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Kiev Focusing Screen

V

vick_vickery

New Member
I was given a split image screen from a Kiev 88...will this work OK on my 503??? It seems to fit on fine, but I have nothing with which to measure any spacing differences that might affect focusing accurately. Anybody have any experience with this?
 
To measure focusing screen alignment properly you need special tools.

This alignment process ensures that the frame in the camera that takes the screen is properly aligned. The next factor is that the screen must have been manufactured to narrow tolerances. Otherwise this alignment won't buy you anything obviously.

I'm a bit suspicious of the manufacturing quality of Kiev. Of course you could potentially have the 503 aligned to match the Kiev screen. But I doubt very much if that is worth the effort & money.

My 2 pennies..

Wilko
 
But you would not want to align something to accomodate a Kiev screen.
Just bang in the screen, and shoot some tests. If they turn out o.k., it probably is o.k.
wink.gif
 
Well Q, I fully agree one would (should!) not want to align something to accomodate a Kiev screen. But possible it would be to do so.

Give the narrow tolerances involved I would personally not advocate just throwing it in and try. With all the money spent on a Hasselblad body and lenses I would think you either want this focusing screen checked using the proper measurement equipment, or I would buy a Hasselblad screen (ridiculous expensive as these might be).

Wilko
 
Throw good money after bad?
Nah...

If the Kiev screen turns out to be bad, throw it away and get a proper one.

What if you find someone with the right tools, who is willing to spend part of his - no doubt expensive - time checking the Kiev screen, and it turns out to be bad?
Are you then going to try to adjust the 2 bit screen (good luck!), or even waste a perfectly good camera by adjusting that to the screen?
No... You're going to throw the screen away and get a proper one.
Hasselblad screens are expensive. But at least you can be sure they work.

So just spend the little amount a film and processing it costs, and be done with it.

It will do no harm trying. Don't worry about things being thrown out of a narrow tolerance range. Unless you use brute force, they will not.
And we're smart enough to know we shouldn't use brute force when things do not go the way we would like them to, don't we?
wink.gif


And you may well find the Kiev screen works fine too.
 
Thanks for the comments, y'all! The screen drops in and seems to fit well, so I think I'll donate a couple of shots out of the next roll & see what happens. If it works, then I'll have microprism and split/image screens available, if not, I'm OK with just the one screen! It was free, so I don't loose anything if it doesn't work! :)
 
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