Focusing Technique: For the land/city/water scape shooters out there I have a question. With my Zeiss Batis lenses that show the depth of focus I don't have this issue. But...

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

For the land/city/water scape shooters out there I have a question. With my Zeiss Batis lenses that show the depth of focus I don't have this issue. But increasingly, I am seeing high quality lenses that have no DoF scale and/or minimal distance scales. So what is your process to get both your foreground element and the distant mountains in focus?

I can use an app to get the hyperlocal distance, thus keeping the infinity distant mountains in focus, and read from the app the near side of the DoF. So suppose, the app says focus at 20 yards? Do you guesstimate the 20 yards? Do you use a laser gun to find something that is 20 yards and then AF that point? If you know the hyperfocal point, do you enlarge and manually focus to that point? With a camera that has focus peaking (ie, the sony mirrorless or the new Nikon D850) do you rely on the peaking to show the DoF?

This all assumes I am asking about tripod shooting landscapes. Probably, there are many approaches to this issue and I'd like to learn.
Thanks,
JH

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

John, I think you are referring to scales that show Depth of Field, not Depth of Focus, which is an entirely different thing.

Yup, same gripe here about "modern" lenses. I miss the DOF scale on the lens. There are charts out, and probably some that can be loaded into a cellphone.
--Bob

John Howard wrote:

For the land/city/water scape shooters out there I... (show quote)

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Distant mountains may be unsharp due to atmospheric haze, especially in the Summer months. Best to use a small aperture opening, but be careful of stopping down too far and introducing diffraction. The DOF apps may be your best bet

John Howard wrote:

For the land/city/water scape shooters out there I... (show quote)

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

John Howard,
All that you are saying is fine and after trying all the different ways you will
prefer one or two which you will use more often than not.
One other thing to watch is all the anti-shake technologies, just make sure
you don't ruin a picture by just forgetting to flip something on or off...depending
on the make and model and the way you are shooting.
Also with today's digital tech you can afford to shoot more than needed just to make sure !

repleo Loc: Boston

John Howard wrote:

..... So suppose, the app says focus at 20 yards? Do you guesstimate the 20 yards? Do you use a laser gun to find something that is 20 yards and then AF that point? If you know the hyperfocal point, do you enlarge and manually focus to that point? With a camera that has focus peaking (ie, the sony mirrorless or the new Nikon D850) do you rely on the peaking to show the DoF?
Thanks,JH

I spent a bit of time one day experimenting by stepping out the hyperfocal distance and putting down a marker at 20 yds, 50 yds etc. and going back to the camera and checking. You can get a feel for the distance pretty quickly. I used an app to determine what the hyperfocal distance should be. However, in practice I usually focus at a third of the way into the scene. I'm usually shooting landscapes pretty wide and at F8 t F16 so most of the scene is in focus anyway. If there is a particularly close foreground element I'll use focus peaking. However focus peaking tends to obscure the view when you are shooting at max depth of field.
I'm sure there are better ways if you want to get the very best focus.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

John Howard wrote:

For the land/city/water scape shooters out there I... (show quote)

Without doing a lot of searching, if I need to get a lot in focus I use a fairly wide angle and crop. I start with a lot of mp so I can do that.
I use the DoF preview to review. Since you mention a tripod I assume this is take all day type of thing to get a shot.
I also frequently bracket my f-stop and can pick the one I like best later on!!!
SS

Joe Blow

If I understand your question; how does one know the distance.

If you are doing a test, I would measure with a tape measure to be exact.

For DOF, I have a rough idea of how much will be in focus from experience. DOF is not a specific number, but instead, it very dependent upon the viewer's definition of what is acceptable. Thus, it is only a general indication or guide. To be honest, I don't think I've used a lens DOF guide since I used film.

PeterBergh

John Howard wrote:

For the land/city/water scape shooters out there I... (show quote)

A useful rule of thumb is to focus on an item that is twice as far away from you as the nearest item you want sharp. So, if the nearest item you want sharp is 3 feet away, focus on something that's six feet away.

I learned this from Photography Life.

Grnway Loc: Manchester, NH

Pacing is a good way to get approximate distance to your closest desired element to be in focus. Practice it a bit and you'll get pretty accurate.

You can get a good idea from that and then aperture bracket right around the recommended aperture opening to get the best focus.

I also miss the dof scales that were on every older lens!

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

John Howard wrote:

For the land/city/water scape shooters out there I... (show quote)

********************************************
Get the terminology right to start with. DOF scales on lenses showed 'Depth of Field'
Depth of Focus. is a measurement within the camera body.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I cannot speak on what others do but I can tell you what I usually do. You are going to hear to focus 1/3 into the frame considering that 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind the focus point focus will be very acceptable at relatively small lens openings. This is pretty close to reality.
I look for something in the foreground that I want in focus. I set the camera and lens in manual mode and I focus on that. I look at the distance I needed to keep it in focus. I double that distance in my lens and then I shoot, usually with camera on a tripod.
This is obviously done with apertures where I know I will have a great depth of field and where the subject is not moving.

lloydl2 Loc: Gilbert, AZ

rmalarz wrote:

John, I think you are referring to scales that show Depth of Field, not Depth of Focus, which is an entirely different thing.

Yup, same gripe here about "modern" lenses. I miss the DOF scale on the lens. There are charts out, and probably some that can be loaded into a cellphone.
--Bob

in days of old when most lenses were prime it was easy to include dof scales now with zoom lenses that most use, each zoom position has a different dof and therefore it has become impossible to accurately include the dof scales that showed the in focus range by f stops...along a distance scale on the barrel...

JPL

John Howard wrote:

For the land/city/water scape shooters out there I... (show quote)

I tend to use lenses with focusing scale. And if not then I generally use f/8 or f/11 for those shots since that is within or around the sweet spot of most lenses. Sometimes I just check the focus in the viewfinder. Since I am mostly using a Sony A7r that is very easy. Then you can see what part of the pictures are in good focus. See bottom left on their webpage.

DJO

Press the Depth of Field Preview button on the front of the camera near the middle finger of your right hand. I would never even consider owning a camera without DoF Preview. Once was, any camera without this feature was considered a toy.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Only issue with that is that it stops the lens down to the taking aperture & that can make for a very dim & hard to see image in the viewfinder...

DJO wrote:

Press the Depth of Field Preview button on the front of the camera near the middle finger of your right hand. I would never even consider owning a camera without DoF Preview. Once was, any camera without this feature was considered a toy.