Just got mine after ordering it last week - a speedy service for international shipping. Comes with a free blower brush and some shims plus 2 free condoms ( although they are a bit small ) Instalation is easy and it is replacing the Ee-s screen. The cross split is really useful and the rest of the screen seems to be more granular in texture and a bit darker than the Ee-s. There seems to be a bit more 'snap' when you get things in focus and the whole look and feel of the screen is much more old school SLR than DSLR. Wide primes with small rear elements lenses vignette alarmingly but my Tamron 28-75 and 16-35L with large rear elements are not effected so the screen must be very sensitive to the angle of light that hits it. I do notice how good the 1 series cameras are to focus manualy on their screens but they obviously have bigger pentaprism's to cope with teh light fall off. Verdict - the split screen focusing aid is probably worth the change but if you shoot with a lot of wide primes the vignetting may be a problem.
This pretty much mirrors my experience with the screen as well. I didn't pay much attention to it, but now that it's been brought to my attention, I also notice the viewfinder corner darkening on wide angle lenses. The 17-40 isn't that bad, even at 17mm, but my Nikkor fisheye is dark in the corners. The "+" split, however, is perfectly visible up to f/5.6 if I've positioned my eye correctly.
I've tried the Ee-s, Brightscreen, and this modified Ec-L, and the Ec-L is by far my favourite.
shirozina wrote:
Have a look through a 1 series camera if you want to see how it looks.
I owned a 1D and it certainly didn't look any different. Also shot a 1DsMkII and it was pretty boring as well. No cross-split that I can recall on either of them.
StevenPA wrote:
This pretty much mirrors my experience with the screen as well. I didn't pay much attention to it, but now that it's been brought to my attention, I also notice the viewfinder corner darkening on wide angle lenses. The 17-40 isn't that bad, even at 17mm, but my Nikkor fisheye is dark in the corners. The "+" split, however, is perfectly visible up to f/5.6 if I've positioned my eye correctly.
I've tried the Ee-s, Brightscreen, and this modified Ec-L, and the Ec-L is by far my favourite.
I've got an Ec-L in my 1Ds and I love it. Worth waaaay more than the $30 I paid for the screen. The cross split is (at least for me) easier to use than a horizontal split since you have two lines to choose from. Parallax is a problem past f/5.6, but I've actually used mine up into the f/7.7 range...but it's pretty spotty. That's one of the big advantages of a split over the new "Precision matt" screens...you can use slower lenses with them. The only disadvantage to using a split is it messes with the center metering area (it's not accurate through the prism). If you want to use spot metering, you have to tie it to a different focus point. Also, with a flash you can't just use the center focus point...ETT-L is tied to the active point. The Ee-s probably has the advantage here.
For me anyway, I like the old split prism.
Edited by Scott Clark on Dec 05, 2007 at 04:19 PM GMT
cogitech wrote:
Too bad I can't try before buying. I'd love to see the view through that screen. I love my Ee-S, so if this is better....
The Ec-L is money well spent and recoverable on the B&S if need be. I tried the Ee-s with one lens (Contax 35-70/3.4) before deciding that I didn't like it, or rather before deciding it wasn't suitable for use with the lenses I use most often, which tend to be slower. With the Ee-s, I got that "pop" in the viewfinder that you often talk about, Paul, but only with my Oly 50/1.4 wide open was I really happy with that screen.
For MF focusing accuracy and 'snap' the Ee-S is better than the stock 5D screen but this is better still. I wouldn't recomend it if you you regularly use lenses slower than 2.8 as It does get dark but I only have a couple and the cross split works well.
) Instalation is easy and it is replacing the Ee-s screen. The cross split is really useful and the rest of the screen seems to be more granular in texture and a bit darker than the Ee-s. There seems to be a bit more 'snap' when you get things in focus and the whole look and feel of the screen is much more old school SLR than DSLR. Wide primes with small rear elements lenses vignette alarmingly but my Tamron 28-75 and 16-35L with large rear elements are not effected so the screen must be very sensitive to the angle of light that hits it. I do notice how good the 1 series cameras are to focus manualy on their screens but they obviously have bigger pentaprism's to cope with teh light fall off. Verdict - the split screen focusing aid is probably worth the change but if you shoot with a lot of wide primes the vignetting may be a problem.