Hyperfocal Focusing

[Lance Warley]

I'm always looking for ways to improve my work by learning new methods. However, I have an aversion to learning anything that is hard for me to understand.

My definition of "hard to understand" is - after I read multiple articles about it, it still gives me a pain in the neck.

Articles on Hyperfocal Focusing are hard for me to understand.

Question to those who have done it: Does Hyperfocal significantly improve the quality of your landscape photos, rather than autofocus in Aperture priority?

I should mention that my definition of "significantly" is - easily and quickly visible to the human eye without an electron microscope.


Thanks.

[Michael Pancier]

lance, the hyperfocal focusing is to attain the best dof when you have foreground objects especially...e.g., flowers in foreground

what sucks is that the newer lens don't have the marks like the older manual lenses.

[James Shadle]

Lance,
In normal landscapes, IMO no. It could even degrade image quality.

Hyperfocal focusing is just a matter of stopping down to your smallest aperture for maximum DOF.
Hyperfocal distance is the zone of focus from sharp infinity to the closest sharp distance.
When you stop down to your smallest aperture you do get maximum DOF, however diffraction is also a problem.
The amount of diffraction depends on the lens and sensor sized used.

Diffraction is, to simplify, light hitting your sensor at an acute angle, causing softness.

[Phil Colla]

As I learned it, hyperfocal focusing is the process of maximizing the depth of field for any given aperture, not necessarily the smallest aperture. ("Hyper" implying maximizing.) For each aperture, there is a focal distance that allows -- just barely -- objects at infinity to be sharp. That focal distance is the "hyperfocal point" or hyperfocal distance. Old-style lenses would have these indicated on the barrel so that you could set focus not through the viewfinder but lining up tick marks on the lens barrel. I use hyperfocal focus -- usually at f/8 but sometimes f/11 -- when I shoot surf in the water, since there is no way autofocus can keep up with the complexity and speed at which a wave is curling over the top of me. It gives the greatest DOF that still keeps distant objects sharp.

[Desmond Chan]

[snip] For each aperture, there is a focal distance that allows -- just barely -- objects at infinity to be sharp. That focal distance is the "hyperfocal point" or hyperfocal distance. Old-style lenses would have these indicated on the barrel so that you could set focus not through the viewfinder but lining up tick marks on the lens barrel. I use hyperfocal focus -- usually at f/8 but sometimes f/11 -- when I shoot surf in the water, since there is no way autofocus can keep up with the complexity and speed at which a wave is curling over the top of me. It gives the greatest DOF that still keeps distant objects sharp.

That's my understanding, too. Although I didn't know the term, i.e., hyperfocal point/distance, using the markings on the lens as stated above was how I used to use with a 24mm during the film days. This way, no focusing is needed, just point and shoot. I don't know why they took away the depth of field markings on the lens barrels. At the very least, I think, given today's technology, the camera should be able to show the actual depth of field, such as between 15 ft to 60 ft, on the viewfinder instead of using the depth-of-field button the kind we have now.

[Robert O'Toole]

Articles on Hyperfocal Focusing are hard for me to understand.



Its really simple.
Hyperfocal focusing means setting the focus distance manually to a predetermined distance to give you enough DOF to cover your needs. This might mean setting the focus on a 20mm lens to 15 feet @ F16 so that everything from 1.5 feet to inf will be in focus (I made the figures up).

In the MF days lenses were marked, Michael mentioned this, today you have to use a chart or calculator to get the info.

It is a great way to learn about your equipment and when set properly with a wide angle there is normally no need to use AF.

Robert

[Robert O'Toole]

I use hyperfocal focus -- usually at f/8 but sometimes f/11 -- when I shoot surf in the water, since there is no way autofocus can keep up with the complexity and speed at which a wave is curling over the top of me. It gives the greatest DOF that still keeps distant objects sharp.

Interesting Phil.

This is how I learned how to use it, in a water housing. But of course it was out of necessity as there was no AF back in the old days with my F3 in a dale K. housing. You had to learn how to utilize it and of course it was a real pain to have to swim in every 36 frames. :)

Robert

[Fabs Forns]

I've used a chart, designated to the camera and kens used, You select from a graphic the focal lenght, it will tell you the f/ stop. You use Aperture Value. It will tell you, for instance, at 17mm, f 11 is the one at 7 feet. So you measure or guesstimate 7 feet, focus on your car or a rock, change your focus to manual and you have perfect DOF for that focal length. It works.

