hyperfocal Distance????

[gpsi]

I am confused about Hyperfocal distance in context with lens??how to use it in photography.....where to find it???how to understand/differentiate it from Depth of field......I read a lot on wiki......but could not fully understand??......can someone simulate or explain???

[Doug Sundseth]

The hyperfocal distance for a given lens, camera, and aperture combination is the nearest distance at which everything out to infinity will be in focus.

Depth of field depends on the same three things. In general, smaller individual sensor sites (which often correlates with smaller sensors), longer focal lengths, and wider apertures (smaller aperture numbers) increase the hyperfocal distance and reduce the depth of field for any point of focus. For a quick calculator, check DOFMaster.

[ravncat]

In different language - but the same as above,

You know depth of field right? Imagine at some aperture - say, 5.6 that when you focus on something, there's an area of focus infront and behind of what you focused on. So you have a depth of focus from some point to another.

Let's say from 20-25 feet away. and as you have a bigger number (smaller aperture) you have more in focus, say from 15 - 30 feet - and at something like f 22 you have an even bigger area say from 10 - 50 feet. (numbers are not to scale but for example only)

There must be some place where you can focus - and put infinity as the far point of your depth of field. When you do this, you'll get a huge range of focus - from say 7 feet to infinity! That's hyperfocus.

The hyperfocal distance - is the actual distance you have to focus on, in order to get hyperfocus. so while i said 7 to infinity above you may have to focus on something like 21 feet. (This all depends upon your lens focal length and your aperture setting)

The link above will let you put in your lens and calculate where to focus. It's hard to focus at exactly 36.3 feet - but if you have a focus distance scale you can get pretty close. If you have no focal distance scale (on the lens) you can use the depth of field preview and rotate the focus ring to get pretty close to it.

(I wish they'd put a hyperfocal distance calculator and autohyperfocal distance function into cameras... it'd be easy for the manufacturers to do....)

- the only gotcha is an advanced one. Things in the "depth of field" are not really perfectly sharp - they're "acceptably sharp" and the definition of "acceptably sharp" changes from person to person. So don't expect "tack sharp" everywhere - especially towards the front of the field, when you use hyperfocal. Don't worry about it, but be aware of it - you may find that it says 4feet to infinity are in focus - but you may see its more like 8 feet to infinity... etc...

[mshockley]

This is of interest to me also! Doug, thanks for the DOF Master link, and ravncat that's a great explanation.

[gpsi]

thank you guys.The info was more than useful.I will use the info for better shots,d way I like in future.

[ik631]

Ok this is going to sound like a sales pitch. I just got this great new app, simpleDOF (for iPhone don't know if its on anything else). It's free, all you have to do is punch in your focal length, aperature, distance to subject and it makes all the calculations for you. It even adjust the circle of confusion based on specific camera for you. Great for use in the field. It not only gives you the hyperfocal distance but the near and far distance. Checked all the measurements against DOFmaster and they match. Its easier than trying find a paper graph in my gear bag. Did I mention its free, no registering for anything either!

[ravncat]

Originally Posted by ik631

Ok this is going to sound like a sales pitch. I just got this great new app, simpleDOF (for iPhone don't know if its on anything else). It's free, all you have to do is punch in your focal length, aperature, distance to subject and it makes all the calculations for you. It even adjust the circle of confusion based on specific camera for you. Great for use in the field. It not only gives you the hyperfocal distance but the near and far distance. Checked all the measurements against DOFmaster and they match. Its easier than trying find a paper graph in my gear bag. Did I mention its free, no registering for anything either!

Just remember to find a circle of confusion that works well for you, I think alot of the DOF master markings are better for film photography, I generally use one aperture stop more than recommended for hyperfocal, at a given distance, because of the digital sensor resolution. It really depends on your sensor and lens though

[Gulf Coast Girl]

Subscribed!

I'm completely confused about this hyperfocal distance as well. I see people post "calcuate your hyperfocal distance, then yadda yadda yadda" and I'm scratching my head and saying to myself...... "calculate the what???"

I've done a lot of googling and reading on it.... and just when I think I understand it, I go to bed and wake up the next day and can't remember one iota about what it means. For some reason this is a big stumbling block for me...

I'm hoping someone here can explain it to me like I'm a 2 year old cause I think that's the only way I'm gonna get it

[sk66]

Think of hyper focal distance as a "focus setting" that matches given lens focal length and aperture setting. If you use the "hyper focal distance setting" everything from 1/2 that distance to infinity will be in focus.

Lets say you use a DOF calculator for a 50mm lens at f/10...it will say approximately 12.5 meters is the hyper focal distance (for crop sensor). So, if you set your lens to focus at 12.5 meters everything from 6.25m to infinity will be in focus.

This is really only useful with wide lenses (but FF sensors help a lot too). For example a 10mm lens at f/10 will have a "hyper focal distance setting" of .5 meters (.3m with FF).

Now, a "key" to using hyper focal distance is in guessing the distance of the point you are focusing on because, with most digital lenses there is no "usable" focus scale. When guessing, "guess long" if anything. If you focus a bit beyond the hyper focal distance you will loose a little from the front edge of the DOF. If you focus short you will gain very little on the front edge, but you will loose A LOT from the back edge.

[Skoropada]

I haven't tried this method myself, but it seems fairly simple...

HYPERFOCAL DISTANCE FOCUSING TECHNIQUE

The only big issues is that many modern lenses don't have any DOF scale.