Hey guys,
Today I received a split image focus screen for my Eos 350D and thought I would share my findings with you as I'm sure there are other people here who are interested in such a product.
Intro:
Like many who have the Canon 350D I have been a little disappointed with its focusing ability with fast lenses, such as the 50m F1.8. The accuracy at large apertures leaves much to be desired!
I have also over the past year acquired a selection of M42 lenses which can be used to great effect on the Canon using a cheap adapter. These lenses are cheap and can offer great performance (most notably the Carl Zeiss Jenna 135mm F3.5) These lenses of course have no auto focus and thus must be manual focused.
Manual focusing on the 350D is not easy thanks to quite a small screen and no manual focus aids.
After doing some research, I found that I could buy and replace the focusing screen in the camera with one which has a split prism focus screen. This would enable to accurately manual focus my M42 lenses and also the Canon 50mm at large apertures.
Split Prism Focusing Screens:
For those of you unaware of these, they are what was used in Manual SLR's before auto focus took over. Basically you have a center circle cut through the middle. The two halves are misaligned when out of focus and aligned when in focus, so you simply turn the focus ring untill both sides are aligned.
Around this circle you also have another collar which has micro prisms. These produce a kind of aliasing effect when out of focus and smooth when in focus.
The Options:
After doing a bit of research I found three sources of focus screens which are available for most DSLR's.
KatzEye: http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/
These are probably the best available, they are made in a special way so that you can focus slow lenses up to about F11! However they are expensive at about £60 inc Delivery. Considering I don't have any lenses slower than F3.5 I decided these weren't worth the cost.
Haoda: http://haodascreen.com/CanonDSLR.aspx
These are somewhat cheaper and still very well respected from the reviews i have found. They are about £40 but have the usual split prism problem of only being able to focus lenses up to F5.6, not a problem for most. I was about to order one of these until I found the following.
virtualvillage Focus Screen: eBay
These are by far the cheapest of the lot at only £20 inc Delivery! I couldn't find any reviews but decided I may as well buy one to try it out.
Installing the Screen:
The screen arrived well packaged but with no documentation. This wasn't a problem I could just use the instructions for the Haoda screen: https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/haodafu/web/ChangeScreen.pdf
It's really quick and easy to install just using a couple of tools off a standard swiss army knife! (tweezers and tooth pick). Basically you just unclip the metal bracket holding on the old screen, take that out, then the screen is loose, so you can take that out. Notice the orientation! You then just put the new screen in (matt side towards the mirror bos) and replace the metal clip. It's a bit scary at first, but really easy.
First Impressions:
Wow! it's fantastic! what a revelation. really easy to focus. First I tried it with the Canon 50mm. it is clear to see that the camera is only getting the focus correct about half the time, so no more wasted shots wide open!
Next I loaded a few of my M42 lenses and it worked just as well, really quick to focus and it appears to be completely accurate
I have found with fast lenses (F3.5 or faster) The microprism gives the easiest way of focusing and at smaller apetures i'll used the split screen which works well up to about F6.3 (My Carl Zeiss 135mm F3.5 with 2x Tele (thus F6.3))
Problems:
The only down side to having this focus screen is that you loose the red dots informing you which bit is in focus. however, as you can see if it's in focus or not these aren't really needed! Some people say there are metering problems but I have yet to have any.
Conclusions:
I am extremely happy with this purchase, for £20 you can't go wrong. It enables me to make better use of some quality old M42 lenses and check the focus of the Canon 50mm. i highly recommend it to anyone who wants to manual focus on their DSLR!
Today I received a split image focus screen for my Eos 350D and thought I would share my findings with you as I'm sure there are other people here who are interested in such a product.
Intro:
Like many who have the Canon 350D I have been a little disappointed with its focusing ability with fast lenses, such as the 50m F1.8. The accuracy at large apertures leaves much to be desired!
I have also over the past year acquired a selection of M42 lenses which can be used to great effect on the Canon using a cheap adapter. These lenses are cheap and can offer great performance (most notably the Carl Zeiss Jenna 135mm F3.5) These lenses of course have no auto focus and thus must be manual focused.
Manual focusing on the 350D is not easy thanks to quite a small screen and no manual focus aids.
After doing some research, I found that I could buy and replace the focusing screen in the camera with one which has a split prism focus screen. This would enable to accurately manual focus my M42 lenses and also the Canon 50mm at large apertures.
Split Prism Focusing Screens:
For those of you unaware of these, they are what was used in Manual SLR's before auto focus took over. Basically you have a center circle cut through the middle. The two halves are misaligned when out of focus and aligned when in focus, so you simply turn the focus ring untill both sides are aligned.
Around this circle you also have another collar which has micro prisms. These produce a kind of aliasing effect when out of focus and smooth when in focus.
The Options:
After doing a bit of research I found three sources of focus screens which are available for most DSLR's.
KatzEye: http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/
These are probably the best available, they are made in a special way so that you can focus slow lenses up to about F11! However they are expensive at about £60 inc Delivery. Considering I don't have any lenses slower than F3.5 I decided these weren't worth the cost.
Haoda: http://haodascreen.com/CanonDSLR.aspx
These are somewhat cheaper and still very well respected from the reviews i have found. They are about £40 but have the usual split prism problem of only being able to focus lenses up to F5.6, not a problem for most. I was about to order one of these until I found the following.
virtualvillage Focus Screen: eBay
These are by far the cheapest of the lot at only £20 inc Delivery! I couldn't find any reviews but decided I may as well buy one to try it out.
Installing the Screen:
The screen arrived well packaged but with no documentation. This wasn't a problem I could just use the instructions for the Haoda screen: https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/haodafu/web/ChangeScreen.pdf
It's really quick and easy to install just using a couple of tools off a standard swiss army knife! (tweezers and tooth pick). Basically you just unclip the metal bracket holding on the old screen, take that out, then the screen is loose, so you can take that out. Notice the orientation! You then just put the new screen in (matt side towards the mirror bos) and replace the metal clip. It's a bit scary at first, but really easy.
First Impressions:
Wow! it's fantastic! what a revelation. really easy to focus. First I tried it with the Canon 50mm. it is clear to see that the camera is only getting the focus correct about half the time, so no more wasted shots wide open!
Next I loaded a few of my M42 lenses and it worked just as well, really quick to focus and it appears to be completely accurate
I have found with fast lenses (F3.5 or faster) The microprism gives the easiest way of focusing and at smaller apetures i'll used the split screen which works well up to about F6.3 (My Carl Zeiss 135mm F3.5 with 2x Tele (thus F6.3))
Problems:
The only down side to having this focus screen is that you loose the red dots informing you which bit is in focus. however, as you can see if it's in focus or not these aren't really needed! Some people say there are metering problems but I have yet to have any.
Conclusions:
I am extremely happy with this purchase, for £20 you can't go wrong. It enables me to make better use of some quality old M42 lenses and check the focus of the Canon 50mm. i highly recommend it to anyone who wants to manual focus on their DSLR!
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