FS-2 Focusing Screen

Size: 19 x 14mm i.e., 266 square millimeters area. For comparison, an OM screen was 35 x 25 mm.

Andrzej: Olympus quotes the size as 18.8 x 14.8 x 1.5 mm. Some of the screen area is a margin, not used by the projected image which is 17.3 x 13 mm. Obviously, for the sake of viewing and focusing, the projected image has to be of exactly the same size as that on the CCD sensor, i.e., about 1/4 of the area of a 35-mm, 100%-coverage screen.

Installation: An instruction sheet is supplied. Take off the lens, locate the screen frame release tab at the top of the lens mount, and with the hooked end of the tweezers pull the tab towards you. The frame flips down and can throw the screen out, so be careful.

With the grip end of the tweezers take hold of the screen tab and lift it out of the frame. Place on a clean, dry, dust-free surface. Remove the new screen from the plastic tote with the tweezers and place it in the screen frame. Push the screen frame back with the tool until the tab clicks into place.

Store the removed screen in the plastic holder and put it back in the screen case for safekeeping.

In use: I have always had a soft spot for grid screens. They are helpful for general composition as well as for their original purpose, architectural work with shift lenses.

Andrzej: A shift lens for the E-system would be great. While you can try an OM shift lens, much of its advantage will be lost because of the narrower image angle resulting from the smaller sensor.

Brightness: Though I have no method of accurately measuring screen light levels, I would say the grid screen is marginally darker than the FS-1.

Contrast: To my eye it seems identical as in FS-1.

Moiré: The instruction sheet warns that Moiré patterns might be seen at small apertures. To date I haven't seen any.

Andrzej: Just wait for some detail with on-screen frequency comparable to that of the screen structure... Although the irregularities in the latter should help.

Image "snappiness": On 35 mm cameras grid screens tend to remove a bit of "snap to focus", and this one is no different. With AF, of course, this is not really an issue, but if you are using manual focus (e.g., with other system's lenses), you might just notice the difference. Still, it is negligible and outweighed by the aid to composition this screen provides.

Price: £42 in the U.K. — not cheap, similar to (new) OM screens.

Andrzej: In the U.S. you can buy it at B&H or Adorama of about $50. Who said one pound is 1.8 dollars?

Overall: Is it worth £42? It is expensive, but I recommend that anyone who uses the E-1 should own one.

If you have used a grid in the past, you will love it. If you haven't, then you might be better not investing until you try one. This is largely a matter of personal taste, but anything that helps imaging must be worth considering.

EP-2 Eyecup

Andrzej: Less light entering the finder also means that the camera's light metering becomes more accurate. Why do you think I'm wearing a wide-brimmed hat?

Note: The instruction sheet insists that the viewfinder shutter and diopter adjuster cannot be used with EP-2 fitted. What is true is that while they are more difficult to use, but still work fine. In any case, once you have adjusted the finder for your eyes, it is rarely touched further.

Price: £19 in the U.K. is, again, not cheap — more expensive than the OM-series (plain) eyecup.

Andrzej: In the U.S. it is $25.

Overall: Is it worth £19? Yes, every penny.

Andrzej: Yeah, but you cannot use it on the E-300...