K-7: KatzEye vs. Live View

I recently upgraded to a K-7 after almost 8 years with an *ist D. On the D, one of my favorite accessories was a KatzEye focusing screen with the Optibrite option. So when I got the K-7, I ordered a KatzEye for it as soon as I could scrape together the money.

When I put the KatzEye on the D around 7 years ago, it had three advantages over the stock screen:
-- Split image & microprism manual focusing aids.
-- More accurate DOF preview for fast lenses, especially about f/2.8 and faster.
-- Brighter than the stock screen.

I never liked how cluttered it made the viewfinder, especially when I was trying to watch for fleeting cute expressions on my young kids, but that was a small price to pay for the improvements.

When the KatzEye for the K-7 arrived, after a few weeks of using the K-7 with the stock screen, I was suprised to find that the Katz-Eye was noticably darker than the stock screen. At first I thought there must be some mistake, like maybe they forgot the Optibrite option. But after switching the same lens back and forth several times between the D and the K-7, I realized that they were about the same. So apparently the K-7's stock screen is that much brighter. I guess I hadn't noticed due to all the other interesting new things to think about on the K-7.

That still left the more important two advantages of the KatzEye. But as I worked my way through the manual, learning more about the K-7 and trying out all its features, I discovered that DOF preview in Live View is even more accurate than with the KatzEye. Which, on reflection, I realized wasn't really surprising.

That still left the most important advantage of the KatzEye, the manual focusing aid. But then I got to the Live View X6 magnification. It didn't take much testing to realize that manually focusing in X6 Live View is even easier than with the KatzEye split image and microprism. That may be in part because wearing eyeglasses keeps my eye away from the viewfinder eyecup, so I probably can't see the split image and microprism quite as well as others can. Focusing in X6 Live view also has the advantage of not requiring any recomposing after focusing, which can be an issue with lenses that have much field curvature, like my Tamron 17-50.

Of course, Live View has its disadvanges, such as not being able to keep it on more than about 5 minutes due to overheating, and image noise from heat. And it generally slows down the shooting process. But Live View can be turned on to focus, then turned off to shoot. I'm thinking that overall, I might be happier with the stock screen, or maybe better yet, the gloriously uncluttered ME-60 plain matte screen.

So...am I crazy?? Any thoughts from others who have used KatzEye focusing screens, and have a K-7 or K-5? Has Live View made the KatzEye obsolete for many people?

Greg