Tag: canon 5d

2010-10-12

I have really fallen in love with the Ee-S focusing screen for the Canon 5D. This is not a review in the sense that I will try to cover everything, but it is in the sense that I am sharing my thoughts on Canon’s über-accurate manual focusing screen. I have been using it almost totally in conjunction with Nikon lenses. The why will come later, but I mention it now because using it with Canon or non-Canon lenses is actually quite a different experience, and the answer to this question will make a little more sense with that information in mind.

Basically, the matte screen from Canon is made to manual focus wide aperture prime lenses. Since almost all (if not all) cameras display (in the viewfinder) at about f/2.4ish, the depth of field you see is quite different than the actual depth of field on an 85mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4, or some such lens. Meaning, you never really know if you are crystal clear where you want to be crystal clear and you just have to trust that the camera focused right where you wanted it.

2008-12-30

The viewfinder is probably the most undervalued component of our cameras. It is the primary interface of the camera, yet most of us put up with a shrunken and dim viewfinder. The rest of the buttons and adjustments are secondary.

Recently, I was reading up a little on “bright” viewfinders to try to figure out what that was all about. I initially thought it had something to do with the percentage of coverage or the viewpoint, which spec sheets (sometimes) state, but I found out it does not. Once I figured things out a little, I decided to go and do some brightness tests on my own with some of the full-frame digital cameras out there (5D, a900, D700, 5DmII). Here is what I found.