Manual focus screen

I will be the flip side, i had one in my 5dc, and now have one for my 5d2, 1dsII and it never gets used anymore.

It is good for anything faster than f2, but an f2.8 will actually be darker and make it very hard to use indoors, since you can switch lenses alot faster than screens, i usually don't put mine in and much prefer the gridded screen for leveling horizons and keeping lines straight during fast paced work.

Anytime i want to shoot something where thin DOF is involved, i will just pop on my LCDVF and enjoy a reallly good DOF preview, much better than the focusing screens.

I'm goign to elaborate a bit on why I am considering the new screen. I have a shoot coming up with a model, I want to experiment with shallow DOF in the studio, and also want to maximixe my control over the extent of and location of the DOF as much as possible.

As I shoot w/ the 5DMKII, I am somewhat contstrained to using the center AF point and recomposing while shooting the types of pictures I shoot and using auto focus. Looking back on my past shoots, outdoors, using AF, and using a shallow DOF, I have begun to notice a trend.

As I understand the constraints of my camera and have a feel for the DOF using different lenses at different apetures I am able to use the focus and recompose technique to consistantly get whatever I want into the DOF; however, am not able to controll the extents of the DOF. I can get the eyes in focus if I want, but I can't controll whether they fall into the front of the back of the DOF.

What I really would like to hear about is whether or not the Canon super-precision screen will give me this additional ammount of precision.

More info on the LCDVF please. What is it, will it serve me better given the details in my last post?

Csae wrote in post #15132321
I will be the flip side, i had one in my 5dc, and now have one for my 5d2, 1dsII and it never gets used anymore.

It is good for anything faster than f2, but an f2.8 will actually be darker and make it very hard to use indoors, since you can switch lenses alot faster than screens, i usually don't put mine in and much prefer the gridded screen for leveling horizons and keeping lines straight during fast paced work.

Anytime i want to shoot something where thin DOF is involved, i will just pop on my LCDVF and enjoy a reallly good DOF preview, much better than the focusing screens.

doidinho wrote in post #15132367
More info on the LCDVF please. What is it, will it serve me better given the details in my last post?

I'm guessing it means lcd view finder

jherm87 wrote in post #15132374
I'm guessing it means lcd view finder

Thanks for the clarification.

I have used live view before, and unless there is a technique I am missing, think that it would not offer the spontaneity I would like for this shoot.

I've had pretty good luck 'bracket focusing', for lack of a better description.

When I have the time and the subject is fairly stationary (people, what else?), I'll let the lens auto-focus first (center focus point only on my 60D), take a shot, and then change to manual focus, and adjust the focus ring about 5 degrees one way (my estimate) and shoot again, adust the ring 'back' to where I though it was and shoot, and then about 5 degrees the other way and shoot again. I may do 'intermediate' stops about at 2.5 degrees, as well, if I really want 'the shot'.

Sometimes I get fantastic results. The rest are throw-aways. Typically, these are indoors, no flash, on a monopod, with very poor lighting, with my 24-105 f4L or 135 f2.0L...wide open, of course.

Its a loupe for the LCD, turning it into a giant ground glass.

You essentially shoot in LV, AF is most useful in contrast mode which blacks out for a second, so most often i use MF like in the MF days (woot word play.)

I use it quite often in the Studio, it gives you an exact view of what the sensor is viewing, including 10x loupe if you want.

Shooting in LV is a bit of pain without a finder, i never used to do it before i go the finder, but nowadays whenever i do macro work or studio work, its the most precise way to shoot.

For sheer speed, the focusing screen will serve you better, for precise DOF control, the LCDVF will trump it.

doidinho wrote in post #15132290
What are you using the custom function to compensate for?

The camera's meter reads light passing through the focusing screen to suggest (manual mode) or set exposure (auto modes). Using a different focusing screen with different transmissive properties requires setting the custom function to compensate (C.Fn IV -5).

paulkaye wrote in post #15130727
Does the Tak 50 1.4 focus to infinity on the 5dmkii without fouling the mirror?

I've focused out to about 50ft. without any interference from the mirror. I've never shot at infinity, but for portrait work I never really need to.

OP:

Yes, you really can see a difference when using the precision EG-s screen. Yes, it will make your viewfinder a little darker, and that effect will be more noticeable when using lenses with a max aperture above f/2.8. You either have to accept the trade-off or you don't.

Buy it from Amazon, try it out for a week or so, and if you don't like it just send it back. No harm done.

Csae wrote in post #15132679
Its a loupe for the LCD, turning it into a giant ground glass.

You essentially shoot in LV, AF is most useful in contrast mode which blacks out for a second, so most often i use MF like in the MF days (woot word play.)

I use it quite often in the Studio, it gives you an exact view of what the sensor is viewing, including 10x loupe if you want.

Shooting in LV is a bit of pain without a finder, i never used to do it before i go the finder, but nowadays whenever i do macro work or studio work, its the most precise way to shoot.

For sheer speed, the focusing screen will serve you better, for precise DOF control, the LCDVF will trump it.

Thanks again. I want shoot at a leisurely yet consistent pace, be able to change my position freely without having to worry about slowing the shoot down, and don't want to have to ask the model to hold any poses for more than a second or so. After reading your post I think that the screen will likely serve my purposes better.

oldvultureface wrote in post #15132791
The camera's meter reads light passing through the focusing screen to suggest (manual mode) or set exposure (auto modes). Using a different focusing screen with different transmissive properties requires setting the custom function to compensate (C.Fn IV -5).

The exposure meter, got it thanks. I rarely use my cameras meter, so that's a non issue for me most of the time. Good to know nonetheless in case I do have the screen in and decide to use the cameras meter reading.