doduce Loc: Holly Springs NC

I'm working through the topic to get better front-to-back sharpness. Part of the technique is shooting with a small aperture (f22 normally) and then focusing on a point called the hyperfocal distance. I'm using a Nikon D90, so I don't have the same display as an FX set up. I downloaded the Hyperfocal Distance Chart from the James Tyson Photography site and it is very helpful. My question--if I'm taking a landscape shot at 12mm/f22 and want to have sharp focus out to infinity, the chart says I should focus on a point 0.87 meters out. If I take a shot at 100 meters with the same settings, I should focus on a point 44.19 meters out. I can guess what those distances are , but is there a way to KNOW what the distance I've got locked in?

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

If in doubt, you can always use focus-stacking.

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

*100mm not 100 meters

That's NOT what the chart is saying.
That's the distance where EVERYTHING from 1/2 that distance to infinity is within the depth of field.

Unless you got something that's less than 1 meter from your lens that you're trying to keep in focus ALONG WITH the far landscape, it's not nearly as critical as you seem to think.

Set the distance mark on your lens to 1m/3ft.

BTW, when I look at the chart, for a D90, 12mm, f22, it shows a hyper-focal distance of 0.64m. It's 0.87m for 14mm.
http://jamestysonphotography.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/hyperfocal-distance-charts-2013-0-02-large.pdf

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

You really cannot rely on hyperfocal distance and small apertures.

When you focus at the hyperfocal distance, that is the only distance where everything will be in sharp focus. Everything in front of and behind will go gradually out of focus until you notice it. The distance from where you notice it in front of the critical plane of focus to the distance where you will notice it behind that plane is the depth of field. For landscape work, this means that the stuff at the far limits will not be in critical focus and you may not notice it until you enlarge the image.

The best way to get an understanding of depth of field is to play with one of the calculators like http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/dof-calculator.htm

This calculator lets you see how depth of field responds to different apertures, different focal lengths for different sensor sizes for a standard print viewed from a standard distance. If you click on show advanced, you will also see the effect of print size and viewing distance.

At f/22 you are also in danger of producing diffraction, particularly for a crop sensor. A reasonable limit for a full frame sensor might be around f/16 or f/11 for a crop sensor. Even though you might theoretically get more depth of field with smaller apertures, you can lose some definition due to diffraction.

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

Nicely answered :thumbup:

Haydon

The only way to keep everything in focus is by focus stacking or by using a tilt-shift lens. Hyperfocal focusing suggests an "acceptable level of sharpness". It will not be sharp throughout the image.

Also be careful about stopping up too far otherwise you'll experience "diffraction". I can't compare my Canon 16-35L vII to Nikons 14-24. Mine is a dog comparitvely. What I've found that using f11 offers me the best clarity. If I shot at F22 on my UWA it would look like mud :)

If you focus towards the bottom third of the image at F8 or F11, it will take alot of the guess work out of it. It's not perfect but it works for me.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

How about a pair of binoculars that show the distance where you are focused? Not all lenses have distance markings on them these days.

http://www.binoculars.com/binoculars/rangefinder/7953+7954+9794.cfm

doduce Loc: Holly Springs NC

I appreciate the insight. Good stuff. Thanks.

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Does this help http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-167989-1.html

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

This is why I just generally use the following rule of thumb:

If there is a point of interest in the foreground then make sure that's in good focus and the aperture will take care of the rest, if there isn't...then AF on something that is very distant to get infinity focus.

that's my rule.

Everytime I've tried to stick with the hyperfocal I'm disappointed.

amehta Loc: Boston

Saying numbers like 0.87m and 44.19m implies a level of precision that is really artificial. DoF isn't a band, everything inside is sharp and everything outside is blurry. These are all continua of unsharpness, centered on the focus distance. So your guesses of those distances will be fine, you don't need to KNOW the exact distance.

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

Firstly don't use F22 for reasons mentioned above stay around the F16 or less. Hyperfocal distance is about 1/3 rds into the frame, when shooting landscapes I manually focus on infinity, that is an object such as a tree, church or anything that is about 2/3rds into the frame. This can be done without the use of any tables etc any I find that this method produces photos with an excellent depth of field.
The other thing to do is test you lens for the "sweet spot" and stay within those limits, most lenses have a sweet spot of between F8 and F16, the easy way to do this is to use the brickwall test. To carry out this test set your camera on a tripod etc, fill you frame with a brick wall and take a photo at every F.No from your cameras widest to its maximum. Examine the results on your monitor and see which are the sharpest, usually the sharpest will be 2 or 3 stops either side of the centre F.no.
Once you know your sweet spot range try to stay within it.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

If your lucky enough to have a lens which still displays the depth of field simply set the infinity mark opposite the f-stop number and that's all there is to it. The other f-stop will indicate the close focusing distance. Otherwise, the chart may be a handy substitute.

To KNOW what the distance is, you'd probably have to take a photo of a subject at close to that distance and then look at the EXIF data. That might have a value for the focus distance.

In all reality, just press the depth of field preview button. That will stop the lens down to the set f-stop and you can view the scene, though darker, and determine what is in focus, etc.
--Bob

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

This link points to an article at another link: http://www.lightstalking.com/calculate-use-hyperfocal-distance-better-landscape-photograp...

The article contains the common misstatement about hyperfocal distance: "Once you have focused on the hyperfocal point, everything from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity will be in focus."

If you rely on this statement you are bound to be disappointed if you enlarge a print beyond 8x10 inches (20x25 cm).

You can read more about hyperfocal distance at http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/hyperfocal-distance.htm This link contains the following important warning:

"The problem with the hyperfocal distance is that a distant background is on the furthest edge of the depth of field, and is thus barely "acceptably sharp." This may therefore lead to an undesirable loss of detail with images comprised primarily of distant objects (such as many landscapes)."

windshoppe Loc: Arizona

For what it's worth, this (hyperfocal distance) is a concept that for the longest time eluded my ability to comprehend. I do mostly landscape, so I became rather obsessed with it. After reading countless articles and some help from fellow Hedgehoggers I finally got it. I would suggest two things:
download a DOF calculator for whatever cell phone you use. Secondly, use the distance scale on your camera to set the focus MANUALLY to whatever distance the calculator gives you.
I've been using this method for years with excellent results
(including the use of f/22 on my full frame camera, I should add).