Focusing Screens for better Manual Focus with 5D Mark III

[mackguyver]

The 6D also supports interchangeable screens - I have fitted an Eg-S to mine. I suspect that Canon has listened to customer feedback on the 5D3, and the 5D4 may see the return of interchangeable screen. That's one of my reasons for saving some cash by buying a 6D instead of a 5D3

I didn't realize that - it sounds like the old 60D / 7D in which the 60D had interchangeable screens and the 7D did not.  The more I learn about the 6D, the more I'm beginning to think about replacing my 5DII with it.

[sootzzs]

Hi guys,
Very interesting topic! I have a 60D and use manual lenses a lot! I never thought it is possible to change the focusing screen! Great news.

Could anyone please recommend me a good focusing screen for manual photography. Especially for macro work. It would be of great help.

Thanks!

[mackguyver]

Hi guys,
Very interesting topic! I have a 60D and use manual lenses a lot! I never thought it is possible to change the focusing screen! Great news.

Could anyone please recommend me a good focusing screen for manual photography. Especially for macro work. It would be of great help.

Thanks!

It depends on your preference for the prism - if you like to use one, there are several choices.  Otherwise, go for the super precision matte.  It's only good for f/2.8 & faster lenses (slower lenses are darker, but not unusable) but with f/1.2-2.8 lenses, it makes a huge difference - it's actually clear, not grainy, and you can actually see the difference in bokeh between f/1.2 and 2.8.  I had one in my 60D and it was awesome.  Same goes for my 5DII, and when I pick up my 5DIII and try to manually focus, it looks grainy as hell.

[neuroanatomist]

Hi guys,
Very interesting topic! I have a 60D and use manual lenses a lot! I never thought it is possible to change the focusing screen! Great news.

Could anyone please recommend me a good focusing screen for manual photography. Especially for macro work. It would be of great help.

Thanks!

Your options from Canon are limited to:

• Ef-A Standard Laser Matte focusing screen
• Ef-D Precision Matte surface with etched grid lines. The camera’s AF points remain fully visible. Focus characteristics are suited to most lenses.
• Ef-S The Super Precision Matte focusing screen is optimized for wide-aperture lenses from f/1.8 thru f/2.8. Areas that are slightly out of focus appear more out of focus, making it easier to tell when focus is right-on. It is ideal for users who frequently use manual focus in dim light with fast lenses.

Note that these are the same options as for the 5D and 5DII, but they are different sizes and are sold as Ee- and Eg- screens.  The 1-series bodies take the Ec screens, and there are many more options in that format.

The Ef-A is in your camera now.  The Ef-S is great for manual focusing with lenses faster than f/2.8, since the stock focus screen is laser microetched for a brighter viewfinder (good for slower lenses), but the tradeoff is that you see the DoF of ~f/2.5 when looking through the VF, even with a faster lens.  The downside to the Ef-S is if you put on an f/5.6 lens the VF will be dim, perhaps too dim to see effectively in low light.

For 'macro work' you likely have an f/2.8 (or slower) lens, and so you won't benefit from the Ef-S screen.  There are 3rd party options with a variety of modifications (split prisms, microprism collars, etc.) to make manual focusing easier.

Honestly, for macro shooting, I think Live View is far superior to the viewfinder.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

If I were into manual focus, I think I'd strongly consider Magic Lantern and its focus peaking feature.

[cayenne]

If I were into manual focus, I think I'd strongly consider Magic Lantern and its focus peaking feature.

As soon as it at least gets out of Alpha for the 5D3...I'll be putting ML on my camera.

I just don't feel comfortable with it just yet...especially with it setting a permanent 'boot flag' on your camera's firmware that cannot be undone at this stage of the game.

But man...a bit more work, and I'm all over it!!!

cayenne

[e17paul]

Hi guys,
Very interesting topic! I have a 60D and use manual lenses a lot! I never thought it is possible to change the focusing screen! Great news.

Could anyone please recommend me a good focusing screen for manual photography. Especially for macro work. It would be of great help.

