf. I don't really like the H series for anything but long teles, a nice red dot K would be my W/A choice, but that's the whole point of the F3's screens, you can make your own choice.

Oh and take that chart with a grain of salt, some of it's suggestions (or lack thereof) seem strange (why is the 300/2.8 Ai line blank, but the Af-D and AFS aren't?- why are they different??).

dugrant153 said:

Hey all,
I'm trying to pair my Nikon f3 body with my 24mm 2.8D lens. Usually I have it on my nikon f4 to get AF but fine the F4 (even with the smaller battery pack) to be quite heavy.p

My issue is low light focusing,

Has anyone tried the H1 screen for the F3? Currently using the K screen. Tried the H2 screen but didn't really work and don't think it was designed for this wide a lens,

Click to expand...

I'm using that lens with a D800 and the AF works in almost complete darkness;nothing short of amazing this Nikon.

I have the H2 screen, it's not bad at all, but my preference is the E type which is like the standard screen but with etched vertical and horizontal lines to aid with architectural work but I find the etched lines helpful for anything.

The H2 screen should be the best screen for 24mm through to about 180 or 200 and is excellent in that you either have focus or you don't see in low light.

I just placed a 24mm lens on two F3's, one with the E and the other with the H2. Although my eyesight isn't too flash I was able to focus reasonably well with a light reading of 1 second at f/2.8 at 100 ASA.

Neither was easy for my eyes, but the H2 had the advantage that when it was in focus, I could see detail, slightly out of focus and I couldn't see detail. I was focusing on some white lace curtains in a darkened room which I thought would be the easiest thing handy to give me a possibility of focusing at that low light level. Not strict scientific practice, more seat of the pants type of stuff.

As to which is easier to use, not too much in it I would say, but marginally better with the H2 screen.

I use the H2 screen for action stuff with my 180 f/2.8 and it's certainly easier to focus accurately with that screen and lens than any of the other screens I have in combination with that lens. I picked it up just for that 180 f/2.8 about 10-12 years ago; wonderful combination.

Maybe you should start buying carrots in bulk

Mick.

The H1 will work but the corners with be slightly dark on screen. H series screens and shorter lenses work well enough, but the H series really shine with longer lenses where the subject size is relatively larger and 'shimmer' is easier to see. With wide angles the subject is mostly smaller so its a little harder to determine where the point of focus is, but yes it is quicker for overall quick focus 'get something in focus Right Now' type of shooting.

I used to use them for low-light sports with 85mm f/1.4, 135mm f/2 180mm 300mm 400mm all f/2.8, and got the whole set of H screens. The trick I found with follow focussing those longer tele's is when the shimmer goes quiet that means its in focus. I found I could track fast erratically moving players quite well, I learned how to calm down when a good play was on field.

Thanks for the heads-up. The H2 is a great screen but I think the little "shimmy" things are a bit too tiny for this focal length. As mentioned, the subject is a smaller so it's harder to determine when that shimmer goes to clear and the image is in focus.

Right now I'm sticking to a K screen and a DE-2 viewfinder WITHOUT any diopter glass (strangely enough... I think it makes a difference).

However, it rained today... and will be raining the next few days... which has me really thinking how to go about weatherproofing it while trying to focus!

^Try the P screen... The diagonal split makes things very easy to focus.

-J