# Hyperfocal Focusing Painlessly?



## deletemyaccount (Jun 23, 2013)

I'll be photographing almost exclusively landscapes in Colorado and Utah in the coming week and I'm trying to figure out the most painless way to ensure that foreground to background will be tack sharp. I'll be using a 1D Mark IV along with a 16-35L II mostly at 19mm at F11.

There are so many ways I've seen on the net to achieve this but I've had hit and miss results with my practicing lately. I have a DOF calculator on my smartphone and have been using it as such.

My method so far has been to focus one-third in setting my autofocus point to the bottom row, locking the focus and then turning the lens to infinity.

I'm very open to suggestions here but would prefer to keep it reasonly uncomplicated. Thank you in advance.


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## tgara (Jun 29, 2013)

When I shoot landscapes I focus about 1/3 into the scene from the bottom. Like you, I've found the easiest way to do this is to set the focus point to one at the bottom of the array.

You say you will be using f/11, but try a few shots at f/16, or 22. Check your focus on the LCD periodically to make sure all is in focus. 

Good luck.


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## sunnyVan (Jun 29, 2013)

I personally find manual focusing easier. I do calculation on my phone and focus manually. When done with landscape shots I change back to auto focus.


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## tdrive (Jun 29, 2013)

According to an online DOF calc
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
The hyper focal distance at 19mm at F11 is 3.55 feet or 1.08 meters
I would however be looking at F16 which would make it 2.53 feet and 0.77 meters respectively or even F22


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## privatebydesign (Jun 30, 2013)

Hyperfocal focusing is a sure fire way to ensure nothing of any importance is in focus. Focus on the subject and get that pin sharp, that is where peoples eyes will be drawn to because, one, it is the subject or anchoring point, and two, because it has the sharpest focus.

But if this kind of thing is important to you then I would strongly recommend in your near future renting a 17 TS-E. Using a little tilt and getting everything pin sharp at f4 is a wondrous thing and is truly unfake-able in Photoshop. Use it at f8 or 10 and you get zero diffraction, everything pin sharp and unmatchable image quality.


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## Stu_bert (Jun 30, 2013)

Use OptimumCS on the iphone, Liveview, Manual Focus and you should be good. OptimumCS calculates the minimum aperture required to get the close & far distances you plug into it, kind of like the Depth mode did on Canon Film cameras back in the day 

Liveview & manually focusing is how I prefer to focus on the position I'm provided and then you can do a quick preview on the first few to gain confidence in what you are doing....

Happy shooting - the colorado plateau is one of my all time favourite places for landscapes


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## privatebydesign (Jun 30, 2013)

> "My method so far has been to focus one-third in setting my autofocus point to the bottom row, locking the focus and then turning the lens to infinity."



I don't understand, you are using AF and then using manual focus? You are focusing via AF and then changing zoom? Both of these are big no no's. Use live view at 10x and manual focus at the zoom setting you are going to take the picture at. If you are not using a tripod you are not being serious about your results.


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## sunnyVan (Jun 30, 2013)

Why not use the distance scale? Why would live view be necessary? Everything beyond hyperfocal distance is in focus. Am I missing something here?


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## privatebydesign (Jun 30, 2013)

sunnyVan said:


> Why not use the distance scale? Why would live view be necessary? Everything beyond hyperfocal distance is in focus. Am I missing something here?



Yes you are, and it is a common misconception. Hyperfocal focusing does not mean everything else is in focus, the plane of focus is as thin as ever, it just means the dof is considered to contain the distant mountains, for instance, in *"acceptable focus"* this is often not the case, particularly as dof figures are reproduction size specific, an 8"x10" print viewed from 12", print bigger or look closer, or even look on a big screen or zoomed in and sudenly that "acceptable focus" comes back to bite you in the butt.

Look at the bridge images here to see what I mean. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/nikon_24_pc.shtml


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