CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

1. Should I invest in a Split Screen for my Nikon D600 for shooting with 600mm & 1000mm manual Lenses. It is really hard to get good focus with the standard Focus Screen
2. Which is the better Lens Nikon 1000mm Mirror or the
MC MTO-11CA 10/1000 MIRROR RUSSIAN LENS

SonyBug

I bought a split screen from KatzEye for a D700 to go with a 500mm f4.0 and it works well. I actually bought a screen for my d800 and not sure if I want to use it as the focus plane is so close and if I screw it up, it has to go to a pro shop for readjustment.

kubie548 Loc: Northwood, Ohio (Wood Co)

I am not familiar with Nikon's screen offerings, but see if they have a microprism focusing screen for long lenses, this would be far easier than a split circle. You'd have to change back to the original screen for your other lenses, but a specialized screen is usually worthwhile, just because it is specialized.
The Nikkor lens is certainly far superior to the MTO. I own the Russian lens, and it is difficult to focus and not very sharp.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

CraigFair,

The split screen focusing screen is a very handy accessory to have in camera. I had one for my old OLY OM-4T years ago.
Don't go for the inexpensive model, you will be sorry with the longer focal length lenses.

What you may prefer is the split screen center and the refractive center ring for the long lenses.

Why?
When you have a wide angle lens (13mm) you usually have a large aperture (f/1.4) to work with, a lot of light transitioning through the lens to camera. The split image focusing screen works perfectly.
When you add longer focal length lenses to the camera (100mm +) you decrease the amount of light transitioning through the lens. The split image center focusing screen will turn black and become unusable.
This is where the split image focusing screen with the refractive center ring comes to the rescue. With a long focal length lens and a maximum aperture opening of f/8, when the split center goes black, the outer refractive ring turns semi dark with bright refractive areas all around the ring. When you manually focus the lens the refractive ring will become brighter as you approach sharp focus, and become transparent at the point of sharpest focus.

All the time you are using the split screen focusing screen, the outer area of ground glass can be used for rough focusing. In the above description I used focal length and f/stops to represent light, the split screen with the refractive focus ring can be used in combination anywhere there is low light.

If you purchase a split screen be sure to consider the ultra bright model.

For my Olympus OM-4T camera changing the focus screens was a simple snap with a specialized tool provided by the screen manufacturer, and they provided a clear plastic case to hold the older screen.

Michael G

ejrmaine Loc: South Carolina

I recently bought and installed a Katz-Eye focus screen on my D7000. I love it, it is easy to use and I'm pleased with the results.

Effate Loc: El Dorado Hills, Ca.

Don't know the Nikon system as I use Canon 5D III but I use live view, 10X magnification and a Hoodman loop for my manual tilt/shift. If speed is not an issue this works excellent.