The Hyperfocal Distance explained

In this episode, I explain what the Hyperfocal Distance is about. This is a focusing distance which enables you to obtain the deepest Depth of Field for your scene. To calculate that distance all you need is the following three factors:

• The Focal length
• The Aperture
• The cycle of confusion ( a rather confusing thing which is related to the size of your sensor or film camera)

You can use free phone application such as the “Simple DOF”, or for those who do not have a smartphone, you can go to this website which will give you the DOF and Hyperfocal distance: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Here is an example where I entered the 10mm Focal Length and Aperture F11 and my camera type:

The resulting Hyperfocal Distance is 48cm.

This means that if I focus at 48cm, I will get the following Depth of Field starting from 24cm and extending up to infinity as shown below:

This technique enables you to obtain the deepest Depth of Field as wished in the following photographs taken on the Isle of Skye in Scotland: