ee-s or split screen for 5D

FM Forums \| Alternative Gear & Lenses \| Join Upload & Sell	Search Used
1 2 end

Archive 2009 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

kahren
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

i need to get a different focusing screen for my 5d to make manual focusing easier on my alternative lenses without AF, which screen should i get the ee-s precision matte or the split image focusing screen. ive used my friends film milnolta with the split screen and sometimes i felt like it would take too long to acquire something in focus(maybe its just me, and i didn't have enough practice with it?) is the ee-s easier to use? what do you guys prefer, any thoughts opinions? should i get both and see which ones works better for me?

edit:
not sure how much darker the ee-s screen is but i don't own any zooms and all my primes are faster then f2

Edited on Nov 17, 2009 at 09:30 AM · View previous versions

Nov 17, 2009 at 07:12 AM

Daniel Heineck
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #2 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

EE-s is fantastic. Highly recommended, almost like buying a new camera. I got lucky and didn't even need to shim mine.

D

Nov 17, 2009 at 07:15 AM

aoluain
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

the ee-s screen is slightly darker than the standard screen
so you really need to use fast lenses from 2.8.

Nov 17, 2009 at 08:47 AM

kahren
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

aoluain wrote:
the ee-s screen is slightly darker than the standard screen
so you really need to use fast lenses from 2.8.

i am not really concerned with it getting darker, as i do not really have any slow lenses

Nov 17, 2009 at 09:31 AM

aoluain
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

fair enough, just thought I'd mention it.

Nov 17, 2009 at 09:49 AM

edwardkaraa
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #6 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

One of the attractions of MF is the ability to focus anywhere in the frame without having to recompose. I would avoid the split screen.

Nov 17, 2009 at 10:25 AM

Maximilian
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #7 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

I would love a split-screen for my 5DmII, but I don't know where to get one, and if, how I could shim it. Any suggestion?

Nov 17, 2009 at 11:22 AM

rsrsrs
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

i tried it and it did not work.
in korea is somebody who shims a nikon FM3a (?) split screen into a 5D.
i asked him to if he could send me one, but he told me that it has to be adjusted
to every cam separately, and i did not wanted to post my cam. maybe i should.

there is an old thread about it.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Reinhard

Nov 17, 2009 at 11:32 AM

Lotusm50
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #9 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

Maximilian wrote:
I would love a split-screen for my 5DmII, but I don't know where to get one, and if, how I could shim it. Any suggestion?

+1. The ee-s, or the equivalent on my 5D is just not good enough, especially with wider lenses. It better than stock, for sure. But I would prefer a split image.microprism combo for a focus screen. Call me old-fashioned.

Try KatzEye: http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/ , or
www.focusingscreen.com (I got a screen from them for my Kodak SLR/n, but screwed up the install, so I can't report on how good it is), and
Haoda: http://haodascreen.com/sifs.aspx

Nov 17, 2009 at 11:42 AM

Lance Lee
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #10 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

I've used split image/microprism Haoda screens for my 10, 20 and 40D's, and it would be very hard to go back. It makes manual focusing actually doable.

Nov 17, 2009 at 12:01 PM

kahren
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

seems that some people say the ee-s is better and others say the split prism is better
do i have to try both?

Nov 19, 2009 at 09:42 PM

Cableaddict
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #12 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

Tons of threads on this already.

Most folks, including me, prefer the matte screen (Ee-s) as it doesn't limit how you compose the shot. YMMV. If all I did was portraits, I'd get a split-screen.

Anyway, I use & highly recommend the Bill Maxwell brightened Ee-s. I don't usually bother with stop-down focusing (I like to see what I'm getting) so this really helps.

It can throw off your metering slightly (very slightly, and only at certain apertures) but that doesn't bother me since I pretty much always chimp my shots anyway.

Costs just shy of $200. Worth every cent.
----

Whatever you use, you may have to shim the new screen, so be prepared for that. Do a little research on how, and pre-order some washers (shims) from Canon.

Nov 19, 2009 at 10:09 PM

gcrimmins
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

With lenses faster than 2.8 the ee-s helps a lot with focusing accuracy. With lenses f4 and slower it probably makes it more difficult because it's a lot darker with slow lenses.

Split image is nice and precise if you have time to recompose the shot.

And if you have lots of time to compose, then magnified live view is the most accurate of all, in my experience.

