and then I remembered!

oh if you just got here you missed the good part...

I'll start over:
Several months ago, after picking up two K-r bodies, I remembered just what using a penta-mirror viewfinder was like. (Hint: not good.) I sought options that would enable me to see well enough to focus manually, as at the time I owned several manual primes.  This was also the time when KatzEye bright focusing screens disappeared as the company dealt with financial issues, so the best-known option was unavailable.

So off I went to the search engines, seeking bargain alternatives.  I found a mystery auction dealer that sold one-fits-all Pentax screens for under $20 and ordered a split screen fresnel collared screen.  It took a while to get here but i jumped in when it reached me.

only to find it didn't fit!
The screen was labeled for K-7 only but I was pretty sure it was not so exclusive.  The K-r swap was new to me though, and clearly it wasn't working - so I sought to return the screen for a refund.

only I never sent it back!
So here's where you came in: today I remembered it had not left my shelf.  I still have several manual focus lenses.. but now a K-s1 body makes use of them.  Could it be possible that the old cheap screen would fit the new camera?

yes it can.
So now the K-s1 has focus peaking And a more precise focus screen.  Test images show that it aligns just fine.
Overkill perhaps, but the screen is here anyway.. so why not?

may I, can I - will I Stop?

As vaguely noted in the previous post, a new-to-me SMC 55mm f/1.8 lens is coming my way.  It incubated for several months as I dared to look at 'the K club' posts at pentaxforums, where images from this lens looked mighty good and owners posted a 9.2/10 rating.

pentaxforums.com image

My reasoning is weak: a lens sitting between 30 and 85 should be closer to 55mm than 50.. and oh ys, the SMC-A 50mm f/2 gets poor reviews while the K55 is among the best!  And this was a mere $35 shipped, unreasonably good for this lens.   And how exciting I've just learned a new excu-er reason: 52mm filters, of which I have many more than mere 49s!

Have I not rationalized well? 

All right already, buy the silly thing.  But promise you will stop now!  You say it to yourself, you say it to the dedicated reader of this blog and to any who arrive here by mistake.  Say less, act more - and act in line with what you say.  Please?

In more relaxing news, the Tamron 90mm has sold and all sale threads are closed. The M85 is free of competition from the 1:2 macro.  At some point I shall re-post the KatzEye screen and the 28mm lens whose place is now filled by the nx30/2, so a few more funds may trickle in before the books are closed on the Great Purge of November 2014 :-)

primal group photo

All the primes* sitting at the window, awaiting the K5 IIs' arrival.  

*Sadly the 400mm Hanimar would not fit on the sill :( but it will get its camera-time!

smc17/4fe, vivitar28/2, A50/2, m85/2, m135/3.5.  Coming soon : smcM 28/2.8 vs Vivitar/Kiron 28/2!

The camera arrived soon after, and the 135mm lens had a fine test drive.  This camera comes gently used at ~13k clicks and includes a KatzEye screen implant with split focus and microprism-glass collar to assist with precise focusing, just like the "good old days" - as William Clark once said (from very near here) O! the joy!  The DAL55-300 tested the AF system with good results too, showing plenty of details on Mt Rainier 80+ miles away.  The IIs really amazes with its abundance of fine detail; the absence of a just-in-case AA frequency filter really makes a difference!