Help me with the focus screen for EOS 1V

Katie · Jun 24, 2011

Hi ... I just purchased an adapter to use my manual focus Rokkor lenses on my Canon EOS 1V camera and am wondering about the option focus screens to aid in extremely shallow depth of field manual focusing.

I have in my cart at KEH :

EC-B MATT/MICROPRISM/SPLIT (1, N, NRS, 3, D2000), SCREEN

This is the split prism matte screen for the 1 series bodies, right? Some questions:

This will help me focus at say, f 1.2 or 1.4?
Does this do anything to the autofocus system for when I plan to use my regular autofocus lens? I wouldn't have to change back to the other screen to use them, right? Will my red dots for focus/meter still be on there? I use the focus point as the metering point and would need them to still work (as opposed to using another metering option like matrix or something...).

Thanks for ANY and ALL information!

hpulley · Jun 24, 2011

The EC-B messes with evaluative and center spot metering since the screen is in the way before the meter elements. Center-weighted average and non-center spot work fine.

AF is unaffected as the submirror sends light to the BASIS sensors.

The split prism works OK but note that, despite the description there is no ring of microprisms around the split prism like in many split screens. All you get is the split and the matt area.

The EC-S postdates the 1V (meant for the IIN and later) but works fine. You might need to add a small EC value to compensate but overall it doesn't affect metering and gives an excellent matt on which to manually focus. I find it is more accurate than the split prism.

Katie · Jun 24, 2011

Ah ... thank you so much! That totally answers my question - I will go with the EC-S!

pekelnik · Mar 31, 2012

Sorry to bump this old thread, but how did it go Katie? I'm thinking about picking up EC-S or EC-B screen for my 1v and 5dm2 as well. I'm hoping to be able to accurately manually focus with f/1.4 and f/1.2 lenses. Is that a reasonable expectation?

Katie · Mar 31, 2012

I actually went with the Ee-S screen and UT works great with extremely shallow depth if field. If you intend to use slower lenses, though, (over f/4) it might be a tad darker than you are used to. I recommend it personally though!

Tim Gray · Mar 31, 2012

Didn't realize the Ee-S screen works with the 1V. Does it affect metering in anyway?

pekelnik · Mar 31, 2012

Cool, thanks. Are you sure it was the Ee-S? Since those are for 5Ds.. I think all the E*-S are the same, the ground glass is very thin which lets one see sharpness below f2.8, so the first letters are just a question of picking the right one. I have only one lens slower than f2.8, the 24-105/4 so I hope that will be fine.

sandermarijn · Mar 31, 2012

Interesting thread. I currently use an Ec-B in my 1N. While this screen works well both in terms of focusing and metering, I would prefer the less obstructed view of an E*-s type screen.

It never occurred to me that the screens for the 1N/1V and the 5D may be interchangeable. I just googled up some images of the Ec-B and the Ee-s, and indeed they seem identically shaped, i.e. with notches in all the same places. It seems only reasonable to assume that the Ee-s will fit the 1N/1V series as well.

The 5D (see manual p. 158) has C.Fn-00 that sets a fixed exposure compensation for every available screen (Ee-A, Ee-D, Ee-S), Ee-A (standard precision matte) being the default. For the 1N/1V one will have to set this compensation by means of the ISO or the exposure compensation.

Now the question is: what is the compensation value? Easy to find out if you own a 5D (I obviously do not), even with only one screen available. Just pick a static scene, note the metering, change C.Fn-00 to 2 and see by how much the metering changes. Anybody here with a 5D willing to do that?

Did you figure out the compensation Katie? Can you share it with us?

(I did a search for that compensation value but while there is a lot of talk about the different screens on photo.net, dpreview, etc., nobody seems to mention any particular EV compensation value.)

Tim Gray · Mar 31, 2012

I'd love to get a more precise screen for my 1V for manual focus lenses. However, I don't want to give up metering capabilities, so I've steered away from the prism screens...

If the Ee-S screen works fine, I'm going to order one. Especially since I'm guessing Canon will stop making them now that the 5DIII doesn't accept interchangeable screens.

pekelnik · Apr 2, 2012

I ordered the Eg-S screen for the 5dm2, when it comes I'll see if it is worth it and decide if I want to buy one for the 1v as well. I still think the 1v screen is the Ec-S, not the Ee-S though.

Tim Gray · Apr 2, 2012

Well if all the E*-S screens are the same, maybe I'll pick up the Ec-S - that surely fits the 1V.

sandermarijn · Apr 3, 2012

I've been thinking, could it be that the 100% viewfinder of the 1-series (analogue and digital) requires a slightly larger screen compared to the 5D-series, and that this -width and length- is the only discerning factor between the Ec-S and Ee-S screens?

Katie · Apr 4, 2012

Well, now that I dug the box out, I believe that it is the Ec-S screen.

I used the custom function to compensate for the screen - as it was recommended. Works fine now!

recent shots from the camera:

pekelnik · Apr 12, 2012

I got my Eg-S screen, there is no exposure difference to the standard Eg-A screen and a -1/3rd of a stop difference to the grid Eg-D screen. (I.e. the Eg-S and Eg-A need 1/3rd of a stop more light.) I'll play with it and decide if I want to change the 1v screen as wel.

sandermarijn · Apr 12, 2012

Yeah, please let us know how you feel about the Eg-S. I'm also contemplating getting an Ec-S for my 1n, just not sure if it's worth it over the standard and split-image screens.

pekelnik · Apr 21, 2012

So, my conclusion is that I really like it. I see virtually no drawbacks- The 24-105f/4 is darker indoors, but then I would never really shoot it in low light to begin with.
Focus is way clearer than before, I can happily manually focus on something not in the middle od the frame for instance so I don't need to focus&recompose.

Cinege · Feb 14, 2017

Katie said:
Well, now that I dug the box out, I believe that it is the Ec-S screen.

I used the custom function to compensate for the screen - as it was recommended. Works fine now!

recent shots from the camera:

View attachment 33586

View attachment 33587

View attachment 33588

Hy! I know this thread is old now. But witch custom function worked? (0 or 1)

Thank you!

Help me with the focus screen for EOS 1V

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