Eg-S as primary focusing screen for 5DII?

[mark_pierlot]

<p>I just picked up an Eg-S focusing screen to assist with using manual focus lenses on my 5DII, and am wondering how well it works with AF lenses. I'd like to leave the screen in, and not have to swap it out between lens changes.</p>

<p>I realize that the screen gives a darkened image in the viewfinder with lenses slower than f/2.8, and also that I'll have to set the camera for the screen so that it will meter properly. All of the lenses I use with my 5DII are f/1.4 or faster. So are there any issues I'll have just leaving the Eg-S screen in?</p>

[craigd]

<p>The Eg-S screen works fine with autofocus lenses. I used an Eg-S exclusively with a 5D Mark II for a couple of years and never saw any issues with it. The darker viewfinder image with slow lenses never bothered me even when shooting in stop-down metering mode with non-EF manual focus lenses and mount adapters.</p>

[John Crowe]

<p>So far I have been quite happy with the standard screen for manual focusing with my 5D II. I had read that the Eg-S was not significantly different. Please let us know how you find the Eg-S for manual focusing.</p>

<p>I was pleasantly surprised by the vewfinder in the 5D II since it was better than the 1Ds, SLRn, and D2X pro bodies that I had had before. I have found live view to be an awesome tool for any photography from a tripod and use it often just to confirm focus.</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>Mark, the AF is performed below/behind the mirror, not in the viewfinder assembly, so the focusing screen doesn't impact AF at all.</p>

<p>I've often threatened to get one of those screens for my MF lenses, but now having used Liveview 10x magnified focusing, I think there must be no better way to focus, at least on a tripod. For freehand shooting, though, I think the split circle would be nice. That's the one thing I really miss from the old days.</p>

<p>So using a MF lens, if you stop the lens arbitrarily down to, say, f/4 (cough, cough... the speed of lens I mostly use), is the VF really that much darker with the EG-S screen than with the regular screen? How would you describe the brightness difference in stops? Also, is the EG-S screen even that useful/good with an f/4 lens? (I guess I could answer that question for myself by stopping down a MF lens on my Spotmatic F. I guess I'll go do that now! ;-)</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>Answer to self: Er, I forgot my Spotmatic F has a microprism finder, so I tried it out on my AE-1. Sure, f/4 focuses just fine, although I probably wouldn't want to go any slower.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I got the equivalent of the Eg-S screen for my old 5D, but found that the grid type worked just as well for manual focusing, so when I got a mark II, I just got the Eg-D (grid) screen.</p>

<p>With both the D and S screens, you need to reset the C.Fn IV parameter (focusing screen) to the appropriate screen on the menu, of course. [for exposure, not focus]<br /> I still do a fair amount of architectural photography, but have come to like the grid even for regular shooting, so I just leave in.</p>