Hyperfocal distance

kiwitan · 26th December 2002

Have a question on hyperfocal distance.

For a 28mm lens at f11, focusing at the hyperfocal distance of 2.3m, everything from 1.1m (half the hyperfocal distance) to infinity will be in focus.

So if the subject is 4m away, and I am using the same aperture/focal length, would it be better to just focus at the subject to get a sharp image than to use the hyperfocal distance (assuming my lens is already prefocused at 2.3m) ?

Advice much appreciated.

jasphotography · 27th December 2002

People generally use the hyperfocal distance technique in landscape photography (but not strictly) to maximise depth of field.

If the zone of focus is between 1.1 m to infinity for a hyperfocal distance of 2.3m for a 28mm f11 lens, I would have thought that to take advantage of depth of field (back to front), the lens is better and manually adjusted to focus from 1.1 m (or slightly more) onwards.

Correct me if I am wrong.

jasonpgc · 28th December 2002

That depends whether if you wanted anything below 4m to be inside the DOF. Else if you're only concern of the subject and nothing else, I don't see why you don't focus on the subject. For 28mm, even if focusing at infinity, the f11 aperture will give you DOF from 2.12m to inf.

FYI, when 28mm is focusing at 2m, the DOF is actually around

1.07m to 23.01m at f11.

0.9m to inf at f16.

26th December 2002	#1
kiwitan Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: $ingapore Posts: 2,521	Hyperfocal distance Have a question on hyperfocal distance. For a 28mm lens at f11, focusing at the hyperfocal distance of 2.3m, everything from 1.1m (half the hyperfocal distance) to infinity will be in focus. So if the subject is 4m away, and I am using the same aperture/focal length, would it be better to just focus at the subject to get a sharp image than to use the hyperfocal distance (assuming my lens is already prefocused at 2.3m) ? Advice much appreciated. Last edited by kiwitan; 26th December 2002 at 10:46 AM.

28th December 2002	#3
jasonpgc Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Singapore Posts: 487	That depends whether if you wanted anything below 4m to be inside the DOF. Else if you're only concern of the subject and nothing else, I don't see why you don't focus on the subject. For 28mm, even if focusing at infinity, the f11 aperture will give you DOF from 2.12m to inf. FYI, when 28mm is focusing at 2m, the DOF is actually around 1.07m to 23.01m at f11. 0.9m to inf at f16. Last edited by jasonpgc; 28th December 2002 at 02:48 AM.

27th December 2002	#2
jasphotography Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,362	People generally use the hyperfocal distance technique in landscape photography (but not strictly) to maximise depth of field. If the zone of focus is between 1.1 m to infinity for a hyperfocal distance of 2.3m for a 28mm f11 lens, I would have thought that to take advantage of depth of field (back to front), the lens is better and manually adjusted to focus from 1.1 m (or slightly more) onwards. Correct me if I am wrong.