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Canon EE-S Precision focus screen Review RSS Feed

Canon EE-S Precision focus screen

Reviews Views Date of last review
7 19,699 Sat March 22, 2014
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $91.43 9.57



Description:
This screen is one of several made for the full frame Canon EOS 5D and variants/successors. This is the blurb from Canon retail:

QuoteQuote:
The Ee-S Super Precision focusing screen is designed to facilitate manual focusing with high-speed lenses (f/2.8 or faster). The Ee-S screen has finer microlenses than the Ee-A or Ee-D options, along with a steeper parabola of focus to make the image pop in and out of focus more vividly in the viewfinder; however, the Ee-S focusing screen is not recommended for slower lenses because it's not very bright.
.

This thread has been discussing how to mod the screen to fit Pentax dslr's and its use. This thread is now 50+ pages long so here's some pointers:
-general comments on focusing and metering: early pages and throughout the thread
-diy'ing: posts #43-46, #84, #280
-difference in brightness vs stock screen: post #415.
- EES vs split prism: #570;
- underexposure/metering inconsistencies with EES screen with markings: #657 on.

Note that this is a fresnel design so it is the centre portion of the screen that is used. Users experience generally is that it can accurately render DoF down to f/1.4, and has a near perfect linear response to stop-down metering.

This thread is also informative, and this thread is specifically about use of this screen on the K3.

Also see the reviews for focusingscreen.com S type.
Price History:



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Veteran Member

Registered: November, 2013
Posts: 385
Review Date: March 22, 2014 Recommended | Price: $85.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Manual focus is much easier than with the stock screen
Cons: A little darker, but very manageable with an f4 lens

This makes manual focusing really easy compared to the stock screen. I am glad I did the conversion. Installation took only 10 minutes.
   
Senior Member

Registered: June, 2009
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 242

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: April 5, 2012 Recommended | Price: $99.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Wonderfully accurate focus at low apertures
Cons: Darkens a bit more at higher apertures

This focusing screen is a huge improvement over the stock Pentax screen. I have installed it in the Pentax K7 and couldn't be happier. My version is the pre-cut ee-s screen provided by focusingscreens.com. This focusing screen, as many have mentioned, provides more noticeable out of focus blur which let's the user see more clearly where the actual focus point is. Its such a pleasure to focus with. Certainly a huge and noticeable improvement over the stock screen. Like many others have mentioned, I enjoy the cleanness of the screen over having focusing aids cluttering the view. My screen has the Pentax AF brackets engraved which I enjoy because they are very subtle yet provide nice indicators marking approximate rule of thirds areas. The focusinscreens.com engraving is very faint at lower apertures f1.4-f2.8 and then become increasingly noticeable. Unlike the original screen, the marks show up as light instead of dark lines which means you can see them easier when the viewfinder dims.

See this excellent thread for a lot more info on this focusing screen: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/142241-best-screen-ever-manual...anon-ee-s.html

The single and only drawback one could argue for this focusing screen would be that it will be darker at the higher apertures (f4 and up). I posted some pictures to show the difference in general brightness between the ee-s screen and the stock Pentax screen. See the post here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-k-5/142241-best-screen-ever-manual...ml#post1897653
   
Senior Member

Registered: May, 2009
Location: Edmonton, AB
Posts: 247
Review Date: January 4, 2012 Recommended | Price: $86.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Doesn't affect metering like the split screen one.
Cons:

Took me a while to get one from focusingscreen.com as it kept getting sold out. I replaced the original metal shim with the plastic one that came with the 3rd party screen and focus is bang on. Highly recommended!
   
