Okay, here we go: Focusing Screens Take 2!
For those of you that have already read my original blog from May on the Maxwell focusing screen upgrade I did for my Rolleiflex, you’ll know that back then I was thinking of ordering an alternative, cheaper, Rick Oleson screen for comparison. Well, 8 months later, I finally got around to ordering the Oleson focusing screen, though I still haven’t worked out how to get photos of screens in action with my Sony A7, but I have got a new iPhone with a way better camera! So let’s get going.
Background
Original Rolleiflex TLR focusing screens are one of the weakest elements in what is otherwise an incredible camera. For those who own a 2.8 E2 or later model, it is also something that is thankfully easy to upgrade - see the photos of the process on my original blog post from May 2019. The thing is, there isn’t much out there to help people make decisions about which screen to get. In particular, one screen - the Maxwell focusing screen - was often mentioned on forums but it was very hard to work out how to get one, and also difficult to find reviews. So I started some detective work, initially made contact with Bill Maxwell through the Maxwell Precision Optics facebook page, and from there entered into email correspondence and a couple of very friendly and helpful telephone conversations with Bill over in the US. Due to left over budget from the purchase of the camera, I splashed out and bought a Maxwell Hi-Lux Brilliant Matt screen with rule of thirds lines. This screen has no central focusing aid, although Bill does offer screens with a Micro/Split centre spot for the same price. The reasons why Bill recommended this screen to me, and I went with his recommendation, are set out in the original blog. My plain screen cost me US$315 but then I also had to pay international postage and import taxes here in the UK, so I think it was close to $380 by the end. So not cheap, but they have good resale value! I also wrote a very unscientific review and put it up on the blog, to fill a gap in the information out there.
Around the time I received the Maxwell screen, I read about Rick Oleson screens and quickly found his webpage - http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-175.html. The screens claimed to be close in brightness to the Maxwell screens, and at US$80 (including international p&p) were a fantastic proposition. I knew I could get cheaper screens from eBay for around US$20, or was even told once to just get a Mamiya C330 screen and cut it down to fit, but I had my suspicions about both of those options. I don't know what it was, but Rick Oleson’s screens just sounded credible and appropriately priced. So I determined to get one (one day) and share my experiences in a blog.
Rick Oleson Screen
First some basics. It appears that all of the Rick Oleson screens come with a centre spot focusing aid - there is not a plain screen like the Maxwell I purchased. So the comparison I do here is a little bit unfair because it isn’t exactly comparing like for like. Rick offers two types of screen. One comes with a micro-prism focusing aid, which is similar (if my memory is correct) to the focusing system in an Olympus OM10 - though the prisms are much finer. Whilst focusing, the centre spot will move between being pixelated (when not in focus) to becoming smooth (when in focus). I can illustrate this below in a photo - because this is the type of screen I bought.
Oleson Micro-prism Focusing Centre Spot: The guitar is at an angle to the focal plane so the edge to the left is in focus (hence the clear image) whilst the edge to the right is further away beyond the point of focus (so appears pixelated).
The second type of centre spot is a split image focusing aid, which I assume is like the one in a Leica M viewfinder.
Ordering the screen was really straightforward, and Rick processed it fast (impressive given it was the Christmas/New Year period). I had the screen within a couple of weeks! It was really well packaged. Ultimately it probably cost me just over US$100 if I include the import taxes, since the whole thing has come to just over £80. I did not need to test Rick’s customer service and advice because, to be honest, I had learnt so much from Bill Maxwell whilst talking to him over the phone that I knew what to expect. Plus there isn’t quite the degree of difference between the Oleson screens like there is with the Maxwell’s. However, if the speed and quality of his service is anything to go by, I’m sure Rick would be very supportive if people did need more advice before purchasing the screen.
Side-by-Side
So with three screens at my disposal, I decided to do two tests. First I would again take some photos of the screens focused upon an indoor scene where I could have consistent lighting. Second, I would head out with the Maxwell and Oleson screens to try them in the field, and see if that taught me anything.
So, first indoors. Below are two sets of photos taken with my (new improved!) iPhone.