Thanks!

It depends on your preference for the prism - if you like to use one, there are several choices.  Otherwise, go for the super precision matte.  It's only good for f/2.8 & faster lenses (slower lenses are darker, but not unusable) but with f/1.2-2.8 lenses, it makes a huge difference - it's actually clear, not grainy, and you can actually see the difference in bokeh between f/1.2 and 2.8.  I had one in my 60D and it was awesome.  Same goes for my 5DII, and when I pick up my 5DIII and try to manually focus, it looks grainy as hell.

I find the super precision matte to be bright enough even with slow zooms. The telephoto darkens to 5.6 at 300mm and gives me no problem, even in dusk conditions outdoors. However, I rarely extend to 300mm indoors.....

[mackguyver]

Hi guys,
Very interesting topic! I have a 60D and use manual lenses a lot! I never thought it is possible to change the focusing screen! Great news.

Could anyone please recommend me a good focusing screen for manual photography. Especially for macro work. It would be of great help.

Thanks!

It depends on your preference for the prism - if you like to use one, there are several choices.  Otherwise, go for the super precision matte.  It's only good for f/2.8 & faster lenses (slower lenses are darker, but not unusable) but with f/1.2-2.8 lenses, it makes a huge difference - it's actually clear, not grainy, and you can actually see the difference in bokeh between f/1.2 and 2.8.  I had one in my 60D and it was awesome.  Same goes for my 5DII, and when I pick up my 5DIII and try to manually focus, it looks grainy as hell.

I find the super precision matte to be bright enough even with slow zooms. The telephoto darkens to 5.6 at 300mm and gives me no problem, even in dusk conditions outdoors. However, I rarely extend to 300mm indoors.....

I found it to be a bit worse on the 60D with it's smaller VF, but it's really just something you get used to over time and not a big deal.  With extenders at f/8 and but more so at f/11, it can be tough, though.

[sootzzs]

Thanks for the awesome advice all (Neuro, great as always!)! Mostly I use old manual focusing lenses for two types of photography: Portrait (with lenses like 58mm 2.0 Helios-44 , 37 2.8 mm Mir 1, Sears 50mm 1.4...even Chinon 135 2. and Macro (with tubes and various enlargers). I guess that for Protrait work the Ef-S would be great with my lenses. But for general use and Macro it could become a pain as I do my casual photography with EF-S 15-85 (3.5-5.6) or EF-S 55-250 and macros need to be atleast at f8 for sufficient depth of field. Hmm... It is quite easy to change the screen (thank you Youtube), but still doen't looks like a healthy thing to do on a regular basis.

About Live view: I totally agree that it is the best tool when taking macros of still objects in controlled environment, but outside, with direct sunlight and moving bugs it not as easy and I tend to use the VF a lot more. A split prism like I have on my lovely Pentax Super ME (not a just Canon fanboy ) could be a great all purpose screen.   

I've fond these on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-45-Focusing-Screen-For-Canon-40D-50D-60D-Camera-/250805194814?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6527903e  .
 Also the 180 degree. Have no idea what is the meaning of it. Can anyone comment on the quality and usefulness of these? How about the Ef-D? Would it work for both purposes?

George, sorry for hijacking the topic a bit. Just didn't feel important enough to open a new one. 

[neuroanatomist]

I've fond these on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-45-Focusing-Screen-For-Canon-40D-50D-60D-Camera-/250805194814?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6527903e  .
 Also the 180 degree. Have no idea what is the meaning of it. Can anyone comment on the quality and usefulness of these? How about the Ef-D? Would it work for both purposes?

The eBay ones are split prism like old manual focus cameras - I think dual 45° is two splits in an 'X' (vs. a '+') and the 180° is a single horizontal line split. The Ef-D just adds a grid for composition aid to the Ef-A.

Have you considered a right angle attachment like Canon's Angle Finder C?  Makes on-the-ground shots easier, and I've found the 2.5x magnification helpful for manual focus through the VF for macro shooting.