Site Supporter

Registered: December, 2009
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 576
Review Date: December 5, 2011 Recommended | Price: $90.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Very precise focusing screen. Makes my 1.4 lenses a joy to use.
Cons: None

I use this same screen on my full frame Canon and it has been a joy to use with my k-5. The company who cuts these down does an excellent job. Since I have installed this, I have had way more usable images.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: September, 2010
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 2,653

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: December 5, 2011 Recommended | Price: $140.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Accurate focus on fast lenses
Cons: Dark on slow lenses and underexposure

I also bought mine from Focusingscreen, precision cut to the Pentax size and with the Pentax AF markings. Interestingly the markings are not opaque black lines as with the standard screen but are treated to appear brighter than the background image.

The screen comes packaged complete with a set of plastic shims to correct back focusing and a replacement shim for the original Pentax metal shim to correct front focusing. Mine front focused slightly with the original Pentax shim, swapping this for the supplied replacement corrected this perfectly. Metal tweezers, a plastic clip releaser and some finger gloves are included in the kit. The supplied instructions are a bit sparse, as are those on the Focusingscreen website. In practice the replacement process is really quick and simple - a steady hand and a magnifier do help though.

In use the screen works well. Manual focus is considerably easier compared to the standard Pentax screen. The screen is noticeably darker on slow (>f2.8) lenses. Even with these focusing is easier. For example my f5.6 300mm mirror lens was difficult to focus accurately with the standard Pentax screen, the EE-S screen makes it much easier even though the field of view is darker.

Beware that with slowish auto lenses (eg kit 18-55mm, 50-200mm etc) this screen will cause about a stop underexposure when metering through the viewfinder (not using LV).
   
Pentaxian

Registered: February, 2009
Location: Hassleholm, Sweden
Posts: 334

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: November 14, 2011 Recommended | Price: $110.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Brings new life to fast lenses
Cons: Slightly duller WF image with not-so-fast lenses

I bought mine custom-made from Focusingscreen in Taiwan, instead of trying to cut/destroy it myself from a full size screen. The indicated price include postage and customs fee/VAT at the Swedish border. Getting it with Pentax AF markings also made it a bit more expensive, but I like the markings and wouldn't want to be without them.
I think the screen was worth every penny, centavo and cent it cost. The difference from the original Pentax screen is huge, when using a fast lens like my A* 85mm or the FA 50mm 1.4. With the Pentax screen it's a pure guessing game when the lens is properly focusing, with the EE-s screen it's just there like in the old analog times. From deep dissatisfaction with most of my shots being slightly, but always too much, oof I now have a hit rate of 9/10 or more. Shooting portraits I can easily choose which eye I want in focus. My fast lenses have come to life again! And there's no need to focus with the center spot focus confirmation and recompose. If I want something off center to be the focused item, I compose first and see right away when my subject is in focus, even if it's at the edge of the picture.
I see a tendency to a darker WF image when I put on a zoom lens with f4 or smaller, but these lenses are autofocus and have a pretty deep DOF anyway, so it doesn't matter to me.
I'm utterly grateful to those forum members who pointed at this screen as a possible solution to my very frustrating problems with getting the focus right.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: July, 2008
Location: Var, South of France
Posts: 1,074
Review Date: April 30, 2011 Recommended | Price: $30.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Render DoF accurately with fast lenses, has a near linear response to stop-down metering.
Cons: Has to be cut down to size...

If you own any fast lens, you surely know that most screens cannot render DoF below f/2... Try the DoF preview at f/2 (thus switching between f/1.4 and f/2), and you'll notice that nothing changes in the viewfinder, be it DoF or brightness...

Well, this screen can actually render DoF accurately down to f/1.4!
And for manual focus, this is heaven! I find it far better than a split screen, as you can judge focus on the whole screen, and it really leaps at you with the narrow f/1.4 DoF.

Now, on the metering side, this screen absolutely rocks!!! Apart from a slight 0.5Ev overexposure at f/1.4-f/2 (which is frankly nothing to be bothered about), it has a perfectly linear response to the whole aperture range, which is quite unheard of in the focus screen world...

This is THE screen you need for your m42 lenses or your Samyang 85/1.4! No more exposure headache, no more misfocus!
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