MikeMck Loc: Southern Maryland on the Bay

I have a question related to where exactly you focus in a landscape situation or a situation where you want everything in focus. I am somewhat familiar with the hyperfocal distance and the circle of confusion. I am looking for a rule of thumb you can use in the field without using an equation. I have taken photography courses and one said focus 1/3 back from the horizon and another said focus 1/3 up from the front of the frame. Anyone have an easy method that doesn't involve courses that I took 50 years ago. Thanks in advance.

sbesaw Loc: Boston

There is an app " DOF Master" that is available at App Store that is quick, easy and very accurate. Input brand, focal length, f stop and distance you are standing in front of shot and you get near limit, far limit and total DOF

Example Nikon, 24 mm, f18, 12ft and I get Focus distance 12 ft, near limit 3.67ft, far limit infinity, total DOF infinite, Hyperfocal distance 5.34 feet. Couldn't be easier. Takes under a minute

Mercer Loc: Houston, TX, USA

This question depends somewhat on the focal length of the lens you are using. Even a semi-wide angle lens of around 50mm (28mm on a DX camera) will have a DOF from around 25' to infinity, when set to infinity at somewhere around f11. In good shooting conditions, I used to set infinity focus at the f stop in use and checked the DOF. Then, I worked from there. If you are fortunate enough to be using a lens that has a DOF scale etched onto it, you can see this. Otherwise, Google to find a set of DOF scales.

Of course, lens optical quality enters into this. The better the lens (expensive, usually) the better the sharpness, the better the sweet spot (usually f8 to f11), the better the color rendition, less distortion, etc. etc.

banjonut Loc: Southern Michigan

I couldn't find DOF Master in the Apple App Store.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

That 1/3 up from the frame is actually not a bad suggestion, if you devide your pic into thirds, like equal parts horizontal, then if you focus 1/3 in and stop down enough, it should give you the desired results.

sbesaw Loc: Boston

I was just there before I posted to be sure. Went to App Store from iPhone, went to search, typed in "DOF", second app on search result list is "DOF master"

U can also try www.dofmaster.com

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Hyperfocal distance depends on focal length and f stop, now that lenses do not have depth of field scales you really need a smart phone app to determine where to set your manual focus to utilize the technique, 1/3 into the frame is not a bad approximation if your working fast in auto,
Bob.

anotherview Loc: California

Hi: Your question: "I am looking for a rule of thumb you can use in the field without using an equation."

I give you my response mainly from my experience with landscape photography.

Short answer (Rule of Thumb): Focus on a point or on an object about one-third of the way into the frame.

Longer answer: When in landscape orientation, you can set the AF point at the bottom point in the AF point matrix. This point approximates one-third of the way into the frame. When in portrait mode, set the AF point at one of the AF points one up from the bottom of the AF point matrix.

Nearly all the time, this approach achieves the Hyper-Focal Distance for an image sharp from near to infinity.

Note that after achieving focus at the HFD, you have to keep holding the shutter button down half-way if necessary to re-frame the image. Then press the shutter button all the way to take the picture.

Note further that if you set the AF point in the middle of the matrix, and use it to focus one-third of the way into the frame, then you will have to move the camera physically more to re-frame the scene.

This approach has the drawback that the exposure may prove too dark because the camera metering system has set exposure based on the point of focus. This point of focus may've caused the camera metering system to account for terrain minus any sky.

The greater movement of the camera to re-frame the picture will then bring the sky into the frame, but the metering system will have set exposure for terrain only, so the sky will come out over-exposed.

You may learn more about HFD here: http://www.dofmaster.com/hyperfocal.html

Happy New Year!
============

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

Hello Mike, when shooting a landscape try my rule of thumb, I use aperture priority set at +/- F8, then manually focus on something 1/3 to 1/2 into the frame. This could be a large rock, church spire etc, this could be into infinity (ie everything over 100'). This will bring everything into focus from 20' onwards.
I was going to attach a sample photo, but I can't get pictures to load today.
Cheers
John.

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

Hi Mike, here is the photo taken my rule of thumb. The shot was taken at F8, I manually focussed on the small church which is well into infinity, the man with dog is approximately the hyperfocal point and everything is in focus from the buttercups in the foreground to the hills in the distance.
Cheers
John

Bolton Abby

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I watched an online instructional video yesterday, and the instructor recommended focusing "about halfway into the scene" and using a small aperture.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

For a landscape, the short answer is to simply focus on infinity (or something distant) and close down enough to get the foreground in reasonable focus.

There is really only one true plane of focus but anything reasonably close to it will seem to be in focus if you do not enlarge too much.

All of the standard DOF calculators will give you an approximation but to get the real lowdown, see http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/dof-calculator.htm and click on show advanced before you enter your settings.

The accompanying text gives a full explanation.

banjonut Loc: Southern Michigan

OK, that explains it. I was using an iPad, and probably had it set on iPad only apps, so the iPhone apps do not appear.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Go to http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/dof-calculator.htm

MikeMck Loc: Southern Maryland on the Bay

Thanks for all your help. Happy New Year!