Eyepiece magnification — raise your manual focus keeper rate
I use manual focus lenses a great deal; any visual help is a big plus. If you’re a Nikon shooter I recommend the DK-17M magnifying eyepiece (1.2X) for the Nikon D2x/D3 or the DK-21M for the D200/D300/etc. Try one today—it might just increase your “keeper” rate when shooting manual focus lenses such as the Zeiss ZF optics.
Nikon DK-17M for Nikon D3
I use/have used the DK-17M on the Nikon D3 and D2x. Especially on the D3, there’s no optical drawback that I can discern; swapping back and forth with the stock eyepiece I unequivocally prefer the DK-17M. The 1.2X magnification definitely makes seeing focus with fine detail significantly easier, and even when using AF lenses, I prefer the enlarged view. The eyepiece does protrude more than the stock eyepiece, which can tend to make it “catch” slightly on ones’ clothing, something one notices and then quickly forgets about.
The rectangular DK-21M fits on a variety of Nikon DX camera bodies (D300/D200/Dxx). Perhaps due to its shape and smaller area it is not as unequivocally superior as the DK-17M, but it offers the same 1.2X magnification benefit for manual focusing—unless you are focusing near the corners, which go slightly blurry and darker. I used it for more than a year on the Nikon D200 and felt it was an improvement for most uses, keeping it on the camera permanently.
As I do not wear eyeglasses, I cannot speak to the issues with them, but a friend of mine uses eyeglasses with his D3/DK-17M combo and prefers it as I do. Results might vary with the D300/D200/Dxx + DK-21M combo.
