In article <3209A5FF.5423@magna.com.au>, kelvinl@magna.com.au says...
>Bob Neuman wrote:

>> F4 screens will fit the F3 and are slightly brighter - it might be worth
>> trying (though they may not appear quite as sharp as F3 screens - I don't
>> know [there is often a trade-off in screens between brightness, contrast,
>> sharpness, and illumination evenness]).

>F4 focusing screens suck :)
>The 'dimmer' screen on my FM2 (both the K2 and B2) is easier to focus
>than my brand-new F4 K screen. And I'm using it in almost no light at
>rock concerts with a 35-70mm f2.8 and 180mm f2.8. The FM2 screens have
>more 'snap'. And high-eyepoint sux. (IMO)
>It's so bad I'm thinking of selling the F4 and getting another FM2 or
>an FE2 or FA to replace it.
>PS. Why doesn't the FA have a cult following, like the FM2 and FE2? They
>were all made around the same time. I really want to know, I am fascinated
>by that camera - does it have a bad street rep?

Hmmm, I just checked out an N90s this morning, after getting new glasses
designed to optimise correction with my "camera eye" for the camera VF
optics. The FE/FM/FA/8008/F3/F4 VF's had been useable with the old glasses,
but the F2/6000/6006/N90 VF's were not. With the new glasses, manual focus
is a "snap" with the FE/FM/FA/8008/F3 VF's (I had not checked any others,
until the N90s this morning) - VERY easy, with fine, sharp, contrasty
VF images. To my surprise, the N90s was STILL unuseable! It looked like
Minolta/Leicaflex screens - bright, and almost sharp, but difficult to
use for critical focusing. This is not acceptable to me. Now you have
me curious - I will check an F4 soon! (I assume that you adjusted the eyepiece diopter control on the F4...;-) BTW, I do like the HP finders
of the newer cameras (but I may be stuck in the 8008/F3 era to get good
screens for manual focus). And I have two FA's, having sold two FE-2's
to get them (I prefer the FE-2, except that the softer shutter release
of the FA helps me with slow hand-held shutter speeds).
Hope This Helps