Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

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Darwinean_John
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Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Darwinean_John » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:04 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

For ease of use, I'm thinking of investing in a Maxwell Ultra bright focussing screen for my Ebony.
Does anybody have any insights and/or experience of using these screens?
I'll probably use lenses ranging from 72mm - 90mm at the widest up to about 300mm, maybe 450mm.
Do these screens need to be installed by Maxwell or should I be able to do it?
John
Still learning to see

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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Joanna Carter » Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:30 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Just buy it, install it and love it :D

The Maxwell screen is very simple to fit to an Ebony - simply remove the two clips, set the glass cover to one side, remove the original Ebony screen and/or fresnel and drop the Maxwell into place, ensuring the fresnel faces backwards and the frosted side is towards the lens. Then clean and replace the cover glass and refit the clips - you might need to adjust the "bend" on the clips to maintain a slight pressure to keep everything from moving.
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Darwinean_John » Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:39 am Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Ah cheers Joanna.
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Darwinean_John » Wed Feb 03, 2010 12:14 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

An additional issue has just rung my bell.
If I arrange for Badgers to send the Ebony to Maxwell's in Atlanta, won't the documentation seen by our nice UK Import officals (from Maxwells) refer only to the value-added by Maxwell?
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Joanna Carter » Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:27 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

I think you underestimate the abilities of HMRC. If a large box, purporting to only be worth the price of a screen, arrives, don't you think they might be tempted to open it to see why it weighs quite so much? What is more, you would be implicating Bill in an attempt to defraud.

Face it, you're getting a bargain compared with buying in the UK, even with duties and taxes - smile and cough up :wink:
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Darwinean_John » Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:01 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

It's a fair cop, I wouldn't want to get Bill in trouble.
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Joanna Carter » Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:10 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

What you might do to reduce shipping costs could be to ask Bill to send the screen to Badger, so it goes in the same package, thus avoiding some shipping costs and a double hit on duty collection fees when things arrive here.
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Darwinean_John » Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:59 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Ah ok Joanna, I'll sort that.

I'm just ordering screens now but unsure which one of the 3 versions to go for :
- Standard brightness (H-L brilliant matte)
- mid-brightness (H-L brilliant matte plus)
- brightest (H-L ultra brilliant matte)

I guess there is a risk of the Ultra causing difficulties on brighter days - which one due you have Joanna?
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Joanna Carter » Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:21 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Well, when I bought mine, Bill only did the one model. You may need to have a word with him to see what the equivalent would be. I am certainly happy with my screen from 72mm to 400mm.
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Thingy » Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:00 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

I ordered the HI-LUX Ultra Brilliant Matte 4.7 screen and also ordered a special cover glass with the markings for (1) the assymetrical focussing lines (in blue); (2) seperate markings for the 6x9cm & 6x12cm rollfilm backs (red) and; (3) the grid lines (black). If you don't need the grid lines, you might still be interested in getting Bill to make you a cover glass for items 1 & 2.

Here is a reply I received from Bill Maxwell following an enquiry I made about a suitable screen for my Ebony, last year:
Read below for descriptions of screens, current prices, payment and shipping options. I provide my line of HI-LUX focus screens for an incredible variety of both modern and classic cameras of all different formats (35mm, Medium Format, Large Format, DSLRs, Medium Format Digital & Large Format Digital). Feel free to share this information with your friends. You may contact me if you wish at 1+770-939-6644 with questions or to order:

My HI-LUX Brilliant Matte 4.7 focus screen is the finest general purpose focus screen available for 4x5 cameras. It has a very bright, contrasty, very fine grain, high clarity focusing surface that provides superior illumination across the screen with all of your lenses (especially your wide angles) compared to all the other screens on the market. It also performs well with long lenses and long bellows draws. This screen is available (a) without lines, (b) with grid lines. My screen would provide truly superior performance for your Ebony 4x5. The price is $285.00. A custom cover glass can be provided with the asymmetric tilt lines (in blue), 6x9, and 6x12 format lines (in red) as well as the 12.7mm grid lines (in black). The cost of the screen supplied with this custom cover glass is $325.00

