[norman j shearer]

Hi,
Okay I've just bit the bullet and bought a 2nd hand K5 and it's on its way. One concern I have is how the optical VF will compare to my Canon 5D for focusing legacy glass. I have an EE-S screen in my Canon and
really enjoy using an optical VF for focusing legacy lenses. Am I likely to be dissapointed with the K5 viewfinder or should it be similar?

I understand that if I open up beyond F2 I will struggle to nail focus with the standard screen but I can live with that. I have mirrorless cams that can fill that role. I think more often than not I will be using apertures of F3.5
and up. I have a Pentax K 28mm F3.5 lens that I loved on a K01 I used to have and I suspect that lens will be on my camera the most. I want the K5 for landscape/nature and street photography. Is the K5 metering likely to be out much with this lens? I'm not really interested in autofocus but if I did want a Ltd lens it would be in order to go wider and also experience the benefits of using the Tav mode.

I'm gonna miss my Canon 5D but it was too loud for street photography and the wider dynamic range the K5 offers was a big draw for landscape work.

[Tas]

On my K5 I use an S type screen from here: Focusing Screen

There's options from Katzeye as well, some prefer them, some prefer the type I use. It made a big difference with the Zeiss glass I have (2/35, 2/50, 85/1.4 & 2/100). Without the screen they were hard to focus with, but the screen did make a huge difference for me when manual focussing. Not so handy stopped down, but I can live with that.

The S screen was easy to install, however the standard shims with the kit put the focus out. Not an issue though as the screen came with shim options, so it was a case of popping the screen back out, swap shims and test focus; a 5 min job. All was good and I've been happy with it ever since.


Hooroo,

Tas

[.a.t.]

. . .
Am I likely to be dissapointed with the K5 viewfinder...?

Probably. But, you'll probably get used to it.

I use manual focus lenses most of the time. And my Pentax K-7 has the same viewfinder specs as the K-5. And unless I use the K-7 and my 5D back to back, I'm usually content with the K-7's viewfinder.
That said, I really do enjoy the 5D's larger VF. It makes manual focusing more fun for me.

So, I think you should just accentuate the positive and remind yourself of the reasons you switched.
(Welcome to Pentax Forums, by the way.)

[Prakticant]

Could you tell more about Canon 5D with legacy lenses (M42, Canon FD) or direct me to the right place?
I have a bunch of premium M42 and FD glass, but I found shooting Pentax with M42 more challenging than I expected (at least not FF for wide-angle).

-----

One concern I have is how the optical VF will compare to my Canon 5D for focusing legacy glass. I have an EE-S screen in my Canon and really enjoy using an optical VF for focusing legacy lenses. [...] I'm gonna miss my Canon 5D but it was too loud for street photography and the wider dynamic range the K5 offers was a big draw for landscape work.

[Wingincamera]

I had switch from the Canon 5D to a K-5 because of size & weight of the Canon gear. For me, I thought focusing was about the same. I never used legacy lenses with the Canon.

[Sandy Hancock]

For critical focussing, I would have gone for one of the newer bodies with live view focus peaking, but I guess you have mirrorless for that.
That said, I have not had major problems manually focussing fast lenses through the viewfinder with the standard focussing screen.

As for an AF lens to fit your needs, I don't think you could go past the DA21 limited. It's a near-perfect street lens.

[stevebrot]

I have an EE-S screen in my Canon and
really enjoy using an optical VF for focusing legacy lenses. Am I likely to be dissapointed with the K5 viewfinder or should it be similar?

I think you will find the two equivalent if you change out the K-5 stock screen for a S-type screen such as that available from focusingscreen.com. As with the stock Canon screens, the screen in the K-5 is somewhat deficient for manual focus and has a focus sensitivity* of about f/4. Substituting a cut-down EE-S screen will provide the same focus sensitivity you enjoy with the 5D with the same trade-off when used with slower lenses. (Yes, it will go dark...)


Steve

* The ability to detect an out-of-focus state for a particular aperture. In other words, a focus sensitivity of f/4 means that the system will have the same focus precision at f/4 as with faster lenses.

[norman j shearer]

Could you tell more about Canon 5D with legacy lenses (M42, Canon FD) or direct me to the right place?
I have a bunch of premium M42 and FD glass, but I found shooting Pentax with M42 more challenging than I expected (at least not FF for wide-angle).

