establishing hyperfocal distance..

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rolei

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Hi everyone

I'm confused about establishing hyperfocal distance.

i have been regarding all those articles about "Hyper-focal focusing"and,* i just don't get this...will be very thankful if you could explain me simply.

Lets say i use i would like to make a landscape photo with an Aperture of f/11 with a lens Focal point of 28mm according to my chart the Hyper-focal distance would be around 1.8Meters/
now if I'm shooting a landscape shot, should i use the AF lock-Focus to lock it 1.8 meters away from me (which will be ground in the landscape) and then reframe the image with the composition.

when i recompose my image should i press the button again halfway? or all way down?(i m using 5dmark3)

Can i focus in the 1/3 of the image? (by using the 3x3 grid in the viewfinder in the 5dmark3)

Thank you for the help
 
The hyperfocal distance is the distance to focus at to in order to get the maximum depth of field. So if you calculator says set to 1.8 m then focus on something 1.8m away and then turn your AF off or switch you lens to manual focus, recompose and shoot without changing focus.

If you are shooting a landscape and the foreground is not visible until say 10m from the camera then you don’t want to use the hyperfocal distance because you are not looking for the maximum DoF for that aperture you are looking for the optimum focus point from say 10m to 600m, so focus 1/3 of the way into the scene because the DoF extends 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind the focus point. Just check with the DoF calculator that the aperture you are using covers the focus range you need.
 
You might find, for landscapes, you would be better setting the custom function that removes AF from the shutter button. Instead, use the AF-On button on the rear of the camera.

That way you can focus on your subject, then recompose to your heats content knowing focus won't change unless you hit the button again.
 
Hyperfocal distance focusing is easy, and it is not the same as focusing one third in, or one third up the frame. I posted this on a previous thread:

With HFD, closest sharp focus is always exactly half the HFD. This is very handy to remember! This is how I do it, with just a few numbers stuck on a label inside the lens cap of a 17-40mm super-wide, on full frame. You can guess the inbetween settings well enough. HFD technique doesn't really work with longer focal lengths as the distances get impractically long.

Full-Frame
HFD..........f/5.6..........f/11.........f/22
17mm........5.6ft............2.8ft.........1.4ft
24mm........11.2ft..........5.7ft.........2.9ft
35mm........24ft.............12ft..........6ft

Decide what it is in the near foregound that you want sharp, and estimate that distance visually, say it's 3ft. Now double that distance (visually, easy enough to do at close range) and using centre point AF, focusing on something at that distance, ie 6ft, and lock it. Lens is set at 24mm, so check the table and the nearest to that distance, ie 5.7ft, so set f/11 and you're done.

These figures are for full frame. Go to DoFmaster http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html for crop format and draw up your own table.

More discussion on hyperfocal distance focusing here:http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/for...d.php?t=384043
 
I find the easiest way to implement hyperfocal distance is by using live view and selective focus point...with the camera set on your tripod by selecting the focus point which sits on the hyperfocal distance you don't need to change your composition. One of the difficulties when using the technique and recomposing is ensuring that your framing is the same as when you set the focal point..hopefully that makes sense :shrug:

Simon
 
Hi Everyone,

I have been doing some tests to understand the hyperfocal distance, but its not looking sharp;so i dont think i am getting it..
here you can see 2 images(first is taken with manual focus and the second with live view ,manul focus dof button)they are quite identical and the left part is quite out of focus compare to the right, why do you think is that, can you tell me what is my mistakes,please?
i was focusing around the first tree, as the hyperfocal distance was 2,5 meters.(f16)

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8933/691c0186.jpg


http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/9509/691c0190.jpg
Thank you
 
f16 and f18 are a bit extreme. At 28mm on a full frame camera f8 will give you 6 feet to infinity and f11 will give under 4 feet to infinity.
 
At higher f/numbers, you will lose ultimate sharpness due to diffraction. On full frame, f/8 will usually be the sharpest aperture, in the centre. Certainly you will lose noticeable sharpness at f/16.

The other thing about hyperfocal distance focusing is that, by definition, it puts both the nearest point and infinity at the very limit of 'acceptable' sharpness (as set by the universal standards for DoF calculations). So if the nearest and further subjects are most important, you may have to moderate the technique accordingly.

Futhermore, the standards for DoF are set by viewing an image at a distance equal to the diagonal (ie about 14in for an A4 print) so if you start pixel peeping at 100% on screen, all DoF calcs go out of the window.
 
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