Unscientific poll - Manual focus on a DSLR

[Ronald M]

Without a doubt, my D700 with Katz Eye screen. Absolutely never miss, never, if I get 5 sec. Same 5 sec with manual focus on stock screen and I really dislike looking for the green light. I can get 95% with that .

It is better than DX with optibright Katz Eye. Have that too.


Neither is as good as a Nikon F with A screen. That is around a 2 sec focus.

Well adjusted AF is the same and .2 sec or less is all I need.

None pop the focus like a screen made for contrast instead of brightness such as the manual focus SLR or yesteryear or a Visoflex.
There is no way to travel back in time, sigh.

 

[semordnilap]

It is better than DX with optibright Katz Eye. Have that too.

My DX (d7000) with katzeye seems to not be super useful in low light. The split prism kinda disappears on me...

 

[gavinlg]

Considering the environment I use my D700 in I expected to have to consider a different screen ... but so far I haven't felt the need for it! I probably lose no more shots through missed focus than I did with my M8.

What sort of screens are we talking here Gavin?

Canon have the EE-S which is specifically for faster lenses - it makes the focus 'pop' a lot more and works very well. The standard focusing screen is bright but focus doesn't pop so well. I'm not sure Nikon have a similar option, though you can always get a katz eye with the split prism - which would work awesomely on a d700 with manual focus.

 

[Athos6]

D200 with Katz-eye

D200 with Katz-eye

I found that my d200 works alright. No so high a MP that legacy lenses are unusable (they still show their age but are plenty sharp.) I wish it had the MF confirmation setup of later DSLR's the 3 dot system versus the one flickering dot. I want to try the D7000 and see how it works with AIS lenses.

Athos