The Katz Eye split prism screen arrived on my desk just a few minutes ago and, already it's in my D700. Unlike a lot of people out there, who for many valid reasons, don't have it in them to do the swap. It's a daunting and intimidating feat. Even for those who are brave, need a shot of whiskey to calm their nerves and hands.
Already having done this before, with my D3X (type E screen), tackling the D700 was a piece of cake.
After I fitted the katz eye screen onto the d700, I started to take a few test shots. To my disappointment the focus was way off! A quick search on google netted plenty of positive results and was fairly easy to remedy. It was the metal shim that went between the screen and prism! Having that removed made things better, instantly.
So far, I may need to get used to it as I'm still having trouble nailing focus on people standing 15-20 ft away. I wanted optimal focus at f2.0 using my zeiss 100mm makro. I feel what I need to get next is the DK-17 viewfinder magnifier.
Update: Apparently, I was wrong to remove the metal shim. Those are there to calibrate the viewfinder. Every DSLR from nikon has some degree of adjustments needed to calibrate the viewfinder and metal shims are in place to fix that. Some have one, or two or three. Luckily, I have one. I was instructed by Katz eye to put it back in. My initial installation was likely wrong and that's why I had serious back/front focus. Now putting it back seems to work well. Only thing I messed up on was more dirt got onto the screen than I would expected and also there is a hairline scratch by the focus screen tab. At least focus accuracy is better now.
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I don't have the Katz screen; I used to have a Canon 5D during a brief period away from Nikon - it passed quickly. I digress. With the 5D I used a 'Brightscreen' but that did not make much difference for manual focus. However, I do use the DK-17 with my D3S and that does make a lot of difference. I also use the 1.40 magnifier on my Leica M8 and that is similarly helpful.
I ordered the DK-17M for both my D700 and D3X. Hopefully that will help. Right now I am feeling a little unimpressed with the katz eye screen. It's got such a tiny prism it strains my eyes, trying hard to squint at it. With the original screen I can just move my eyeball all over the place and release the shutter if I thought I had good focus.
Maybe it's just something I'll have to get used to and I understand that shooting at f2.0 calls for many mis focused shots, as the DOF is very thin.
It was the little split screen prism which didn't work for me on the Brightscreen. I'm finding that a combination pf practice, DK-17M, the focus confirmation and original matte screen on the D3S is fine. Of course, there will be some missed shots, and it won't work at all for sports and action, but then the Zeiss primes are not for that anyway.
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