Originally Posted By: hybrid8
it's a complete PITA to focus manually without the prism on the focus screen

Yes, if one is expecting the old film camera method of showing focus.

My 40D, like many digital SLRs, will confirm focus by lighting up the "focus dots" that are in-focus during manual focusing. Those are every bit as easy to see as the old style split-prism view, and the camera doesn't need to be centered on the target either.

Cheers