X-700 no focusing screen

I've had my X-700 for a few years now, bought locally with a few lenses and filters. Earlier I searched what a photo of my viewfinder SHOULD look like out of curiosity. When I look through my viewfinder I see a circle with the image surrounded by black and clear optics, along with the shutter speeds on the right side. What I'm missing is apparently called micro prism which is on a focusing screen. I never knew that this was something that was supposed to be in my camera.

If my X-700 had a focusing screen, would it operate better than it does? I've noticed that my ME Super has always taken better photos than the Minolta, but I thought it was simply due to user error.

Pretty long time ago I last handled a Minolta cam with MC/MD lenses and full MF but as far as I remember there were some users who exchanged the split screen/microprism screen by the more tradicional full matte screen. If I remember correctly this was mainly done for macro photography when the split screen wasn't considered the best focussing tool, in part because of its center position and horizontal orientation. The matte screen, despite being significantly darker / less contrasty, was preffered because it allowed to judge focussing in any part of the frame and every orientation. Some sweared that they'd be able to focus much faster with the matte screen.

jds560 wrote:

I've had my X-700 for a few years now, bought locally with a few lenses and filters. Earlier I searched what a photo of my viewfinder SHOULD look like out of curiosity. When I look through my viewfinder I see a circle with the image surrounded by black and clear optics, along with the shutter speeds on the right side. What I'm missing is apparently called micro prism which is on a focusing screen. I never knew that this was something that was supposed to be in my camera.

It's hard to grasp what you're saying there ... but I don't think you're missing anything. The microprisms are integrated with the X-700's focusing screen.

If my X-700 had a focusing screen, would it operate better than it does?

Your X-700 has a focusing screen. If it didn't, you wouldn't be able to see the image you said you can see. You can see the whole image and you can tell when it's in focus, correct?

However, maybe you want a different type of focusing screen. The standard one supplied with the camera looks like this, and it has a microprism 'donut' surrounding a central split image circle:

When things are out of focus, the microprisms show up clearly.

When things are in focus, the microprisms visually 'disappear'.

Other optional focusing screens look like this:

Which type looks like yours, and which type would you like to have?

I've noticed that my ME Super has always taken better photos than the Minolta, but I thought it was simply due to user error.

My vote is user error.

It sounds like you have a P1 or P2 focusing screen installed.

(if you had no focusing screen at all  , you would not be able to see a recognisable  image through the lens)

Hi, I just saw this post, and needed to add that with the Minolta x-700, if you have NO focusing screen you will indeed see the image in a circle, surrounded by black! I confirmed this today by removing the  focusing screen of my X-700, and found out exactly what you are saying! Man when you get a focusing screen for your camera you are going to TRIP! you will see the full viewfinder gets covered by the image you are seeing through the lens and it also help you focus better too. Have you been able to get a focusing screen???
Good luck

This thread has been forgotten for two years, but that recent post made me just curious enough to actually try it myself (on a camera that I don't care about keeping) ... and it's true: a visible image can be formed by a lens even if the focusing screen is removed. Not only is it a badly vignetted circle, but it's also essentially impossible to really obtain focus that way because the image barely changes when the lens is racked between infinity and minimum focus distance.

In any case, I was wrong, and it's not impossible to see an image if the focusing screen is gone. My apologies to the OP, wherever you may be.

Same here. I did not read the comments carefuly enough , if I had I would have realised what he was talking about. I owned an x700 but also had installed several screens for my customers . (easy to do but that is the sort of thing we did often enough)

paul_kew wrote:

Just wondering, how thick is the screen and is the camera set up so that if the image on the underside of the screen is in focus, does trying to focus on the base of the prism instead mean the film image will be out of focus?

maybe 2mm . They were the brightest focusing screens at the time.

neilt3 wrote:

I think rather than vignetting , when your looking threw the viewfinder ( without focus screen ) you might be just looking at the back of the lens ?

Seems reasonable.

Regards seeing an image , if you hold a lens in front of you , you will also see the distant scene clearly .

Not a projected image , just the same as peering through a telescope or microscope .

That's upside down when viewed directly but it gets inverted by the time it hits your eye through the camera's mirror and optical system. The main difference is that I can't really see any change in focus by racking the lens using just my eye whereas I did see at least some change when it was mounted.

I actually used an unimportant A-mount camera and a 50/1.4 lens for my test, and I kind of suspected the other plastic screen (with engraved markings) that I left in place could have helped form an image in some way. The focusing screen naturally suffered a couple of scratches by the time I got it back in place, so I don't want to repeat the experiment with my only X-700. Someone else will have to step up.