20D replacement focus screen

Higgmeister

Hi All,
I'm looking into a replacement focus screen for the 20D. I've come across reviews of two, the Haoda and the Katz Eye. I'm wondering if anyone here has anything to say about these or others.

The one beef I have about my 20D is the focusing. I spend a lot of time in manual focus because either I not satisfied with the auto focus or due to the shooting conditions (sport prefocus). So, what I'm looking at is a split screen manual focus replacement for the stock one.

The Hoada has a lot of positive reviews and is the one I'm currently looking at (less expensive than the Katz Eye one as well). Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

gtc

Hi Chris

I have been looking into it too as I have gone down the manual focus path with my Pentax SMC Takumars-200/4 and 300/4( sharp ,solid lenses for not much)

From what I have read the HOADA is good however it may go a little darker /a little earlier when you stop down.This is not so much an issue with me as I shoot fairly wide open a lot of the time -f4,5.6,8 or focus wide open and then stop down to shoot.

The Katzeye people also have a top of the range screen which they say stays brighter longer during stopdown but of course they charge like wounded bulls.

I will be interested to read about your experience with the HOADA if you decide to go down that path.

Greg

Higgmeister wrote:

Hi All,
I'm looking into a replacement focus screen for the 20D. I've come across reviews of two, the Haoda and the Katz Eye. I'm wondering if anyone here has anything to say about these or others.

The one beef I have about my 20D is the focusing. I spend a lot of time in manual focus because either I not satisfied with the auto focus or due to the shooting conditions (sport prefocus). So, what I'm looking at is a split screen manual focus replacement for the stock one.

The Hoada has a lot of positive reviews and is the one I'm currently looking at (less expensive than the Katz Eye one as well). Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

gtc

more info
found this thread in DPR-it came up in a GOOGLE search-I dont usually go there because its one snipey place-and this thread confirms it!

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1019&thread=14612329&page=3

gtc wrote:

Hi Chris

I have been looking into it too as I have gone down the manual focus path with my Pentax SMC Takumars-200/4 and 300/4( sharp ,solid lenses for not much)

From what I have read the HOADA is good however it may go a little darker /a little earlier when you stop down.This is not so much an issue with me as I shoot fairly wide open a lot of the time -f4,5.6,8 or focus wide open and then stop down to shoot.

The Katzeye people also have a top of the range screen which they say stays brighter longer during stopdown but of course they charge like wounded bulls.

I will be interested to read about your experience with the HOADA if you decide to go down that path.

Greg

Higgmeister

Hi Greg,
Yes, I had found that and several other posts on DPR. Can't say that their opinions are what I'm trying to base my purchase on. Doug Kerr has a good write-up as well as many good articles on his site. I also read where Hoada said he used the top grade material from the getgo. Still confused, but from what I'm reading, I'm leaning towards the Hoada.

Why, someone may ask. Well, I'm not using manual lenses with my 20D so the blackening of the split prism is of little consequence. I also got fairly good at shooting with the blackened prism on my Pentax MESuper with a tele and 2x converter (moving the eye will allow you to align the focus). Also, the upgraded Katz Eye screen is backordered and is delayed. I understand why demand would be so much for just $30 more.

I was quite surprised to not find any reference to focus screens on this site (searched several different terms). I'll give this tread a day or two before I make up my mind and order one or the other. I haven't found any side-by-side comparisons for these screens.

Just a note to others, these screens work on other cameras as well. Just a FYI.

Thanks again Greg for your response,
Chris

Higgmeister

Just ordered the screen.
Well, I just ordered the diagonal split screen from Haoda. When it comes in, I'll let you know how it goes.

Chris

pathfinder

Higgs, I'll be very interested with your report on the focusing screen for the 20D. This is one of those items that have almost disappeared from SLRs, and are sorely missed by smart shooters. If my memory serves, the split image range finder screen inactivates or invalidates the use of the light meter in Evaluative mode too? Is this correct?

PLEASE - make sure this information about the aftermarket focusing screens does not get buried. Inquiring minds really want to know

Techman1

Chris,

I'm very interested in your findings. Please do let us know when you receive and have it installed. Did you order the "diagonal screen" for the 20D?

Thanks,

Fred

Higgmeister

pathfinder wrote:

Higgs, I'll be very interested with your report on the focusing screen for the 20D. This is one of those items that have almost disappeared from SLRs, and are sorely missed by smart shooters. If my memory serves, the split image range finder screen inactivates or invalidates the use of the light meter in Evaluative mode too? Is this correct?

PLEASE - make sure this information about the aftermarket focusing screens does not get buried. Inquiring minds really want to know

From what I have read, the metering is still functional, just slightly off (-1/3 stop) but otherwise quite functional. I have read reviews where they didn't even get this so I'm going to find out myself. When I get it, I'll run a few tests to see. I'll shoot some test shots with the current screen, then replace the screen and shoot the same scene again and see where the camera thinks it should be. I can try some other test if you have any suggestions. It should be here next week. As far as auto focus goes, there is no effect and it still works as before.

When it comes in, I'll bump this to the top with my observations.

Chris

Higgmeister

Techman1 wrote:

Chris,

I'm very interested in your findings. Please do let us know when you receive and have it installed. Did you order the "diagonal screen" for the 20D?

Thanks,

Fred

Hi Fred,
When I placed the original order (this morning), Haoda came back telling me about the diagonal screen. After doing a little research, I decided to get the diagonal for $10 more. I'm used to tilting my SLR when I needed to split a horizontal scene so now maybe I won't have to.

So far, the communication between Haoda and myself has been very good with quick responses. So far, so good.

Chris

ivar

HIggmeister, has the screen been replaced, and have you used it?
I'm wondering what you think of it.

Ivar.

MrBook2

Consider this bumped again...
I recently started to look at replacing the focus screen on my D70. I have a lot of trouble getting sharp focus manually and think that the split prism screen would be a big help. I have very limited experience with using one, all of my previous SLRs used the microprism focus rather than the split image (I think this is the correct term, the image looked horribly pixelated when out of focus.)

I also want to make sure that I understand the "darkening" problem that can occur with the split image screen. My understanding is that it is only a problem if you have a lens that is really "slow", that is to say that the most wide open aperature is a fairly high f number. Since these fancy modern DSLRs keep the aperature wide open until you press the DOF preview button or take the picture, it shouldn't be and issue unless you have some really slow lenses. So is this a function of having too little light or of having too small of a angular field of view? I suppose the other way to ask this is, does it blackout in low light with a wide aperature (fast) lens?

I did find this website which has one users experience with the Haoda screen: http://home.kc.rr.com/educ/screen/index.html

So, any news? How did it go?

--Aaron