Canon 60D and Ef-S focus screen.

I currently use my 60D with an Ef-D grid focus screen since i shoot a lot of landscapes and cityscapes, primarily with my 15-85. I've recently acquired a new Sigma 30mm f/1.4 which are being discontinued, I couldn't pass it up for $289. My (second) copy seems to be a good one.

I'm considering getting an Ef-S focus screen to improve manual focusing with this lens. As per Canon, the "Ef-S Focusing Screen is optimized for wide-aperture lenses from f/1.8 to f/2.8." Will it provide any focusing advantage at f/1.4? Will it provide any advantage when stopped down greater then f/2.8? Will it have a negative effect on manual or auto focus of my 15-85 which has a maximum aperture of f/3.5? I often use my 15-85 at f/8. I'm concerned about the brightness of the Ef-S in varied lighting conditions. Is it significantly dimmer? Can it be used successfully as a general focus screen even when using slower lenses? Any experiences with this screen would be helpful even if from a different body. Thanks.

Doesn't anyone have experience with the Ef-S screen?

Just installed one in my 60D, haven't had much time to test it yet.

Carver708 wrote in post #15673587
Just installed one in my 60D, haven't had much time to test it yet.

Give me an update when you've had a chance to use it.

Sorry, can't add to your question but where did you get the 30/1.4 for $300?

mwsilver wrote in post #15671635
I currently use my 60D with an Ef-D grid focus screen since i shoot a lot of landscapes and cityscapes, primarily with my 15-85. I've recently acquired a new Sigma 30mm f/1.4 which are being discontinued, I couldn't pass it up for $289. My (second) copy seems to be a good one.

I'm considering getting an Ef-S focus screen to improve manual focusing with this lens. As per Canon, the "Ef-S Focusing Screen is optimized for wide-aperture lenses from f/1.8 to f/2.8." Will it provide any focusing advantage at f/1.4? Will it provide any advantage when stopped down greater then f/2.8? Will it have a negative effect on manual or auto focus of my 15-85 which has a maximum aperture of f/3.5? I often use my 15-85 at f/8. I'm concerned about the brightness of the Ef-S in varied lighting conditions. Is it significantly dimmer? Can it be used successfully as a general focus screen even when using slower lenses? Any experiences with this screen would be helpful even if from a different body. Thanks.

First, the lens is always wide open until you hit the shutter button, so it doesn't matter if you're at f/1.2 or f/22, the view through the viewfinder will be the same. The stock screen can't give an accurate representation of the DOF with lenses wider than f/2.8, which makes manually focusing.....interesti​ng. If you don't intent to focus manually the S screen won't be of any use to you. It will make quite a sizable difference if you are manually focusing however. I use the Eg-S screen in my 5DII and wouldn't consider going back to the stock screen. It's nice to be able to just manually focus on the fly and know I'm right on.
edit: BTW, I use this in conjunction with a few old FD lenses that have to have the aperture stepped down manually before shooting and am still able to focus and compose just fine. I use it with an f/4 lens at night with no issues either.

John from PA wrote in post #15673605
Sorry, can't add to your question but where did you get the 30/1.4 for $300?

Where have you been John? It's being discontinued and will shortly be replaced. Everyone has been selling it like hotcakes for between $284 and $289. B&H, Adorama, and Beach all were selling it in that price range. A lot of folks here picked one up in the last few weeks. The Canon mount is pretty much unavailable now and the few places that still have it are apparently asking more. Sorry you missed out.

Scatterbrained wrote in post #15673629
First, the lens is always wide open until you hit the shutter button, so it doesn't matter if you're at f/1.2 or f/22, the view through the viewfinder will be the same. The stock screen can't give an accurate representation of the DOF with lenses wider than f/2.8, which makes manually focusing.....interesti​ng. If you don't intent to focus manually the S screen won't be of any use to you. It will make quite a sizable difference if you are manually focusing however. I use the Eg-S screen in my 5DII and wouldn't consider going back to the stock screen. It's nice to be able to just manually focus on the fly and know I'm right on.
edit: BTW, I use this in conjunction with a few old FD lenses that have to have the aperture stepped down manually before shooting and am still able to focus and compose just fine. I use it with an f/4 lens at night with no issues either.

Duh, of course the view finder is wide open. What was I thinking? I'm really considering it. My new Sigma 30 mm is a pretty decent lens at a great price, but one of it's known issues is occasional inconsistent AF in lower light, probably a result of the reverse engineering for that lens. Since lower light is one of the main reasons I got it, I'm thinking manual focusing with the S screen would resolve my occasional focusing issues. Thanks.

I installed an EF-S screen immediately after i bought my 60D a little bit over a year ago. So, to cut the story short, I definitely say, go for it. It is so much better for manual focusing than the stock screen, the first moment you try it all your doubts will be dispelled.

