hyperfocal distance

[Goldcoin79]

After using the depth of field calculator it give you the hyperfocal distance under the dof calculations, what exactly is hyperfocal distance and what does it mean?

 

[Ysarex]

For any lens at any given f/stop the hyperfocal distance is the focus point in front of the camera where the DOF limit behind the focus point reaches infinity and the DOF limit in front of the focus point is half the hyperfocal distance.

Joe

edit: often used by landscape photographers to maximize depth of field.

 

[KmH]

Hyperfocal distance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[TCampbell]

It is simply the focused subject-distance which provides the MAXIMUM depth of field possible for that lens, focal length, and f-stop.

Think about it this way: If I want my camera to focus all the way out to infinity, I could just manually turn the focus ring to "infinity" and take the shot. But the truth is, the camera actually focuses a little "before" the focused subject-distance as well a little "behind" the focused subject-distance and that range of acceptable focus is what we call the "depth of field". But since there is nothing "behind" infinity, that means all the back-focused range within the depth-of-field is wasted.

So if instead of focusing at "infinity" I focus at some other distance whereby "infinity" becomes the rear limit of my depth of field, then it means I can get more focused area in the foreground. The question is: what is that "other distance" that I should pick which achieves this result? That number is "hyper-focal" distance.

On an older camera lens (back when we actually had useful DoF marks) you'd just set the "infinity" point to the back (the right-most DoF mark for your select f-stop) and you'd be done. Today, most lenses no longer have DoF marks, so you have to look it up or calculate it.

 

[Buckster]

Example:In order to get the flower which is close to me, and the trees that are a hundred feet away or more AND the clouds in the sky which are miles away ALL in focus, I calculated the hyper-focal distance and used that, rather than focusing on any one of the 3:

 

[SYZahran]

If i may use this thread to follow on the OP question,

I think i understand the definition of "Hyper-Focal Distance", but i don't know how to put it to practical use.

How will i know where is the Hyper-Focal Distance in my scene?

I read in some places that you will have to do an estimation and just go with it. i'm not very good with estimating distances so is there any other way to do it?

and if i look at Buckster's photo, there are only three landmarks - flower, tree and clouds. if non of those are in my Hyper-Focal Distance so how do i know where to focus? i'm guessing i'll have to focus first while looking at ground level (or something like this) and then recompose. am i right with my guess?

and one last Question i'm thinking about right now, if there is no obvious landmark at my Hyper-Focal Distance for my cam to auto-focus on i should be using my Manual Focus? or i should be always using my manual focus when i'm aiming for the Hyper-Focal Distance?

i apologize to the OP if my questions are distracting people from his, i just don't want to open a new thread dealing with the same subject.

 

[Buckster]

How will i know where is the Hyper-Focal Distance in my scene?

By using the calculator, you will know how much of the scene will be in focus.

I read in some places that you will have to do an estimation and just go with it. i'm not very good with estimating distances so is there any other way to do it?

There are laser range finders that you can use to get distances if you can't estimate. Generally though, you just need to know a closer distance than the closest thing you want in focus. So, if that's a tree on the other side of a field you're looking at, and you don't know how far away that is, it doesn't much matter, if you know it's more than a few feet away and there's nothing between a few feet away and the tree that you want to be out of focus. You can make the measurement to a few feet away and use that to get the tree and everything behind it in focus.

and if i look at Buckster's photo, there are only three landmarks - flower, tree and clouds. if non of those are in my Hyper-Focal Distance so how do i know where to focus? i'm guessing i'll have to focus first while looking at ground level (or something like this) and then recompose. am i right with my guess?

I don't remember what lens and body I was using, it was a while ago, but let's just say it was a Canon 20D with my 10-22mm lens on it @ 10mm. (that's probably correct)

For that body and that lens at 10mm, wanting everything from a foot in front of me to infinity, all I had to do after consulting a hyperfocal calculator was set my aperture to f/9, then I used a tape measure to set up my tripod two feet from the flower, auto-focused on the flower, switched from AF to manual once I'd achieved focus, and shot. With those settings, everything from about a foot away to infinity was in focus.

and one last Question i'm thinking about right now, if there is no obvious landmark at my Hyper-Focal Distance for my cam to auto-focus on i should be using my Manual Focus? or i should be always using my manual focus when i'm aiming for the Hyper-Focal Distance?

