FocusingScreen.com focus screen review (Canon XTi/400D)

Preface

If you haven’t seen my previous posts on the subject, I’ve had a little bit of an obsession on film cameras. It started innocently with a couple rangefinders and a TLR, then started growing. An old Rolleiflex SLR, another rangefinder, another SLR, a 90s point & shoot; I’ve become obsessed with the value of older optics and their potential for image quality.

I had heard of people using old manual focus lenses on their modern SLRs but never really gave it much thought. Mostly because I was on a film binge. The film bingeing has subsided (for now) so I bought a couple of cheap lenses (Asahi Super-Takumar 55mm ƒ2 and a Fuji EBC Fujinon 55mm ƒ1.8) and an adapter to mount them on my Canon XTi (400D for you folks across the pond, Kiss Digital X the Asian crowd). All toll, I think I might have been out $45 for the three items (all from ebay… of course). Not bad considering even the cheap-o Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II will run you between $90 – $100 shipped and I’d argue the Super-Tak is just as sharp with better bokeh.

The Issue

The best manual lens you could get for your digital SLR is only good if you can focus properly. And, when you have a manual lens on your camera, your auto-focus system doesn’t work and most entry level DSLR have pretty crappy viewfinders (dim and small). Yes, they make adapters with focus confirmation which will trick your camera into thinking it has an AF lens on there so that your AF system will tell you when it “thinks” your shot is in focus. I haven’t used one personally, so I can’t really confirm (look, a pun) nor deny their usefulness and/or accuracy.

Personally, I prefer the old school method of a split-image / micro-prism matte focusing screen.

Choices

There are, as far as I know, three choices to choose from. The ever popular Katz Eye focusing screens, the slightly more affordable Haoda focusing screens, and focusingscreen.com. The Katz Eye and Haoda screens both have good reviews all over the web and I probably would have given one of them a chance if I were not in a penny-pinching mode. The Katz Eye starts at $105 and the Haoda at $72 plus shipping. It’s not a bad price for the quality of product, but the focusingscreen.com basic model is $45 and change plus shipping (and tax if your fortunate enough to live in a state with such a thing).

Well, there’s actually a fourth option which I have tried, but didn’t quite workout. It involves dismantling some older camera with a focusing screen, sanding it down to size and installing it. On the XTi I can say that the focus screen that comes in an old Canon T-50 will not work without some serious engineering. You can give it a shot, but, it will be much easier on your constitution to just buy one of the aforementioned products.

The focusingscreen.com Screen

Installing the screen isn’t really that difficult. It just takes a steady hand and some patience (neither of which I possess). I’d recommend having a professional do it purely for the fact that the focus screen is a precision part of your camera’s operation. Screw it up, and you’ll end up paying to get it fixed anyway. I’m currently half way there. The focus screen is installed, but since I live with a bunch of animals, there’s a nice hair in there that I can’t get out. Not detrimental to it’s operation, but annoying nonetheless.

Now, on to the good bits. The focusingscreen.com screen is nice. It has everything you need in a basic focus system: split-image focusing for lining up straight edges in your composition, a micro-prism circle for everything else. Once you get it dialed in and focus is accurate, the split-image / micro-prism is an enormous improvement when it comes to focusing. The focus screen I purchased also has some laser cut dots where the AF points are (with the exception of the center point since it’s occupied by the split-image) so when using an AF lens (like, say, the Canon EF 24mm f2.8), they light up just like normal. They don’t particularly line up for me, but you can certainly see which points are flashing at you. Handy! That’s an extra $45 alone on the Katz Eye.

It came very well packaged and with all the necessary tools to install it yourself. It even came with two finger condoms. How thoughtful. I ordered the focus screen on April 6th and it arrived on April 14th. Pretty fast service coming from Taiwan.

There is a downside to focus screens. The split-image gets dark around f5.6 or f8 and becomes close to impossible to focus. This plagues pretty much all focus screens no matter what brand, type, or age of camera/lens. Cameras that use lenses with ‘Auto’ mode (meaning they automatically ’stop-down’ the aperture blades when the shutter is pressed) don’t see this because the aperture is always wide open. Unfortunately, on a DSLR with an adapter, that mechanism doesn’t likely exist so you have to manually stop-down the lens when taking the picture after focusing. Not really the fault of the focus screen, but more of an issue with old manual lenses on a digital body.

Another issue (and this might not be an issue at all for some) is the fact that the company is based in Taiwan and their English is less than perfect. Support might be challenging. But, for $45 plus shipping, it’s easy to overlook this. If you’re concerned about support, both Katz Eye and Haoda are noted to have excellent service and support (or, so I’ve read).

A Test Shots

I haven’t done any precise measurements in terms of how accurate the installed screen is, but from the below picture, what was intended to be in focus, is actually in focus.

Update

More test shots. This time with a ruler. Not pretty, but shows the accuracy of the focus screen. I did three tests with three different lenses and two different mounts.

1. Asahi Super-Takumar 55mm ƒ2
2. Fuji Fujinon 55mm ƒ1.8
3. Olympus Zuiko OM-System 50mm ƒ1.8

All three shots were taken wide open and focused as best I could. I tried to focus on the 90 of the ruler using the micro-prism. Exported from Aperture (from RAW) with Auto-Levels applied in Photoshop for contrast. Given the small size of the lettering and shallow depth of field, it was more difficult that I thought. While they appear to be a tad off, I’d still say the focus screen is accurate. I may redo the test in better lighting at some point. But, here’s the shots.

Conclusion

The focusingscreen.com focus screen is a very useful tool. Even if you never plan on using a manual focus lens, it can provide valuable feedback. Feedback your AF points will never give you. You will know what is exactly in focus. If you’ve used an old 35mm film SLR, you’ll feel right at home and most likely enjoy the familiarity. If you’ve never used one before, it’s an easy concept to grasp. I highly recommend them.

Is the focusingscreen.com screen superior to the katz Eye or Haoda version? I don’t know. Is it worth the roughly $60? Absolutely.