Hyperfocal focusing

The hyperfocal distance is the distance at which you get maximum depth of field at any given lens focal length and aperture. This means that hyperfocal distance focusing is a useful technique for all photographers, but especially landscape photographers who want foreground-to-horizon sharpness in their images.

As depth of field extends roughly twice as far behind the point of focus as it does in front, many photographers approximate the hyperfocal distance by focusing at a point one-third of the way into the scene that they want to be sharp. While this approach can be useful, it can be hard to determine where the focus point should fall so if you can, it’s better to follow the steps for accurate hyperfocal distance focusing.

The first step is to set up your camera on a tripod and select the lens that gives you the angle of view that you need to frame the scene. If it’s a zoom lens, find the focal length that you want to use as this is required to calculate the hyperfocal distance.

Set your camera to Aperture Priority (Av) or Manual (M) mode, so that you have full control over the aperture. As the whole point of using hyperfocal distance focusing is to get maximum sharpness, you’ll want to use a small aperture for lots of depth of field. For the sharpest pictures though, avoid using the smallest aperture on your lens, so for example if it is f/22, try using f/16 instead. You may find that details look even sharper at f/11. The reason for this is that the softening effects of diffraction are more noticeable at the smallest aperture settings. Your camera may include ‘Diffraction correction’ which can help to restore some sharpness. This can be enabled in the ’Lens aberration correction’ settings screen.

Once you know the focal length and aperture that you plan to use, you can calculate the hyperfocal distance using this formula.

Hyperfocal distance = (Focal length x Focal length) / Circle of confusion x F-stop

The focal length will depend on the lens or zoom setting you’re using.

The ‘circle of confusion’ value is 0.019mm for APS-C EOS cameras, and 0.030mm for full-frame EOS cameras.

The f-stop is the aperture you have set on the camera.

Here’s an example: if you set a 28mm lens to f/16 on a full-frame camera, the hyperfocal distance is approximately 1.6 metres.

28mm x 28mm = 784mm

0.030mm x 16 = 0.48mm

784mm / 0.48 = 1,633mm (1.63m)

There are numerous hyperfocal distance smart device apps that can do this calculation for you. A good one will let you select your camera or sensor size to give an accurate reading. You just need to input the camera, aperture and focal length data and read-off the calculated hyperfocal distance.

Manual focus is the best option here. The majority of lenses have a distance scale, which is the simplest way to set the hyperfocal distance. If your lens is not one of them, the best way to ensure it is focused at the right point is often to measure distance from the camera sensor. Look for the mark on the camera body to locate it. You can use a tape measure if you like, but if you know your step or foot length you just need to step out the hyperfocal distance and find a feature that you can use as a marker when you focus the lens.

You can focus the lens while looking in the viewfinder, but many photographers find it helpful to use Live View when focusing manually, as the magnified view makes it easier to be certain that you’ve got the focus in exactly the right spot.

Once the lens is focused and the exposure is set with your chosen aperture, you’re all ready to take the photo in the knowledge that you’ll get maximum depth of field.