VINTAGE LENS FOCUSING

[Hooper65]

Hello ...
I have a 600D
and happen to have a large collection of Vintage prime lens's.
That is to say, lens's from before digital.
All manual focus and NO auto anything, NO electronic connections.

I have obtained mounting adaptors to use these lens's
and for studio work with a tripod and the image quality that can be obtained
Is absolutely fantastic.

The only wish is for Split Screen Focusing or a digital equivalent
rather than using guess work with an LCD screen.

I think I recall once finding the existence of an after market split screen mirror
that can be installed yourself... or get a professional to do it ...
Has anyone here obtained one of those mirrors ?

I've also discovered that if I install ML
there are focusing options that Canon standard features do not offer.
I dont know the name of the feature but it was little red squares that light up
as you focus through the depth of field of a composition .

If anyone knows what I'm trying to describe in ML ... chime in ?

My main question is ... if this is a suitable solution,
Will it work with a non electronic fully manual Vintage Lens
as a way to eliminate guesswork in focusing ?? ... or is the only solution
to obtain a split screen mirror?

[Walter Schulz]

https://wiki.magiclantern.fm/camera_help#focus_peak

[keel]

half clicking the shutter gives a zoomed view to check the focus. It isn't split screen or focus peaking, but has been useful.

[histor]

You have a plenty of options (I've tried all).

Split-screen is useful for dark conditions and fast shooting, when no other option is applicable. You'll waste a lot of shots, it takes time to get familiar to it. It's fun. It's very easy to install/uninstall it yourself.

Zoomed live view and tethered shooting are best suitable for macro and studio stills.
Focus peaking in live view is very effective, but it doesn't work with 100% zoom.

The fastest option is a chipped adapter. It enables built-in phase detection focusing (red dots it the optical viewfinder). I've tried a lot of adapters. The cheapest ones worked best for me. I tuned 5DII inner focus adjustment  for each lens (and wrote down the settings). Works perfect (except macro range). Programmable chips (with focus correction) were so wrong at default  "0", almost useless. 600D lacks inner focus adjustment.

In any case, you need widely opened aperture.

[nikfreak]

+1 for chipped adapters. I own some which allow also focus correction for nikon lenses.

[yourboylloyd]

I tuned 5DII inner focus adjustment  for each lens (and wrote down the settings). Works perfect (except macro range). Programmable chips (with focus correction) were so wrong at default  "0", almost useless. 600D lacks inner focus adjustment.

+1 for chipped adapters. I own some which allow also focus correction for nikon lenses.

Curious as to what you are saying in more detail. I'm not quite sure that I understand but it sounds interesting. What do you guys mean by focus correction?

[nikfreak]

My adapters exactly are able to do it the way it is described in the following pdf:

http://evtifeev.com/wp-content/files/manual/EMF_adapter_Canon_c.pdf

Default value for the lens is 50mm f1.4 we are talking about the micro adjustment for the attached lens. This is, as histor already stated, really needed as otherwise camera would do the focus confirmation "beep" and fool you to be in focus although not being in focus. I learned the lesson myself the hard way.

Anyways the chipped adapter is also my preferred solution as I don't shoot in Liveview. Point and autoshoot via ML once focus achieved. I can't tell the advantages when recording movies - that's never been my interest.