You can use auto-focus to get it dialed in, but you have to know how far away the thing is that you're auto-focused on. It can be very close, and estimated or measured with a tape measure, or it can be further away and measured with a laser rangefinder, but you need to know what the distance is. After you've got the focus, turn AF off and recompose (if necessary) in manual.

Use this link to get your calculations and more information: Online Depth of Field Calculator

 

[SYZahran]

Thank You Buckster for your answer. i'm not sure i understood everything but i think it will come in time.

I understand that i need the calculator for knowing what is my Hyper-Focal Length for the specific lens and body i'm using (2 feet in your example), i was wondering how will i measure this in the field. you did answer that too, a tape if its close (how didn't i think of that) and a laser rangefinder if its far away.


now i'm getting to wonder about some other thing, i have recently read "understanding exposure" by Bryan Peterson. there he talks about setting the aperture according to what you want to shot. wide apertures for low depth of field (portraits, single objects) and narrow apertures for for high depth of fields (landscape). from reading in the forum i understand that what he is talking about is not applicable to modern day cameras and taking photos with an aperture of f/22 is not advised.

and here is what i'm wondering about,
1 - from your flower example i see you used the hyper-focal charts for deciding your aperture according to what you want your composition to be. if the charts indicated that the aperture desired for such a composition was a f/2.8 or f/4 would you still use it? although such an aperture will render a low depth of field?

2 - looking at the charts i see you can get infinite in focus basically in any aperture, all depending on where you focus. even an aperture of f/2.8 can render a high depth of field if you focus on the Hyper-Focal length. so? i'm getting a bit confused. so your answer for my 1st question would be yes and you will use such an aperture even if its a "low depth of field aperture" you just need to know where to focus.

from what i see the definition of "low depth of field apertures" and "high depth of field apertures" is not 100% accurate, its depending on how you use them.

so many questions, you try answering one and a bunch of others just pop out.

 

[Buckster]

Peterson's general advice really just can't be applied when we're talking about hyperfocal distancing, because it's such a whole different animal.

So, for question 1, yeah, if that's what the chart/calculator indicated I needed to achieve the hyperfocal shot I want, then I'd use it, and my DOF wouldn't be shallow like the normal use of such an aperture as f/2.8 or f/4 because of where (distance) the lens is actually focussed COMBINED with that aperture. So, yeah, no worries.

2. Correct - depending on the aperture, you just need to know where to focus, OR depending on what's convenient to focus on that you can determine the distance of, you just need to know the right aperture.

 

[SYZahran]

Thanks Again!! you helped solve some of my Questions

hopefully i can practice those soon. if i have any Questions i'll sure be coming back for some more advise.

 

[Goldcoin79]

Thanks buckster after reading your examples and using the calculator to work it out myself I now understand clearly. Also this has given me knoledge for trying to take pictures like this myself.

 

[LizardKing]

It is simply the focused subject-distance which provides the MAXIMUM depth of field possible for that lens, focal length, and f-stop.

Think about it this way: If I want my camera to focus all the way out to infinity, I could just manually turn the focus ring to "infinity" and take the shot. But the truth is, the camera actually focuses a little "before" the focused subject-distance as well a little "behind" the focused subject-distance and that range of acceptable focus is what we call the "depth of field". But since there is nothing "behind" infinity, that means all the back-focused range within the depth-of-field is wasted.

So if instead of focusing at "infinity" I focus at some other distance whereby "infinity" becomes the rear limit of my depth of field, then it means I can get more focused area in the foreground. The question is: what is that "other distance" that I should pick which achieves this result? That number is "hyper-focal" distance.

On an older camera lens (back when we actually had useful DoF marks) you'd just set the "infinity" point to the back (the right-most DoF mark for your select f-stop) and you'd be done. Today, most lenses no longer have DoF marks, so you have to look it up or calculate it.

Now I get it, thanks! :thumbup:

 

[jwbryson1]

I was watching a good video on this yesterday on Adorama TV on Youtube, and Mark Wallace suggested downloading an App for your smart phone that calculated the hyperfocal distance for you, and the DOF, etc. I quickly found several free Apps that did this and they are very easy to use.

Just an FYI.