The original Rolleiflex screen
Rick Oleson Focusing Screen
Maxwell Focusing Screen
Closeup of the original Rolleiflex screen
Closeup of the Oleson Screen
Closeup of the Maxwell Screen
So, what were my impressions? Well first my original Rolleiflex screen. I got by okay with this screen for a number of months, so I know it does a job. However, looking through it again after all these months, there is a noticeable amount of light loss to the image, and it is grainy.
The Rick Oleson screen is a very different and improved experience. It is brighter and has greater definition in comparison to the original screen. I found focusing easy and indeed the centre spot is really clear when in focus.
Finally, and this surprised me, when I put in the Maxwell screen it was another experience again. When I look through this screen I find it very ‘filmic’, for want of a better descriptor. It is like looking at a film image - very refined and smooth. Better definition across the entire screen. More even illumination. It is hard to describe, and very hard to convey in a photograph! On a practical note I do find the focus just pops when it is reached, and have never needed a focusing aid.
Out and About
Okay, so what was it like when going out for a photo walk? For this I packed up the camera, carefully wrapped up the spare screen, and headed to Victoria Embankment and the River Trent here in Nottingham. It was a crisp and clear winter’s day in the late afternoon… and it ultimately helped me to discover an important difference between the Oleson and Maxwell screens. This difference is linked to focusing and is very much subject specific.
Composition is easy with both the Maxwell and Oleson screens because of their good illumination and contrast, but aiding accurate focusing is a fundamental requirement for any focusing screen. This is particularly important if you have a camera with a fast lens like my f2.8 Planar and want to exploit the shallow depths of field for your final image. In my experience and by my estimate, the Oleson screen will help me achieve critical focus in 85-90% of the situations I find myself wanting to take an image. Where I struggled with it was when wanting to take a photo of something with lots of tiny details. It therefore excelled in urban settings and for architectural subjects, like the detail of the Art Deco bandstand below.
Bandstand on Victoria Embankment, Nottingham taken whilst using the Oleson focusing screen.
Slightly more challenging were portraits where hair, eye brows and eye lashes can cause the micro prisms to appear a lot in the centre focusing spot. However getting eye focus is doable with concentration, and with practice I know I could become more adept.
The kind of subject though that seemed to defeat me and the micro prism was a very complex, fragmented, and spread over a variety of distances, subject, like plants. I wanted to take a backlit photo of some tall grasses in the Memorial Gardens with shallow depth of field. This involves choosing particular fronds that I want to be in sharp focus and thus picked out from the rest. But I struggled to be able to discern the fronds I wanted because the centre spot with all its activated micro prisms (that wouldn’t go away) made it impossible to tell where I was focusing. The subject matter is seen in the photo below.
Ornamental Grasses, Memorial Gardens, Nottingham. Those feathery fronds caused the micro prisms on the Oleson screen to be permanently showing, so I couldn’t focus.
I swapped the Oleson screen out for the Maxwell, with two important consequences. First, I could actually see to focus on the precise point I wanted. Second, I could also focus in situ, so to speak, meaning I could concentrate on focusing on an off centre area in the location it would be in the final composition. This is hugely reassuring - to know that I can reliably compose and then chose a focus point anywhere in the composition without moving the camera. In contrast, with a central focusing aid I have to focus on the point I want, then move the camera to recompose the image, and that creates a risk that the main point of focus is no longer in focus.
So I came away from the trip knowing that for the kind of images I like to make I need to hold onto the Maxwell screen (& not test the resale market on eBay!). I’m not going to sell the Oleson screen though either. I have a genuine soft spot for it since it is otherwise a fine screen and at that price it’s fabulous. Maybe I should have gone for the split screen version instead? Nevertheless, at no point in time did I come out in cold sweats about how much I’d spent on it… and the same can’t be said about the Maxwell screen! But that said, this is now the second time the Maxwell screen has come out on top, and like elite sport, it seems it is the small margins that separate the very good from the greats.
So there we go. It’s not a scientific review and just some personal thoughts and impressions, but I hope this helps people. Thanks for reading and please don’t feel you have to rush off - stay a while and read my other blogs or browse my galleries.