***Thingy - My screen is a modern “one piece” screen, which is made of high quality, optical grade plastic, with the brilliant focus surface on the lens side of the screen and the ultra fine groove pitch, high clarity fresnel on the back side (so focus is not affected). There is a clear cover glass on the back side to protect the screen and insure optical flatness. I also have a HI-LUX Ultra Brilliant Matte 4.7 screen (extremely bright, very fine grain focus surface) for $100.00 extra. A HI-LUX Extreme Wide Angle screen is also available as a specialtly screen. Contact me if you are interested in these screens. My screen would work beautifully with your Schneider 120mm Macro lens. If you are going to do much macro where the focusing aperture will be very slow because of the higher magnification (due to the longer bellows extension), you may want to consider my HI-LUX Ultra Brilliant Matt 4.7 screen, which is more than ten times brighter than own my standard HI-LUX Brilliant Matte 4.7 focus screen (my standard screen is already about four times brighter than your current Ebony screen with a better distribution of illumination across the screen).

Payment can be made via a major credit card or international money order. If you want to use a card, we will need your name as it appears on your card, card number, card expiration date, the V code number (the last three numbers on the back of your card, located in the white area where you sign your name), card billing address, shipping address and phone number. You may email your card information by dividing it into two separate emails sent at different times (for example, divide your card number in half). Send one email to maxwellprecisionoptics @ toast.net and the other on to maxwellprecisionoptics @ yahoo.com for purposes of security. You may also pay with an International Payment coupon in US dollars (available from your post office) or some form of international money order (such as Western Union, MoneyGram, etc) which may be wired or mailed. If wiring or mailing an International Payment coupon or paying with an international money order, please make it out to Bill Maxwell. My mailing address is:

Maxwell Precision Optics
PO Box 33146
Decatur GA 30033-0146 USA

Please let me know via email if you are choosing this option.

Your shipping options to the UK are as follows: Express Mail International (insured, can be tracked to your door) is $37.00. There is a $5.00 charge for preparing all international shipments. In addition to your shipping address, we will need a daytime phone number as well. Someone should be available during the day to sign for the package. We need your address in the following form to correctly fill out the label:

Recipient Name
Daytime Phone
Company (if applicable)
Address
Dept/Floor (if applicable)
City
State or Province
Country
Postal Code

Bill Maxwell

*** (Note to customers: Please do not return my email messages back to me as it clogs up my email system) ***
Originally posted at: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=350&hilit=+Focussing+Screen+

Those who tried out my screen last year at the Maldon meeting, can confirm that the screen is exceptionally bright. I can even clearly view macro images under normal light (though low light requires a dark cloth) using my Schneider 120 HM Macro, which on the standard Ebony screen is VERY dim and requires the dark cloth at all times. I have also used it with lenses down to the Schneider 58XL lens.
Love is an Ebony mounted with a Cooke PS945.......

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Thingy
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Thingy » Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:05 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Bill's HI-LUX Extreme Wide Angle screen is only supplied ready mounted in an Ebony 5x4 Focusing Screen Back as it requires special fixture and calibration. The cost of this works out in the region of £1000, so I deferred on buying this as an extra architectural screen. If money is no object however...... :wink:
Love is an Ebony mounted with a Cooke PS945.......

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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Darwinean_John » Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:17 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

How do the assymetric focussing lines help?
Please note that this is my first View Camera so I'm on a steep learning curve.
Cheers
Still learning to see

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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Joanna Carter » Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:41 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Darwinean_John wrote:How do the assymetric focussing lines help?
That depends on which camera you are getting. If you are getting a camera that has a 'U' in the model, then you will have asymmetric movements that are meant to help with focusing but that, in five years of using an LF camera, I have never found necessary. If not, all you need on the screen is a regular grid to help with composition and levelling.
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Darwinean_John » Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:45 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

SV45U2
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Re: Maxwell Ultra Bright Focussing screen

Post by Joanna Carter » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:28 pm Etc/GMT-1+01:00

Personally, I would ask why you ordered that model if you didn't already know about asymmetric movements? Because you can buy a SV45Te, which is a lot less expensive and is virtually the same camera as the SV45U2 but without the asymmetric movements.
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