Split Focusing Screen for Canon 60d?

[tomokc]

I'm not getting the tack sharp focusing out of my 60d I'd like. My film SLRs had split focusing screens where the focusing screen displayed two hemisphere halves, which would line up when the subject was in focus. Is there such an aftermarket focusing screen capability for the 60d (when shooting both stills & video)? Thanks. 

[Ray-uk]

There used to be non OEM split screens available for a lot of DSLRs but supply seems to have diminished over the last few years. They worked but could be tricky to install often needing custom spacers to get them into the correct position, also they were made from cut down screens from 35mm SLRs so when you use them on a crop camera the central split image appears rather large and intrusive. The other problem is that the split image prism upsets the DSLR metering and compensation may have to be made. If you really want one then ebay may be your best place to look.

Current DSLR manufacturers don't supply them because they would make the inaccuracies of the AF sytem very obvious.

I'm not even sure that the 60D screen is user replaceable.

[Waddizzle]

According to the Instruction Manual, these are the focusing screens available for the 60D.

[Ray-uk]

Ah, so the 60D screen is user replaceable (thanks Wadizzle).

I always used the EF-s screen in my old 50D and again now in my 7D2, it does help with manual focus but not as much as a split screen would. Ignore the information about screen darkening because the effect is so small that it is hardly noticeable.

Manual focus with the EF-s is possible at apertures of f4 and wider, even at f5.6 in good light. It isn't much help with lenses wider than about 24mm, it works well with normal or tele lenses.

[ebiggs1]

"I'm not getting the tack sharp focusing out of my 60d I'd like."

Are you doing manual focusing?  If not, than a new screen won't do anything for getting sharper focus.

[tomokc]

Biggs - Yes, I AM manually focusing, but I've tried both ways with less-than-stellar results. Also viewing TTL and EVF.

[ebiggs1]

You need to realize modern DSLR's are not designed for manual focusing.  Yes they can do it but they are really tweaked in favor for AF.

[Tronhard]

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@tomokc wrote:
Biggs - Yes, I AM manually focusing, but I've tried both ways with less-than-stellar results. Also viewing TTL and EVF.

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I have 3 EOS 60D's and must admit I have never had an issue in focusing with them. I tend to agree with Ebiggs: the autofocus is usually the best methodolgy.  However, I tend to use spot focus and the back button focusing lock to retain settings while I recompose.  A lot depends on the kinds of things you are shooting - low contrast subjects will always be hard to focus on, even manually.