Hyperfocal distance

artyman said:
Whatever happened to the old DOF scales that we used to have on lenses in the old days :lol:
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They were sucked into a black hole with the aperture rings. This happened at about the same time as the shutter speed ring disappeared from the right of the top plate - unless you shot an OM series - but I believe they can all be found if you know the right conjugation!
 
markta said:
Well it's improved my understanding for when I start landscape photography proper and yours and probably lots of others who are reading it, so it's good that you started it!

When I've tried to look up online the techniques and talking people through it, there hasn't been one single explanation until now, nowhere, so hopefully this'll help budding landscapers and we can see fruits of the labour posted on here :thumbs:
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thanks for the extra post count...:lol:
 
FlyTVR said:
OP here. I like this description - thanks. :thumbs:

Also, sorry for starting all this up :bonk:
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That's good :) You're welcome. I thought I'd write out a quick table for myself, so here it is for a range of focal lengths.

Figures relate to Canon 1.6x crop though Nikon etc 1.5x will be virtually identical. Note that depth of field calcs are made from the front of the lens, whereas the distance scale on the lens measures from the sensor (only significant at very close distance). Personally, I find the standard parameters used to calculate DoF are not tight enough for critcal work, so I often use an f/number one stop higher than these just to make sure everything is really crisp. I have not included f/22 as diffraction inevitably makes a mush of image quality at that aperture, best not to use it.

Near Point of Hyperfocal Range (m) at f/number

10mm
0.94m@f/2.8, 0.66m@f/4, 0.47m@f/5.6, 0.33m@f/8, 0.24m@f/11, 0.17m@f/16

14mm
1.83m@f/2.8, 1.30m@f/4, 0.92m@f/5.6, 0.65m@f/8, 0.46m@f/11, 0.33m@f/16

20mm
3.73m@f/2.8, 2.64m@f/4, 1.87m@f/5.6, 1.33m@f/8, 0.94m@f/11, 0.67m@f/16

24mm
5.36m@f/2.8, 3.80m@f/4, 2.69m@f/5.6, 1.91m@f/8, 1.35m@f/11, 0.96m@f/16

35mm
11.4m@f/2.8, 8.09m@f/4, 5.71m@f/5.6, 4.05m@f/8, 2.87m@f/11, 2.03m@f/16

50mm
22.3m@f/2.8, 16.5m@f/4, 11.7m@f/5.6, 8.25m@f/8, 5.84m@f/11, 4.14m@f/16

If anyone fancies having a go at turning this into a more legible table, please do. I don't seem to be able to work this forum software :shrug:

After composing the shot, estimate the distance of the nearest object you want to be sharp. At the chosen focal length, find that distance, or a nearer distance, and that is your f/number. Now double the nearest distance (which is the Hyperfocal Distance) and set that on your focusing scale.

Example: Subject framed at 24mm focal length and important foregound needed to be sharp at 2m. Slightly nearer than that is 1.91m at f/8 so double 1.91m to make 3.82m and this is the focusing distance to set on the lens. Everything will be sharp from 1.91m to infinity.
 
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