focusing screen for 5d2

[harlemshooter]

can anyone provide feedback on their experience using the canon eg-s focusing screen with manual focus on the 5d2?

i rarely shoot wide open, so i'm not going to buy unless people have used this screen effectively at small apertures with mf lenses.

thanks.

[james_elliot]

can anyone provide feedback on their experience using the canon eg-s focusing screen with manual focus on the 5d2?

i've heard that the viewfinder appears darker than normal when used at f4 and smaller.  i rarely shoot wide open, so i'm not going to buy unless people have used this screen effectively at small apertures with mf lenses.

thanks.

I have used the Ec-s on the 1Ds MarkII (it is probably equivalent to the Eg-s on the 5D MarkII). It is usable with lenses whose maximal aperture is 2.8 or less, but I wouldn't recommend it for lenses whose maximal aperture is above 4.
However, you don't have to shoot wide open. The usual procedure is to manual focus the lens first, then check the depth of field (of course the viewfinder will be pretty dark during DOF checking).
However, the fundamental point is the maximal aperture of the lens not the aperture you use.

[Daniel Browning]

can anyone provide feedback on their experience using the canon eg-s focusing screen with manual focus on the 5d2?

It's great, I love it on the 5D2. It helps me get critical focus with my f/1.4 lenses.

I've heard that the viewfinder appears darker than normal when used at f4 and smaller.

That's correct.

The standard viewfinder screen shows every f/1.2, f/1.4, f/2, and f/2.8 lens as if they were f/3.5. It literally makes no difference if you shoot f/1.2 or f/3.5: the viewfinder shows you the same deep DOF.

What's so great about the Eg-S screen is that it shows more accurate DOF. You can really see the actual DOF of a f/2.8 lens. It becomes possible (though not easy) to manually focus at f/2.

The unfortunate and unavoidable side effect is that the screen gets darker and darker with the f-number. f/1.4 is rather bright, but f/3.5 is much darker than the standard screen, and f/5.6 even more so.

I rarely shoot wide open, so i'm not going to buy unless people have used this screen effectively at small apertures with mf lenses.

Whether you "shoot" wide open or not doesn't matter. All that matters is the maximum aperture of the lens. If you use f/4 lenses, the Eg-S screen will be dim. It's possible for some people (like me, sometimes) to block out stray light and give your eye time to adjust to the lower light level, or to just use it even though it's dim. For f/5.6 lenses, it is even darker.

I would highly recommend it if you use f/2.8 (or wider) lenses.

[harlemshooter]

thank you both for the clarification.  most of my lenses are f2.8 so i will give it a try.