Hyperfocal distance explanation.

TheGazzzMan

TheGazzzMan

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Gareth
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Hello everyone.
So I'm trying to get some landscape photos however when i get home and put them on my computer I discover that none of them are sharp. I have been looking at videos on youtube about the hyperfocal distance but i don't understand can someone please explain this to me?
Thank you.
 
Before I go on, when you say the images are not sharp, are you saying that nothing is sharp of just that not enough of the picture is sharp? If nothing is sharp it's more likely your shutter speed leading to camera shake. If it is depth of field issue then....

This is a great tool for calculating dof and also just for having a play around with some numbers to see what might work for you. There is an app version that is handy to have with you if you have a smart phone.

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

One slight difficulty you will face is that your 18-55 lens doesn't have a distance scale so you'll need to use a little guess work. Basically if you want to focus the lens at 3m, you'll have to focus on something that you think is approximately 3m away and then lock the focus (switching to manual focus is an easy way to lock things off, just don't move the focus ring afterwards).

Like the guys above I'd often use the 'third of the way into the scene' method but again this can be tricky because it's not always an easy distance to define or estimate and if you have a particularly close foreground item it often just doesn't work as the foreground item really needs to be sharp. That's where the hyper focal stuff comes in handy.

A couple of tips (and apologies if you already know this stuff). Use a narrow aperture, say f/11 to get a large depth of field and check your results on the rear screen by zooming right in to close objects and distant objects. Re-shoot if need be.
 
dean messenger said:
in essence though hyperfocal distance is the optimum focal point to ensure back to front focus across the entire shot which is normally around 1/3rd distance between whats in front of you to say the distant mountains.
Click to expand...

This is a common satement but it's not really true. If the distant mountains are ten miles away, that one third point is still over three miles away!

It's more like one third of the way into the scene as shown on the viewfinder.


Steve.
 
Also, and excuse me if you alreadfy have this covered.,..

generally landscapes will call for low ISO for best image quality and low noise, and small aperture to maximise your depth of field.

These two factors lead to (generally) the third side of the exposure triangle (shutter speed) being low. You've not mentioned a tripod, are you hand holding the camera?

Also if on tripod, do you have the VR turned on or off. Off is generally the way to go if on a tripod.
 
Steve Smith said:
This is a common satement but it's not really true. If the distant mountains are ten miles away, that one third point is still over three miles away!

It's more like one third of the way into the scene as shown on the viewfinder.


Steve.
Click to expand...

This is what I was trying to say but Steve has explained it a lot better than I did
 
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