Split focus screens for 5D mark II?

[jrw]

Was wondering if anyone out there has any experience with using a split focus screen in the 5D Mark II?

Have access to some manual primes that I am thinking about using adaptors with. Expect to use liveview with the wider ones for landscapes, but am curious whether you find that changing the focus screen is worth it when using the viewfinder. Experimenting with MF and no IS using current lenses I am finding focusing consistently comes close, but not nailed for all shots, at least with normal and short telephoto.

Just hoping some of you have already gone down this path and could provide some recommendations.

[neuroanatomist]

Split prism screen, no, although they are available from 3rd party vendors. I do use the Canon Eg-S screen for MF with fast primes (85L, 135L), since the stock screen shows an f/2.8 DoF even with faster lenses.

[jrw]

Knew it was a long shot seeing as Canon orphaned the manual FD lenses with the EF mount. Just wasn't too sure about how the relatively small area used for manual focus would work out. Have decided to go with an LCD screen loupe as I know that will work for a similar cash outlay.

[M_Six]

A company called Katzeye makes split prism screens for most of the Canon bodies. I'm going to grab one for my T1i once my new 7D gets here.

[jrw]

Ran across Katzeye when I did the Google search to see what was out there. My concern was that the area available for viewing is relatively small and in the centre which might not be the best for composition. Yes, I did start out many years ago with film when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, which is where some of the lenses available are from. Amazing how the years with technological advances in digital shooting have changed my perspective and expectations of products.

If you do get one, I know I would be very interested in any feedback you might be willing to provide on how it works out for you.

[M_Six]

I finally ordered one of these today. They're a few weeks behind with fulfilling orders though, so I don't expect to receive it for a a while yet.

[Dr Croubie]

I ordered my KatzEye for my 7D only a week or two ago, got the email this morning saying it's been shipped. So I should get it mid next week if i'm lucky (that and my Kirk L-bracket and efs15-85 are probably all that's stopping me from going 5D3 atm)

[M_Six]

Got my Katzeye yesterday and installed it today. Do not try this without a good lighted magnifying lens if your eyesight isn't really good. I have a so-so lighted magnifier and it was a royal pain trying to see what I was doing.

That said, I did eventually get it installed properly and I think if I have to do it again, it would be easier. I'm fairly happy with the results. Below are some comparison images with 100% crops.

Auto focus and 100% crop.





Manual focus and 100% crop





One more manual focus with crop.

[jrw]

Thanks for the photos. Seems to be working out for you. Will need to put some thought into keeping a 5D2 body, changing the focus screen, and using it as a backup/supplement to 5D3 bodies (getting second one after the light leak issues are resolved and Canon Canada starts shipping them again). Of course, if I wait a little longer perhaps they will become available for 5D3 even though Canon doesn't support the focus screen as being replaceable. It was inserted for assembly, so it can come out... maybe? Time will tell.

[Dr Croubie]

even though Canon doesn't support the focus screen as being replaceable. It was inserted for assembly, so it can come out... maybe? Time will tell.

I'm presuming that the 5D3 screen can be replaced just as easily as the 7D screen. I put my KatzEye split-prism screen in my 7D a few weeks ago, and it's definitely worth it. Installation was nowhere near as hard as they make it out to be with all their warning as such (which are all basically "you can do it yourself, but if you stuff up your camera, we take no responsibility").

I've tried it with a lot of lenses already, mostly FL 55 f/1.2, Zeiss MC Biometar 120/2.8, and 70-300L + Kenko1.4x.

The FL 55 was the first I tried after installing, and I found that at a focus distance of maybe 50cm at f/1.2, the photo and live-view (and AF chip) were focussed maybe 1-2cm closer than the prism was telling me. I haven't had time to investigate fully, firstly tried changing the Diopter which helped a bit but not enough. There's nothing wrong with the screen itself, and i kept all the shims from the original screen. But the original screen just wasn't accurate enough so whether it was calibrated properly or not didn't make any difference.
So it's either that I need thicker or thinner shims for the focussing screen, or maybe the mirror isn't exactly in the right spot. Not sure how I could go about fixing either of these to be honest, so i'm going to have to do more testing with more lenses at more apertures to see how bad a problem it's going to turn out to be.

But with the 70-300L and 1.4x Kenko t/c, it was pretty damn accurate because it was down to f/8 and deeper DOF masked any calibration problems, i'll have to post some samples when i get time to process them.