-----

Compatibility list of M42 lenses on Canon EOS 5D DSLR

The link above will give you a good idea on what will/will not work with Canon 5D. Warning, using legacy glass on the Canon 5D can become addictive! You can get m42 adapters cheap from Ebay. I'd advise you get one that has a focus confirm chip. Some are better than others but it doesn't always follow that the more expensive adapters are the best. Forget about adapting Canon FD lenses on an EOS body. The only adapters available have a glass element inside which gives you inferior results. If you really want to adapt Canon FD then I'd suggest a mirrorless camera for that. Canon 5D also accepts Contax/Yashica and Olympus OM mount lenses.

On mirrorless cameras many legacy lenses need adapters which are quite big so if you do plan going down that route then google camera register distance and find out which mirrorless mount will best match the lens you want to mount. For example I like Konica Hexanon lenses and if I adapt them on a Samsung NX the adapter will be narrower than if I was to do the same on a Sony or Fuji mirrorless body.

[narual]

If you're shooting at 1.4 or 1.2, or even 1.8 you should probably change out the focusing screen. It probably still won't be as bright/clear as the 5D -- that has a bigger prism, right?

[norman j shearer]

For critical focussing, I would have gone for one of the newer bodies with live view focus peaking, but I guess you have mirrorless for that.
That said, I have not had major problems manually focussing fast lenses through the viewfinder with the standard focussing screen.

As for an AF lens to fit your needs, I don't think you could go past the DA21 limited. It's a near-perfect street lens.

Sounds like the standard screen will do me for now and I'll start saving up for a DA21 Ltd. Many thanks.

---------- Post added 02-21-15 at 10:39 PM ----------

Probably. But, you'll probably get used to it.

I use manual focus lenses most of the time. And my Pentax K-7 has the same viewfinder specs as the K-5. And unless I use the K-7 and my 5D back to back, I'm usually content with the K-7's viewfinder.
That said, I really do enjoy the 5D's larger VF. It makes manual focusing more fun for me.

So, I think you should just accentuate the positive and remind yourself of the reasons you switched.
(Welcome to Pentax Forums, by the way.)

I'm gonna miss the old girl (5D) but I'm sure the K5 will get used a whole lot more. Thanks for the welcome.

[Arvid]

I use manual glass on my K5 all the time and I really think that the Pentax Magnifier Eyecup is a worthy investment. Magnification isn't insane, but you'll really notice a difference. It fits on my MZ-5, too, as abonus

I made myself a DIY-Splitscreen from an old SLR that I got for free - took out the focussing screen from it and cut it down to K5 dimensions and it worked really well right from the beginning. No shimming or anything needed, I guess I just got lucky (side story: the guy who gave it to me thought it had a defect and I believed him as he is an oldschool photographer. Only while breaking it down (I had to completely rip it apart to access the screen) I realized that the "defect" was actually a feature and the camera just handles a little differently from most other SLR models you know. Too bad...)
Be aware that if you use lenses slower or around f3.5 as a widest aperture, you might experience a blackout on the split prism and that spot metering won't be working as well with a screen like this.

[sterretje]

I find the standard screen of the K5 reasonable for manual focusing; far better than a K100D or K10D with their standard screens. Obviously no compare to a K100D or a K10D fitted with a KatzEye, but I get a reasonable keeper rate.

[windhorse]

I just bought a K5 with katzeye split image focusing screen and Sigma 2.8 24-60mm zoom instead of Canon 5D that I used to have a couple of years ago and was very happy with... so far I find the K5 with the katzeye screen MUCH easier to manual focus than the 5D and appreciate all the modern features like image stabilisation, TAV, video, higher ISO etc etc but I do miss the gorgeous funkiness of the 5D files so am not sure if I was right to opt for the K5 instead of the 5D. Now I am waiting for a replacement lens mount to arrive from China so I can use my old Leica R lenses on the K5 and hope that these good old lenses will make a significant difference to the way the files look? Otherwise maybe back to square one and start again. Maybe the FF Pentax will combine the best features of both the K5 and the 5D though most likely the katzeye screen for the K5 will not fit the Pentax FF?

[narual]

Maybe the FF Pentax will combine the best features of both the K5 and the 5D though most likely the katzeye screen for the K5 will not fit the Pentax FF?

If it does, everyone will be really upset, because it will mean the viewfinder is showing a severely cropped view.

The difference in size between an APS-C and full frame size focusing screen is pretty clear here:
Alex's Blog: Fitting a K3 Focus Screen to a D70/D70s

They're NOT talking about a Pentax K3 focus screen -- that's just the model number of a Nikon screen from a film camera. They're cutting down a film camera screen to fit an APS-C camera, and it's a cut down from about 1.5 inches by 1 inch to 1 inch by .8 inches.

[windhorse]

so the focussing screen is always the same size as the sensor?