Now a few details. I generally use a 18-135 f3.5-5.6 lens. Even though it is not a fast lens, I can easily focus at any focal length (which means any maximum aperture between 3.5 and 5.6) even in pretty low lite conditions. Before I bought 60D, I used an old Nikon film camera. Manual focusing with it was much better than with 60D's stock screen. That was the reason I decided to go for EF-S screen because after my old Nikon it was a shock to me how difficult manual focusing seemed to be with the stock screen. But focusing with EF-S screen is even easier than with my Nikon. The image does look darker than with the stock screen but still bright enough. And the main thing, even when you are slightly out of focus, you immediately see the blur. That is why manual focusing is so easy.

Yes, it is stated that EF-S should be used with fast lenses of f2.8 and faster. That was also the main concern for me when I was deciding whether to buy it or not. But now my experience shows that even at f5.6 focusing with it is very easy. Lenses faster than f2.8, like your f1.4 are no problem. The faster it is the brighter your image will be and that does not have any adverse effect on the ease of focusing.

And finally regarding shooting at f8 or other small apertures. As others have already mentioned, a lens remains always at its maximum aperture until you press the shutter button. So it does not matter what aperture you set, manual focusing will always be done at the lens's maximum aperture.

ldor wrote in post #15674455
I installed an EF-S screen immediately after i bought my 60D a little bit over a year ago. So, to cut the story short, I definitely say, go for it. It is so much better for manual focusing than the stock screen, the first moment you try it all your doubts will be dispelled.,

Now a few details. I generally use a 18-135 f3.5-5.6 lens. Even though it is not a fast lens, I can easily focus at any focal length (which means any maximum aperture between 3.5 and 5.6) even in pretty low lite conditions. Before I bought 60D, I used an old Nikon film camera. Manual focusing with it was much better than with 60D's stock screen. That was the reason I decided to go for EF-S screen because after my old Nikon it was a shock to me how difficult manual focusing seemed to be with the stock screen. But focusing with EF-S screen is even easier than with my Nikon. The image does look darker than with the stock screen but still bright enough. And the main thing, even when you are slightly out of focus, you immediately see the blur. That is why manual focusing is so easy.

Yes, it is stated that EF-S should be used with fast lenses of f2.8 and faster. That was also the main concern for me when I was deciding whether to buy it or not. But now my experience shows that even at f5.6 focusing with it is very easy. Lenses faster than f2.8, like your f1.4 are no problem. The faster it is the brighter your image will be and that does not have any adverse effect on the ease of focusing.

And finally regarding shooting at f8 or other small apertures. As others have already mentioned, a lens remains always at its maximum aperture until you press the shutter button. So it does not matter what aperture you set, manual focusing will always be done at the lens's maximum aperture.

Thank you very much for your detailed description. It was very useful since my main outdoor lens is a 15-85 f/3.5-5.6. I was most concerned about any negative impact on that lens. If it works with your slow lens than mine should be fine.

I happened to be in Unique Photo, A moderate sized "Super Store" in Northern NJ. They has one Ef-S left and it was only $32.99 which was the best price I'd seen by several dollars. I put it in. It really is very effective with a fast lens, but unfortunately I felt it was too dim with my 15-85, especially at f/5.6 in late afternoon light. Taking some shots in my backyard with waning light at 85mm, I could barely see the subject. Earlier in the day with more light it wasn't a problem. I didn't try it with my CPL, but i suspect on some shots it would be too dark to see anything. Now with my Sigma 30mm, it was a success. It was significantly easier to focus than with the Ef-D. But since my 15-85 is my primary outdoor lens and works well indoors with bright lighting, I founds the Ef-S screen was too much of a compromise. I'll hold on to it. You never know when I may get a 17-55 f/2.8! It was an interesting experiment and I'm grateful for the responses but I'll be putting the use of this screen on hold for a while.

I have the 60D with the Ef-S focusing screen and I love it! It gets dark with small apertures (high f-numbers above f/2.8) but it's perfect for manual focus. Still not as good as my EOS 3000N film SLR, though.

gigolo wrote in post #15682225
I have the 60D with the Ef-S focusing screen and I love it! It gets dark with small apertures (high f-numbers above f/2.8) but it's perfect for manual focus. Still not as good as my EOS 3000N film SLR, though.

It was great using it with my Sigma 30mm 1.4, but i also use my 15-85 s lot and it was just way too dim at f.5.6 in anything but bright light, Its too bad, because it made manual focusing much easier on both my 15-85 and my Sigma.

i had ef-s screen on my 60D too, from memory it only shows dof correctly up to f/1.8

in saying that i find it invaluable for manual focusing, does make it so much easier, particularly when i was doing macro on my 60D made a lot of difference (something i really miss on my 5D3)

basketballfreak6 wrote in post #15683006
i had ef-s screen on my 60D too, from memory it only shows dof correctly up to f/1.8

in saying that i find it invaluable for manual focusing, does make it so much easier, particularly when i was doing macro on my 60D made a lot of difference (something i really miss on my 5D3)

Agree. I may put it back in as needed when I use my fast lens more extensively than my 15-85.