Since I like to shoot outdoors, one of my favorite tools in photography is the use of hyperfocal distance.  Hyperfocal distance is a focus setting used to obtain maximum depth of field from a given aperture.  It involves aligning the lenses’ infinity marker to the chosen shooting aperture; this permits a range of “acceptable focus” from a predetermined close distance to infinity. If the closest object in the frame falls within the within the depth-of-field zone, no additional focusing is necessary. 

 Example of hyperfocal distance setting for f16:

When I started shooting digitally, I quickly learned that traditional hyperfocal distance settings no longer worked properly.  The helical-focus mount depth of field scales were originally designed and calibrated for analog (film) use.  With a digital camera, the physical size of the pixels and imaging sensor affects the relative depth of field at a given aperture. Thus, it is necessary to recalculate hyperfocal distance settings manually, using the specific equipment you own.  Rather than using calculators and formulas to figure out depth of field differences, I devised a simple, real world test to manually calculate a new hyperfocal distance. This simple procedure works equally well with DSLR’s (i.e. Canon/Nikon) and digital backs (i.e. Phase One/Leaf), when used with helical mount lenses (i.e. Alpa system or Mamiya 645). 

In the steps below, I will demonstrate this procedure using a tripod mounted Phase One P65+ on Alpa TC, with an Alpa-mounted Schneider 35mm XL f5.6 Digitar lens.

The shooting setup:

Step 1: Selecting Shooting Aperture

With the lens focused to infinity, determine the smallest aperture you’re willing to shoot at, taking into consideration how diffraction affects sharpness and contrast. In this test, I have chosen f16 as my working aperture.

Step 2: Determining Hyperfocal Distance for f16.

Starting with the lens at the traditional hyperfocal distance setting, take a series of incremental pictures, moving the infinity marker progressively closer to home (center) position with each shot.  Infinity will get progressively sharper with each picture. Once infinity is acceptably sharp, make note of, or mark the position on the depth of field scale.  This is your new hyperfocal distance setting for this particular lens/digital camera combination.  Now measure the distance from the camera to closest point that is in acceptable focus (pictured example: 10-feet in-front-of-camera to infinity acceptably sharp).  Now you have manually calculated the hyperfocal distance, for this specific lens/aperture/digital camera combination.

Step 3: Using the New Hyperfocal Distance Setting:

Below, I have taken two pictures of the same scene.  The first shot employs traditional hyperfocal distance setting; the second shot demonstrates the newly calculated setting, which has a greatly improved zone of focus.  Once again, I can “set it and forget it”, knowing that my image will be sharp, from foreground to background. 

I hope this information has been useful to you, and I welcome any inquiries.  Feel free to Email Me.