Hyperfocal Distance - Measure from Where?

[Spodeworld]

Hi. I'm a little confused about where hyperfocal distance is measured from.

If for example, you find that your hyperfocal distance is 7 feet, does this mean 7 feet straight in front of your feet? Or does it mean 7 feet from the lens (plane of the sensor), which means you are actually measuring from the diagonal, instead of 7 feet from your toes?

Thanks.

 

[OrionsByte]

You measure from the camera's focus plane (the sensor). The camera only cares about how far away something is from it, not how far they are from you.

Also remember that you must measure from the center of the focus plane to a spot directly in front of the camera. The focus plane is always parallel to the image sensor - it's not measured spherically around your camera.

 

[Spodeworld]

Thanks for the quick reply.

So, if the hyperfocal distance is say, 7 feet, and you are 6 feet tall, then would the hyperfocal distance be just beyond your feet, given that the diagonal from your eyes (assuming that is where you are holding your camera) to the ground would reach 7 feet pretty quickly?

 

[Josh66]

Only if you were trying to take a picture of your feet...

The distance is measured in the direction the lens is pointing.

 

[Josh66]

Hyperfocal Distance

Pay particular attention the the picture....

The shaded part of the trees are what what would be in focus.

 

[Garbz]

Hyperfocal distance is the distance that produces maximum depth of field. So if you're 7ft tall and the hyperfocal distance is 6ft, and you take a photo of your feet then you're not after hyperfocal since you're interested in the maximum sharpness up to your feet, not to the infinity point on the lens.