--Geoff

Nov 20, 2009 at 05:38 AM

edwardkaraa
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #14 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

Most WA lenses, and notably the Zeiss, have complex field curvature characteristics. Using the center split image to focus and then recompose will inevitably place your subject outside of the focus plane. This may or may not be a problem depending on what you shoot. In my experience, with such lenses, it is much better to compose before and focus on the matte screen after. Not only the subject elements are placed exactly where they should be in relation to the field curvature, but also if you have a keen eye, it helps to understand how the curvature works for each lens and how to use it creatively.

Nov 20, 2009 at 07:10 AM

ianpaterson
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #15 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

I would love splitscreen focusing on my 5d mk II, but my understanding is that it screws with spot metering, which is a deal breaker for me. Some people report that it varies with each lens and they can achieve consistent results as long as they compensate for that lens, but I'm leery of this.

I wish you could change where it takes the spot metering from. Doesn't the k10 have this ability?

Nov 20, 2009 at 08:43 AM

Jos Tesseract
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #16 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

i finally got a ee-S

we'll see how this works out for me.

Sep 08, 2010 at 06:33 PM

haavee
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #17 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

I got an elcheapo split + prism screen for my 5D2 and have mixed feelings about it.

The splitscreen does allow you to focus very nicely - in the center indeed. recomposing with WA lenses most often destroys your accurate focussing (however that sometimes is offset by the fact that WA lenses focus only out to ~3 meters so it may be highly subject/composition dependant on the actual effect).

My main gripe is that It throws the metering *way* off - especially with my f/4 L lenses. Not just a bit off, almost unusably off. The compensation is target f-stop dependant and not linear (~ 2 to the power of [difference between target f-stop and f/2.8 in stops]).

With the fast alt glass the only somewhat reliable method of metering is: set the exposure correctly with a f-value of less than f/2.8 and from there do deadreckoning - ie close down to desired f-stop and for each stop double the exposure time.

I am just about to fed up that I've been thinking of getting the Ee-s, just to see how well that one fares.
The katzeye looks really good but is a tad expensive (or a modified Ee-s, that sounds really good). Oh well, maybe one day ...

h.

Sep 08, 2010 at 07:38 PM

AhamB
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #18 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

You can get the Ee-s for GBP23/~28 euros on ebay, so that hardly breaks the bank (even if you end up not liking it).
I actually just decided to buy one.

Sep 09, 2010 at 08:22 AM

johnahill
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #19 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

I've got a used ee-s going spare if anyone wants to try it out.
It's got a couple of small (2mm) scratches on it, so I replaced it with a new one.

First one to ask here on this thread will get it (free) and I'll post world wide (free also, well it's ony a couple of quid so I'm happy to share the alt love)

Sep 09, 2010 at 08:33 AM

haavee
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #20 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

Oh well allright then - since you insist

Consider me asking!

Sep 09, 2010 at 09:51 AM

Krosavcheg
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #21 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

What about slow lenses and split-prism screens? Any recommendations?
I would naturally assume that screens aimed at slower lenses is still very much useable with faster ones?

Sep 09, 2010 at 10:04 AM

haavee
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #22 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

@Krosavcheg: are there screens aimed at slower lenses? You mean the brightened ones?
I'd assume they would work even better still with faster lenses. Physcially I don't think they are very different ...

Then again: I cannot tell from experience so I'd be happy to learn from others who do have.

cheers,
h.

Sep 09, 2010 at 10:12 AM

Krosavcheg
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #23 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

Haavee: Sorry, I just don't have any experience with focusing screens on Canon DSLRs, and so I assume that when everybody recommends Ee-s screens for "faster lenses" (that would imply 1.2 and up to 3.6 perhaps?) the use an f4 or 5.6 max aperture lens would require some other kind of screen?

Sep 09, 2010 at 10:17 AM

johnahill
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #24 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

haavee wrote:
Oh well allright then - since you insist

Consider me asking!

Consider it yours.
PLease send me a pm with your name and delivery address

Sep 09, 2010 at 11:13 AM

haavee
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #25 · ee-s or split screen for 5D

No worries Krosavcheg!
With any of the split-image screens focussing becomes practically impossible @f/5.6 irrespective of the lens' speed. It happens with the good old non-digital SLRs since at around f/5.6 one of the halfs of the split-image becomes black making it neigh on impossible to use it for focussing.

At f/4 it is still doable but typically the viewfinder image is already pretty darkened by then - I guess that "brightened" screens do help a bit in this situation. Still, focussing is, based on my experiences, still best done with the lens wide open ...
OTOH: it is a good reason for replcing your f/4 lenses with (way) faster ones

cheers,
h

Sep 09, 2010 at 12:25 PM


FM Forums \| Alternative Gear & Lenses \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 end