

Read the " Focusing on the Hyperfocal Distance" section below to learn how to use the scale. If you are fortunate enough to have a lens with a depth of field scale, you don't have to calculate the hyperfocal distance. You can see that a 200mm lens isn't useful for taking a landscape photograph in which you want near objects to be sharp.

Everything from about 138 feet to infinity will be sharp in a photograph taken with this lens focused at the hyperfocal distance. For example, the hyperfocal distance for a 200mm lens set to f/16 on a 35mm camera is about 275 feet. The hyperfocal distance is quite distant with these lenses. Telephoto lenses are rarely used for hyperfocal distance focusing. Everything from 2.75 feet to infinity will be sharp in a photograph taken with this lens focused at the hyperfocal distance. For example, the hyperfocal distance for a 28mm lens set to f/16 on a 35mm camera is about 5.5 feet. These lenses have a relatively short hyperfocal distance when set to larger f-numbers. Normal to wide-angle lenses (50mm and shorter lenses on 35mm cameras) are good candidates for hyperfocal distance focusing. How to Use Your Camera, New York Institute of Photography, 2000. is simply a fancy term that means the distance setting at any aperture that produces the greatest depth of field. John Shaw's Landscape Photography, John Shaw, 1994. The hyperfocal distance is the point of focus where everything from half that distance to infinity falls within the depth of field.

When the lens is focused on the hyperfocal distance, the depth of field extends from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity. Landscape photographs are often taken with the lens focused at the hyperfocal distance near and distant objects are sharp in the photos.Īpplication of the concept leads to many questions: Which lenses are best for using hyperfocal distance focusing? What is the hyperfocal distance for a lens? How do I focus at the hyperfocal distance? Do I have to focus exactly at the hyperfocal distance? In this article we'll look at the basics of using hyperfocal distance to maximize depth of field in a photograph. The concept of hyperfocal distance is easy to understand: focus a lens at the hyperfocal distance and everything in the photograph from some near distance to infinity will be sharp.
