Split prism focus screen for macro?

I use a Canon 100mm macro (sometimes with tubes) as well as a Tokina 35mm macro on my 40D quite a lot. These are the two lenses I shoot at MF almost exclusively, especially near 1:1.
Whenever I get between 1:2 and 2:1 - AF tends to give up or take forever to find focus so I usually just set my lens to the MFD and move the camera forwards and backwards until I see focus pop up. This technique works very well, but I do have quite a low keeper rate (anywhere between 20 and 50% on focus alone, not including composition). The 35mm can do AF a little bit further, so less of a problem with that, but since I shoot that at bigger apertures (f5.6 - f8 most of the time, versus ~f11 on the 100mm), the correct manual focus can become even more critical.

I was just wondering if anyone around here has experience in shooting macro with a split prism focus screen like the katz eye.
I'm very curious to hear experiences and if it helped your macro focus abilities. The main thing I'm worried about is that it might be harder to see the focus that's not in the middle...

I ordered one a few weeks ago. Not a katz but an el cheapo one (about 40 euros).
I returned it after trying it out for 10 minutes. It considerably darkened my viewfinder which was unacceptable.. You are right, the only part that showed focus was the prism itself but half this prism blacked out all the time which made focussing ever more of a pain.

I'm cured. For macro work the thing sucked royally.
But.. a Katz will likely be much brighter though. Don't know how those perform on the blacking out problem.

Think you are better off with the standard screen or try using liveview.
Brian v.

Another no vote here.

I had a Katz Eye screen for the 40D and it works very well, just not for macro. I didn't like it when I was manual focusing my macro lenses, particularly with the MP-E. I found it hard to "see through the clutter" on the focus screen to see the subject, the ring and prism are very visually distracting. I took out the Katz Eye and put the EF-S. For longer working distance stuff with the 180L the Katz Eye wasn't so bad, the closer I got to the subject the more problems I seemed to have. Part of the problem is composition, I don't compose my macro shots about the centre focus point but instead use one of the other points closer to the rule of thirds intersection point. This means I'm not looking through the optimum prism section of the screen to manual focus but the section that is mostly opaque.

Thanks for the replies, I'll stick with my current normal focus screen. Maybe I'll just order an extra spare battery and stick with live view

I'm going to go against the flow here. I had a Katz split prism in my old 30D, got one for my 40D/50D (when they became the macro bodies) and now that I've relegated the 1D3 to macro, picked up a Canon version for that too (although I'm still sorting out its calibration).

Clearly it's a "Marmite" product but you never know until you try.

Bob

I bought one and installed it in my old 30D. Big maistake. You will never be able to use it for Macro. They don't call it the dark side for nothing.

canonloader wrote in post #10725713
I bought one and installed it in my old 30D. Big mistake. You will never be able to use it for Macro. .....

Was it a Katz-Eyes version or one of the Chinese clones?. As I said above, I've used one in a 30D, 40D, 50D and now a 1D3 (not Katz-Eyes).....all specifically for macro (MP-E, 100L, 180L and Macrophoto 20 and 35mm lenses) without problems.

Bob

Hey Bob, not sure what brand it was, it's been several years. The point is, if I remember right, they are worthless at F/stops above f/5.6 or so, and/or if there isn't much light. I did not know this until recently, certainly not when I owned my 40D, but the 40D and newer cameras all have live view, duuuh, use it.

>1Ds3,1D4,1D3,5D,30D, EF600L, EF400L, EF300L, EF300L, EF200L, EF180L, EF135L, EF100L, EF85L, EF50L, EF35L, EF24L, EF14L, EF70-200L,
EF17-35L, EF28-70L, EF24-105L, TS-E24L, TS-E45, TS-E90, MP-E65, EF50CM, EF15, T/C's, L-SC

You won the lottery huh?

canonloader wrote in post #10726125
..newer cameras all have live view, duuuh, use it.

True, that works nicely for static setups.

Yeah, a little hard to use live view when hand held. The duuuh part was for me though, I owned two 40D's and never knew they had live view until I bought the 7D and someone mentioned the old 40D also had it. LOL Red faced me.

realjax wrote in post #10726162
You won the lottery huh?

I picked most of the stuff up secondhand when I had a job that took me around to different countries...only the bodies and a couple of lenses were bought new.

canonloader wrote in post #10726203
Yeah, a little hard to use live view when hand held.

I've just been experimenting with an LCDVF.....not too bad but something a little more refined will be better. I'm currently waiting for a Z-Finder Pro to be delivered....hopefully this will make Liveview a little more usable in some situations.....I'll report back in due course.

Bob

When I am able to use live view, usually on a tripod and shooting at my light tent, the sharpness of my images went way up. Kind of frustrating knowing it's better than the AF on a MkIII. I have been able to use it for birds a few times, but you got to be ready, quick and lucky.

Canon Bob wrote in post #10726558
I've just been experimenting with an LCDVF.....not too bad but something a little more refined will be better. I'm currently waiting for a Z-Finder Pro to be delivered....hopefully this will make Liveview a little more usable in some situations.....I'll report back in due course.

Bob

The Z-finder arrived a couple of days ago and I had the chance to try it out for MF macro and static birding and I have to say that I'm quite impressed. Build quality and installation is excellent although it comes at a price. The big plus for me is the added stabilty at high magnifications....usin​g the eyecup gives a far better third point of contact than my nose on the LCD screen ever used to.

Bob