hyperfocal without distance scale

I have one of the cheap zooms. At the moment, that's all I can

afford, and I'd like to use it dispite of the draw backs.

 

How do I focus to the hyperfocal distance without the DoF marks?

Should I estimate distance, or bring a tape measure around me all

the time? If I estimate - how does the DoF change if I'm not focused

on the EXACT hyperfocal distance?

 

thanks

Without a distance scale, the tape measure isn't going to help without a lot of leg work. For hyperfocal settings to work, you need to know the distance the lens is focused at, and the distance of the near & far objects.

 

You can do it of course. You measure (or estimate) the distances of the subjects and then consult your hyperfocal chart (You do carry this with you don't you?), set your aperture and then carefully measure to the hyperfocal distance, mark it, and focus right there.

 

Kind of clumsy in this modern age.

 

Anyway, you don't mention what camera body you are working with. All Canon EOS cameras have some form of a hyperfocal calculation feature designed into them. Some of them have a DEP feature (Look at the Command Dial on top of the camera) where you AF on the far, and then the near subject and then take the picture. The camera then calculates the different distances, selects the appropriate aperture, and adjusts the focus to the hyperfocal distance, before taking the picture.

 

Lower end EOS cameas use an A-DEP function where it does the above in one step, but only if you have an AF point on each of the distances you want to keep in focus.

It's a rebel G body. The one thing I don't like about the A-DEP feature is that I can not keep some of my manual exposure settings.

Or, do you mean that the camera acually focuses at hyperfocal for me? after it refocuses, I can just go back to M or Tv and do my own thing?

I think after using DEP or A-DEP function you have to set the lens from AF to MF and don't touch the lens, so the hyperfocal setting is saved.

Why do you need a tape measure when you can use a rangefinder?<BR>

<a href=

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003HEV

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Even if a lens has DoF or distance marks I find them to be less than useful most of the time. I have been using a <a href="http://www.fotosharp.com">FotoSharp</a> DoF card with pretty good results (I calculate using one extra stop for insurance) in my landscape shooting. Of course the hard part is guesstimating the distances, but that has mostly sorted itself out with experiance - I am thinking of buying a <a href="http://www.strait-line.com/irwin/consumer/straitline/jhtml/product_detail_laserTape.jhtml">laser measure</a>, but I am not sure how accurate they would be in the 'softer' environment of the outdoors. <p>

 

--

Lars is right.

 

What I do for landscapes when I want fullest dof is:

 

use A-DEP for closest/farthest

 

set the lens to manual focus and leave it there, you have hyperfocal set

 

THEN, in manual metering mode, I do my metering based on that f/stop OR ONE HIGHER /SMALLER, NOT ONE LOWER/LARGER

 

THEN, if my far focus was on infinity, I might back the focus to a closer setting, but VERY little

 

lastly, I use my dof indicator for my closest point, to make sure I haven't gotten things backward, as I am wont to do

Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the definition of the hyperfocal (and note hyper in the word) distance is the distance at which the lens is focused which will yield the maximum dof at a given f-stop. And by definition this means the far distance MUST be infinity (or rather the infinity mark on the lens).

 

If one is going to use the DEP mode in order to have the camera actually set the lens to the hyperfocal distance which corresponds to the set f-stop, that means the infinity mark must be the second focus point.

Mo:

<p>

Here is a <a href="http://jimdoty.com/Tips/Depth_of_Field/Hyperfocal_Distance/hyperfocal_distance.html"> Hyperfocal Distance Chart</a>.

<p>

The chart is calculated for an 11x16 inch enlargment on 35mm film. The math behind the chart is <a href="http://jimdoty.com/Tips/Depth_of_Field/depth_of_field.html"> here</a>, along with additional information.

<p>

If you have a PDA that uses the Palm operating system, there is a program that computes depth of field for you. Info on this program is <a href="http://jimdoty.com/Tips/Depth_of_Field/Palm_Visor_DOF/palm_visor_dof.html"> here</a>.

<p>

There are several commercial depth of field cards and charts available to guide you in your aperture and distance settings for a given focal length.

<p>

Jim

Jim, there's only one hyperfocal distance per aperture setting. Hyperfocal distance is

the focus setting that, for a given aperture, maintains sharpness from a given point to

infinity. No distance calculations are necessary - at a given aperture, the object either

falls within the hyperfocal range or not.

 

With the 50mm f/1.8 II (no distance window) all I needed to do was figure out the

hyperfocal distance for f/8, focus there, and then use a razor to score the lens and

ring. Now I know where to go for hyperfocal photos at f/8.

<I>"there's only one hyperfocal distance per aperture setting"</I><P>That's not really true, it depends on the size you choose for the circle of confusion... which depends on how much you want to enlarge the photo and sharp you want it.<P>Scoring the lens (or otherwise marking it) is a great idea though! Why didn't I think of that?<p>Karl Lehmann <a href="http://www.lostworldarts.com/new_page_3.htm">Lost World

Arts</a>

Sorry. My bad. Hyperfocal distance, by definition has infinity as the far distance. Wrong use of terms. Not the first time I've done it either. I'd promise to do better, but truth is, I'll probably do it again. :)

It's OK Jim. I don't know for how long I was spelling aperture as 'aperature'.