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Manual Focussing Screens

Hello Dermot!

Katz Eye makes these split-image screens, and I understand they are making one for the 5D right now, but don't know when this will be ready. You may want to check with them. Here's the link to their web site:

http://www.keoptics.com/index.htm

Hope you like the 5D as much as I do!

Bobby
 
Hi Bobby:

Thanks for the info I've bookmarked the site. Yes I'm almost afraid to say how much I like the 5D. So far so good, it's the perfect size for me I was looking for a FF body I could leave stripped down to make it more portable. Carrying the 1D11 was almost like carrying my Pentax 645N but it's a sweet camera.

I'm suprised about the bitching on various forums, no GPS, terrible vignetting etc.. Some of there people need to watch the American Masters series on PBS see what Ansel Adams and others used to have to go through to make an image.
 
Dermot

Ah yes, the name-calling and verbal abuse going on, especially in DP Review, is really quite amazing. People get so very defensive about what they buy/own.

A lot of them have never owned an SLR before, so they don't know how difficult it is to shoot transparency film, and having to wait for the film to come back. They would moan about trivial things like how the 2.5" lcd screen on the 5D is not bright enough to see in daylight!

It's funny how they seem to think the 5D is just a glorified 20D, and is therefore not worth it's weight in magnesium alloy. They should compare the 5D to the N-Digital and Kodak Digital Pro, and the very expensive 1Ds2.

Bobby
 
Personally, I was very disappointed that GPS was not included with the 5D. I was really expecting my next camera to double as a SatNav system for my car as well. Ah well, maybe the 5DmkII will include the long awaited Matter Transporter so I won't even need my car. Damn Canon for their lack of technology. ;-)

Anyway, back to reality. This forum may not be very active, but it's great to have a forum where the people here are actually PHOTOGRAPHERS and not just argumentative techno-freaks.

I did get a 5D last week, though I have to wait till next week for the Ee-s screen to be available in the UK.
I have actually found it reasonably easy to manual focus with the Ee-a, certainly more so than the 20D with original screen, I'll see how I find the Ee-s, and if not much of an improvement, go for a Katzeye when they're available.

For those who want to use Zeiss C/Y lenses on the 5D, I thought it might be useful to know that although elsewhere it has been said certain lenses can't be used (85/1.2 135/2) I have use all my C/Y lenses (listed below) without issue, and without the need for modification to lens or mirror.

21mm f2.8, 25mm f2.8, 28mm f2, 50mm f1.7, 85mm f1.2, 100mm f2.8 Makro, 135mm f2, 28-85mm f3.3-4, 70-210mm f3.5, 100-300mm f4.5-5.6.

I caught this rather pretty moment on Monday evening near my home. The .jpg couldn't handle the full exposure latitude, but using the same frame in raw I created one underexposed and one overexposed .tif and combined them. This 5D's raw latitude really is impressive.

41439.jpg


P.S. On the original raw/tif at 100% the window frames can be seen on the biggest white cottage!
 
Nice shot Matt, hey that's a pretty impressive Zeiss lens list. Yes it's a pity this site does not see much traffic anymore I think it was a little ambitious. To think you could put together a site for every brand out there it really spread things thin.

I'm starting to like this CZ 35-70mm now that there's no crop factor, even 1.3 was really annoying.

Using the new screen in dim light, 5D with CZ35-70 iso100,

41442.jpg
 
Thanks Dermot. I know what you mean about the crop factor thing. It just feels 'right' again, after 12 months of confusion with the 20D. I think the FOV of most lenses is ingrained in my mind and I could never select the right lens 1st time with the 20D, nice to be back to what I know.

Yeah, I did go a bit crazy with the Zeiss lenses over the last few years. I just love the look of the images they produce so much, and I know that they'll last me a lifetime. They all get used but my favourites are definitely the 21mm f2.8 and the 85mm f1.2.
It's just fantastic that they can be used on the EOS mount.
Zeiss glass on Canon digital technology is about as good as 35mm gets.
 
Until I find a focusing screen that really works for manual focusing, I will not put a Zeiss lens on my 5D. I have tried to do a model shoot (not professionally) with my 85/1.4 on a 10D and the results were disastrous as I simply could not achieve accurate focus!

Here's a shot I took last weekend with a Canon 135L.
41450.jpg
 
Nice work Bobby...tell us a little about the lighting set up!
Well my years of work with medium format cameras I think helps me . I never had a lens faster than 2.8 in fact most of them are f3.5-4.5. I just picked up a CZ 50 f1.4 this year and am having fun with it, but I have had some focusing errors all my fault the DOF is so shallow
biggrin.gif
 
Thanks Dermot! It was a very simple setup. This was shot in the Botanic Gardens with strong back lighting and just a white diffuser for frontal lighting. That's it ... and AF that works! Aperture was f2.8 which was too shallow, as her hands are OOF. F4.0 or 5.6 would have worked better for this shot. Did some tweaking in PS.
 
I like the look a reflector gives, I've never liked the look of fill flash for portrait work. For this type of work, which I don't do too much of anymore I always end up focusing manually. But as they say whatever works for you. Are you using my 28mm, amazing how popular it has become!!
 
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