Hankwt Loc: kingsville ontario

I have read alot of info concerning hyperfocal calculators that it has me a bit baffled . I think i follow the general idea of focusing so far into a scene to get optimum sharpness however when i look at these charts they become a little baffling - they refer to - distance to subject and focus distance in feet or meters .......... On one hand they say that being a little off of these distances can effect focus- what am i supposed to do Get out a tape measure ??? i dont think i can estimate the difference between
1102 feet and 1827 feet !!!! can someone steer me straight to a good understanding or an awesome website / calculator ??
they also say a good rule of thumb is one third into the scene again an estimate ?? is that all it is is estimates ?? the dang calculators seem to go to numbers like 57.9 feet etc really decimal places of a foot ?? my longest tape measure is only 100 feet so it isnt going to help me on a pic across a 200 foot river .......... oh dear lord now i have to walk across water with a bigger tape measure HELP !!!!!!

Db7423 Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

They are giving you actual calculated distances. In the field you either estimate the distance or carry a rangefinder.

Hankwt Loc: kingsville ontario

They are giving you actual calculated distances. In the field you either estimate the distance or carry a rangefinder.[/quote]

a range finder ..... oh boy another toy !!!

Peter Boyd Loc: Blyth nr. Newcastle U.K.

Hi, generally speaking, by focussing one third into the scene you will ensure the greatest D.of F. Don't get too hung up about guestimates, unless you are extremely close to your subject it does'nt matter that much.
Cheers,

Pete.

CAM1017 Loc: Chiloquin, Oregon

I think you may be making this more complex then it needs to be.
Here is what I found on the subject.
"Hyperfocal distance
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

In optics and photography, hyperfocal distance is a distance beyond which all objects can be brought into an "acceptable" focus. There are two commonly used definitions of hyperfocal distance, leading to values that differ only slightly:

Definition 1: The hyperfocal distance is the closest distance at which a lens can be focused while keeping objects at infinity acceptably sharp. When the lens is focused at this distance, all objects at distances from half of the hyperfocal distance out to infinity will be acceptably sharp.

Definition 2: The hyperfocal distance is the distance beyond which all objects are acceptably sharp, for a lens focused at infinity.

The distinction between the two meanings is rarely made, since they have almost identical values. The value computed according to the first definition exceeds that from the second by just one focal length.

As the hyperfocal distance is the focus distance giving the maximum depth of field, it is the most desirable distance to set the focus of a fixed-focus camera."
Hope this does not add to the confusion on the subject as it is a good technique to use for scenery work.