The large outer circle, the smaller circle inside of it with the diagonal running through it, and then finally, an even smaller circle within that circle that as far as I can tell serves no function. Furthermore, that smallest circle in not centered within the middle circle, but is closer to the upper left of the middle circle as I show in my drawing above. Does anyone have any idea what this might be? A manufacturing glitch?
There are also some very slight circular smudges (almost like a scratch - clearly not something I can clean) on the matte part of the screen but they are not bad enough to bother me (the package insert says there may be some minor smudges but they don't affect the performance of the screen). Still, for the price they are charging it would have been nice to have a totally clean screen.
Right now I am reserving judgement on use of the screen until I have used it for a little bit. It is very easy to insert or remove - takes seconds.
You should really address all of these questions to Brightscreen. I would suggest you call them, and maybe send your screen back for a smudge-free and totally clean screen!
petermendelson wrote:
I just received the Brightscreen split-prism focusing screen for my 5D. I have to get used to using it but it seems pretty cool so far.
I do have two questions:
1) Do you have to set the 5D custom function number 00 to the default EE-A focusing screen, or is it better to use the EE-S setting?
[snip]
Furthermore, that smallest circle in not centered within the middle circle, but is closer to the upper left of the middle circle as I show in my drawing above. Does anyone have any idea what this might be? A manufacturing glitch?
[snip]
There are also some very slight circular smudges (almost like a scratch - clearly not something I can clean) on the matte part of the screen but they are not bad enough to bother me (the package insert says there may be some minor smudges but they don't affect the performance of the screen). Still, for the price they are charging it would have been nice to have a totally clean screen.
[snip]
Peter...Show more →
Hi Peter,
I received my screen today also. I checked the metering before and after swapping the screens and the readings didn't change so I'm going to try it first without any compensation.
The small off-center circle is the spot metering circle that's on a separate screen located just above the focusing screen. That's the same screen that shows the focus points. The two screens don't line up on my camera either. I have no way of knowing if the problem is caused by sloppy manufacturing tolerances by BrightScreen or if the slop is in the carrier for the focusing screen.
My screen also has a couple of smudges that show up in the viewfinder. So far I guess I'd have to say that I'm less than impressed but I'm going to give it a try tomorrow before I make the decision ask for a refund.
There was another thread going about this screen and the guy that had one of the prototypes was using the setting for the Canon matte focusing screen. I don't think it matters though. I had a brightscreen for my 1D and it never affected the metering.
Let me know if the screen actually looks *brighter* to you.
I tried one for the 1D-II, and saw no real difference in brightness. If anything, the Brightscreen was a tad DARKER than the stock Canon screen. Go figure.
Is there any "play" with the screen while it is in place? When I changed the screen on my 20D (with the clamp loosened and the new screen in place), it was possible to move the screen to line up the circles. Not wanting to touch the screen surface, I just held the camera upside down and gently tapped the camera while looking through the finder till the circles lined up then clamped it in that position.
The big question - how do you like it for manually focusing? Does it work well even with slower lenses? I may splurge after I survive the holidays (arrggh).
I am not sure if this has been discussed but the canon 5d E-s screen is not very impressive. The equivalent canon screens for the 1D cameras are much better. Mark
I received a PM from a member, who asked me to look at this thread, which (because I use non-OEM lenses and 'live' on another thread) I hadn't seen.
Re. settings: I had my 5D set to suit the Ee-S (Canon's manual focus screen) as I tried thie first and becasuse my metering was perfect, left it there. I assume that changing this function does change the exposure compensation, otherwise Canon wouldn't have bothered to have provided it, but I have not reset it, as exposures seem spot on to me.
Re. the misalignment of the circles: the inner one is Canon's (the spot metering circle) and is etched onto the thin glass plate under the prism. The larger one is the Brightscreen. The mis-match may be overcome by carefully moving the new screen in the carrier—but be careful, the plastic is soft and can be marked. The instructions say that the variations in carrier dimensions are the probable cause of this. Mine, the first production sample off the line, fits perfectly and did not need any adjustment in this respect.
May I suggest looking through the finder, working out which way the screen needs to be moved (everything's back to front) and then releasing and lowering the carrier, and grasping the tab of the screen with the tool and slightly moving the screen in the desired direction? If you are successful, the circles will be centred perfectly.
IMHO, a small bit of misalignment is not going to be any practical problem, either. The prototype that I tested was not centred (and had not locating tabs or grasping tab) and I did not find it at all a hindrance. YMMV, of course.
hth, kit
Edited by Kit Laughlin on Dec 22, 2005 at 06:44 PM GMT (Reason: typos, darn it!)
the Brightscreens are not, in my experience, any brighter in the matte areas, but in the microprism and split-prism areas go completley clear when in focus, and as the outer collar is so big (as a fraction of the total sight picture), I find the whole package much better than the Canon offerings. cheers, kl
Thanks for stopping by and checking out this thread. Yes, the circle misalignment is only a cosmetic thing, but I wonder how annoying it will be to my eye. Was yours in the same position ?
I had reseated my screen multiple times, but that just showed the outer dimensions of the screen are precise since the circles are misaligned in exactly the same way, each time.
When I saw Petes drawing represented the exact same misalignment, I am wondering if the screen everyone else is receives looks the same. If so, then it would lead one to beleive that they messed up and it is not Canons variation in screen tray alignment.
"Alignment varies slightly between different 5d bodies but can be adjusted.
There should not be any smudges unless the screen has been handled.
No custom functions have been found to date to be needed. The defaults functions have been tested not requiring other settings."
I definitely did not handle the screen except for using the tool to touch the tab only. I will try to adjust the screen position and see how I like using this for a few days.
I received my Brightscreen yesterday. It lines up perfectly -- no off center circles as described by other posters. I am not sure about the brightness but the ease of focusing manually -- or checking or refining the autofocus is a very significant improvement. I have not checked on exposures yet other than looking at histograms, and it looks ok -- but obviously this will require a little more playing. Like Kit my 5D is set for the Ee-s Canon screen, and so far that's where I'm leaving it. The Ee-S is only a very slight marginal improvement over the stock screen. Of course it is relatively inexpensive. You get what you pay for. If anyone wants to buy my Ee-S, let me know. I'll not use it again.
So if you set the cfn for the Canon matte screen the metering will underexpose with the normal screen and likewise if you had a darker screen with it set for the normal screen (default) it would tend to overexpose slightly. Is my logic correct?