[Lance Warley]

Thanks, everyone!

[Robert Amoruso]

Lance,

Go to this thread http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18327 and look for my post towards the end for more on Hyperfocal Distance. O'Toole gave a good explanation but this thread has more. I agree and disagree with James. Yes on going to the minimum aperture can degrade image quailty (depends upon lens and lighting conditions) but no on it being helpful. It is especially important to consider it when using say f/16 in lieu of f/22, f/32. This way you can squeeze the maximum DOF out of the lens and its settings.

The online calculator I have a link too is a great help with figuring it out. I am working on a tutorial on this for my workshops and will post something in the educational forum on it as well.

[James Shadle]

Defined as: the hyperfocal distance is the closest distance at which a lens can be focused while keeping objects at infinity acceptably sharp; that is, the focus distance with the maximum depth of field. When the lens is focused at this distance, all objects at distances from half of the hyperfocal distance out to infinity will be acceptably sharp.

Wouldn't this be accomplished at the minimum aperture?

James

[Phil Colla]

Defined as: the hyperfocal distance is the closest distance at which a lens can be focused while keeping objects at infinity acceptably sharp; that is, the focus distance with the maximum depth of field. When the lens is focused at this distance, all objects at distances from half of the hyperfocal distance out to infinity will be acceptably sharp.
Wouldn't this be accomplished at the minimum aperture?
James

James, hyperfocal distance, as a concept or technique, it is independent of aperture. There is a hyperfocal distance for each aperture. Naturally, the one that yields the deepest DOF is the one for the minimum aperture, but often it is unnecessary to go to f/22. I use hyperfocal distance technique often at f/8, f/11 due to light constraints (I can't get enough shutter at f/22 and must use f/8 or f/11 as working aperture, still desiring to use hyperfocal to maximum DOF at that aperture choice). Landscape guys will use hyperfocal at, say, f/11, ** if that yields enough DOF for their composition, since they know f/11 is generally sharper than f/22 on most lenses these days.

As an aside, check out this online DOF guide for all focal lengths and circles of confusion. You will see that it offers hyperfocal setting for any aperture:

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

[Robert Amoruso]

The link Phil provided is a good one just as the one in my linked thread above by John Hendry at http://www.johnhendry.com/gadget/dofcalc.htm.

The image posted is the DoF calcuator from the link I provided. It calcs the HFD for f/11 24mm lens full frame camera. For a Depth of Field of 3ft - 1in to infinity, you focus at 6ft - 2in. If you set the lens focus at infinity, then acceptable focus is from 6ft - 2in to infinity. By using the HFD, you gain a full 3 ft. which can be very important to an image with an important FG element.

Also in the image is a Canon 24mm Tilt-Shift lens. It focuses manually and has the HFD scale inscribed on it, just like older manual focusing lenses did.

If you look at the markings, at infinity focusing, the 6ft. mark is coincident with the f/11 mark.

This is one of the reasons I really like using my tilt-shift lens. All have the HFD marks and they focus manually which to me is preferable for landscape photography. Canon's AF wide-angle zooms don't have HFD scales but the AF fixed wide-angles do.

[James Shadle]

Thanks guys,
I understand the fact that each aperture setting has it's own hyperfocus distance.

I must have miss-understood the question.

When working near-far, the farther the near, the larger the aperture you can use to hyperfocus the scene.

James

[Phil Colla]

When working near-far, the farther the near, the larger the aperture you can use to hyperfocus the scene.

Thanks, that's a good way of expressing it, easy to remember.

Sorry if I was belaboring the point on the apertures.

[Robert Amoruso]

I agree Phil. James captured it well in one short sentence.

[Lance Warley]

Are any of you guys ever in the Wako / Green Cay area?

That's where I live, and I would be willing to spring for a very large cup of coffee to get a 5 minute demo of hyperfocal. I think 5 minutes of "doing it" would be all I'd need to get it.