Hyperfocal length, without focal length marked on lens?

[Durbs]

I've read a few guides about getting the hyperfocal distance set, however on 2 of my 3 lenses there's no guide on the lens itself which says what the focal length is... The one that does is telephoto and not what I'd use to take landscape shots.

Does this mean it's just guess work when it comes to setting this right?

I'm wondering as I was looking to try and few night/star-trail shots, and as it's often too dark to focus on distant objects at night, knowing the HF is set would remove several trial-and-error pics to nail the focus.

Or am I missing something completely?

[OsmosisStudios]

It pretty much has to have some sort of focal length indicator.

[fletch]

I just use a certain amount of guess work. Pic an object that appears to be the right distnace away and auto focus on that. The switch to manual and don't touch the dial. After the first shot I reveiw it on the screen at max zoom to check everything is in focus.

Its even harder on my Olympus due to it using focus by wire rather than proper manual focus.

[dcclark]

I'm fairly sure the OP means no focal distance scale, not focal length -- I've never seen a zoom lens with out focal length markings, but I definitely have seen many lenses without a distance scale. In that case, it's largely guesswork -- but the old "focus about 1/3 of the way into your scene" rule is a decent rule of thumb.