I realized that I am sitting on four Rolleiflexes at the moment, all with different focus screens in them. And a spare hood assembly that I could put an original ground glass screen in and swap out easily. So what the heck.... This question comes up all the time, so maybe this will be of help to people.
My conclusion? The Maxwell Hi-Lux screen is my favorite screen, and this test didn't change my mind. The Mamiya screen, bought new on Ebay for $35, gives the Maxwell Split/Micro a decent run for its money. The Jinfinance(Oleson?) screen is a great upgrade from the stock ground glass but nowhere near as nice as the Maxwells or Mamiya (you can't see it here, but the Jinfinance screen has a much rougher fresnel pattern and ground glass pattern, and focusing away from the split has none of the crispness of the better screens). And the original ground glass? Well, I used them without a hitch when I was in my 20s, and I understand people liking their snap and feel, but they are not for me.
The screens:
Maxwell 'Hi-Lux' (plain screen, no grid)
Maxwell Split/microprism (no grid)
Mamiya RB67 'Type A'
Jinfinance (Oleson?) (split image) (*see note below)
Original Rollei ground glass
Method: I choose a corner of the laundry room that had a decent range of light and shadow. I set up a Sony RX100 digital camera on a table. The Sony was put in MANUAL mode so that it wouldn't be adjusting away differences in brightness. I had the camera somewhat high up because putting it close to the screen caused serious vignetting of the screen image.Focus was set manually on the first Rollei's screen image.
I set each camera in place based on the Sony's LCD grid. Did a rough manual focus of the Rollei. Took image.
Image below is a compilation of five shots. NO adjustments to the files. Cropped and combined in Photoshop.
Ok, the compilation:
(larger version- https://www.flickr.com/photos/18067251@N04/13929553138/in/photostream/)
One flaw in my method was to set the manual exposure based on the Maxwell Split/Micro screen. I believe that the Hi-Lux is a brighter screen overall, and the problem in the above images is that it is slightly blown out from overexposure. Ideally I would redo the test.... yeah, right.... not today.
And a record shot of the overall scene. Shadows opened up in Photoshop-
* NOTE: Jinfinance is a seller on Ebay. He offers fresnel screens with a split image center. The screens are sized for Hasselblad or Bronica; they need to be trimmed to fit older Rolleis. The reason I question if these are the same screens that Rick Oleson sells is because there was a time when Jinfinance only had 45 degree splts. And Oleson was in the same position. Then Jinfinance got back 90 degree splits. And Oleson had them back in stock around the same time. The design and overall brightness that I see for Oleson screens on the internet appear very similar to the Jinfinance screens that I have put in a dozen cameras, so I think they may get their screens from the same place.
My conclusion? The Maxwell Hi-Lux screen is my favorite screen, and this test didn't change my mind. The Mamiya screen, bought new on Ebay for $35, gives the Maxwell Split/Micro a decent run for its money. The Jinfinance(Oleson?) screen is a great upgrade from the stock ground glass but nowhere near as nice as the Maxwells or Mamiya (you can't see it here, but the Jinfinance screen has a much rougher fresnel pattern and ground glass pattern, and focusing away from the split has none of the crispness of the better screens). And the original ground glass? Well, I used them without a hitch when I was in my 20s, and I understand people liking their snap and feel, but they are not for me.
The screens:
Maxwell 'Hi-Lux' (plain screen, no grid)
Maxwell Split/microprism (no grid)
Mamiya RB67 'Type A'
Jinfinance (Oleson?) (split image) (*see note below)
Original Rollei ground glass
Method: I choose a corner of the laundry room that had a decent range of light and shadow. I set up a Sony RX100 digital camera on a table. The Sony was put in MANUAL mode so that it wouldn't be adjusting away differences in brightness. I had the camera somewhat high up because putting it close to the screen caused serious vignetting of the screen image.Focus was set manually on the first Rollei's screen image.
I set each camera in place based on the Sony's LCD grid. Did a rough manual focus of the Rollei. Took image.
Image below is a compilation of five shots. NO adjustments to the files. Cropped and combined in Photoshop.
Ok, the compilation:
(larger version- https://www.flickr.com/photos/18067251@N04/13929553138/in/photostream/)
One flaw in my method was to set the manual exposure based on the Maxwell Split/Micro screen. I believe that the Hi-Lux is a brighter screen overall, and the problem in the above images is that it is slightly blown out from overexposure. Ideally I would redo the test.... yeah, right.... not today.
And a record shot of the overall scene. Shadows opened up in Photoshop-
* NOTE: Jinfinance is a seller on Ebay. He offers fresnel screens with a split image center. The screens are sized for Hasselblad or Bronica; they need to be trimmed to fit older Rolleis. The reason I question if these are the same screens that Rick Oleson sells is because there was a time when Jinfinance only had 45 degree splts. And Oleson was in the same position. Then Jinfinance got back 90 degree splits. And Oleson had them back in stock around the same time. The design and overall brightness that I see for Oleson screens on the internet appear very similar to the Jinfinance screens that I have put in a dozen cameras, so I think they may get their screens from the same place.