I finally received the split focusing screen for my Pentax K10D tonight. That's about 20 days after clicking the button on Ebay but whatever, I'm very satisfied with the purchase.

I got it from an Ebay seller based in Shanghai who goes by the name cowy07. He sells all sorts of photography accessories, even some obscure stuff like this one. The price was very reasonable - C $20.99 or about RM92, including shipping. Am I recommending him? I suppose I do...

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The youngins among you may wonder what the hell is this thing. As the picture shows (click it to see the full image), it's a piece of glass used in SLR cameras (both digital and film) that reflects what the lens sees into your viewfinder. The older film SLRs uses a laser matte screen with horizontal (sometimes diagonal) split prism circle and a microprism collar in the middle. This split helps you to focus manually, especially when using a manual focus lens. As you can imagine, the current DSLRs are designed with the assumption that it will be used with auto focus lenses, and this thing is no longer necessary. Also, in some cases the split might interfere with the camera's spot focusing. So far I haven't had any problem with the later so I'm a happy camper

There are other 3rd-party screens out there and the most well known is Katz Eye Optics. But man they are pricey... The ones for K10D starts at US$105. I guess it's okay if you don't mind the price tag.

For me, I can't wait to put the all-manual, old Pentax-M SMC f1.4 50mm (in pic) though its phases and hopefully capture some really nice portraits.

By the way, I found this video on YouTube on how to change your K10D focusing screen. The one in this video is not a split focusing screen, but another official focusing screen from Pentax like the ones on this page. You'll see that it's easy to do. But a few words of caution, when you try to pry open the focusing screen, it's also very easy to slip and maybe scratch the mirror that's sitting just below it. So please be very, very careful and don't rush. Okay?