[sootzzs]

I've fond these on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dual-45-Focusing-Screen-For-Canon-40D-50D-60D-Camera-/250805194814?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6527903e  .
 Also the 180 degree. Have no idea what is the meaning of it. Can anyone comment on the quality and usefulness of these? How about the Ef-D? Would it work for both purposes?

The eBay ones are split prism like old manual focus cameras - I think dual 45° is two splits in an 'X' (vs. a '+') and the 180° is a single horizontal line split. The Ef-D just adds a grid for composition aid to the Ef-A.

Have you considered a right angle attachment like Canon's Angle Finder C?  Makes on-the-ground shots easier, and I've found the 2.5x magnification helpful for manual focus through the VF for macro shooting.

It could be nice. I'll look into it. Thanks Neuro! I won't do too much of  an outside macro till next spring, so I guess my priority for now is more for portraits. My 5 months son mostly. I think I'll try one of the cheap Chinese ones. For the price (~20$) I guess it won't hurt. Also, the Magic Lantern will find a place in my camera sooner or later. Just need to find some spare time to read about it a bit.

[brianymarsh]

Funny..I was just reading and researching on this subject.

Is there not an official Canon screen replacement...vs this 3rd party one the OP was talking about?

Nope, Canon dropped support of interchangeable screens that are available for the 5DII and now only offers them for the 1DX.  Not sure if they dropped it from the 70D as well, but the 60D had them.

The 6D also supports interchangeable screens - I have fitted an Eg-S to mine. I suspect that Canon has listened to customer feedback on the 5D3, and the 5D4 may see the return of interchangeable screen. That's one of my reasons for saving some cash by buying a 6D instead of a 5D3

If future Canons do not allow a better MF screen, then I will be looking for live view with focus peaking. That will probably mean a switch to Sony.

I also fitted an Eg-s screen to my Mark III. I made a video showing the process:

http://brianymarsh.com/blog.html

5D Mark III - Focusing Screen for Manual Lenses on Vimeo

[JustMeOregon]

A tip of the hat to ya' Brian, you're a braver man than I...

Have you noticed any changes in exposure metering or auto-focus?

[East Wind Photography]

So I just got around to replacing my screen in my 5d3 this morning with my new S screen.  I had been sitting on it for some time.  Got it through focusing screen.com

http://www.focusingscreen.com/index.php?cPath=21_134

It was video I saw here that motivated me to try.  It was pretty painless.  I haven't had much time to test exposure but I expect it to meter a bit over now...which is fine to me as I think the 5d3 tends to underexpose slightly anyway.

I tested AF and manual focus using my 85L and it was much easier and dead on.  More results later...heading out tomorrow with my 600 f4.

[East Wind Photography]

I've had a chance to use the 5D3 with the new S screen for a while now.  I dont have a direct comparison or measurement on metering loss but I would have to say it's over by about 2/3 to 1 stop.  For me this is not much of a problem as I generally expose to the right anyway.  Where it gets tricky is when you are using strobes or have strong highlights...though knowing this you can just dial down a few clicks in those situations.  I find I expose more to the right than rely on just metering alone so again this doesn't bother me personally.

The viewfinder is definitely and noticeably darker.  If you had trouble seeing in low light before, then you may want to consider this before you purchase a replacement screen...at least the S screen.

The kit also came with shims to help align the screen with the focus point.  However I did not need to use them.  Manual AF came out exactly where it should be.

The screen replacement has made all of the difference when using my macro and thin DOF lenses like the 85 1.2 or 24 1.4.  They dont recommend using this screen with lenses slower than F2.8.  However even with the darker viewfinder, I was able to easily focus my 600 F4 manually whereas trying to do that with the factory screen was hit and miss.  It is clearly easier to set focus than before.

As I mentioned before, the process was pretty quick and painless.  A couple of things to note is to use a slightly magnetized screwdriver to trap the two screws, and to insert and remove the screws with the mirror pointing down at the table or work area.  These two items will greatly reduce the risk of losing a screw inside of the camera.