Super explanation, I regained much of my knowledge I used before autofocus in the seventies and a on my old Nikon F2, now I have a Leica Q2 and are going back to the old ways, where you can controle all, "But you have to know what you are doing" :-).
Hyperfocal and zone focusing are not exactly the same 😉 Besides speed matters too. Anyway thanks for taking the time to effeciently make this technique accessible and understandable
Thank you for a simple explanation for zone focusing, I never knew how it works, and you just taught me something basic....this.. I can now understand the advantage of using zone focusing for street photography...
not sure of your camera but my understanding is that the distance is measured from the center of the top plate, not the end of the lens. fujifilm cameras have a marking.
Not sure if this is the same on Leicas but the focus distance in usually from the film plane (indicated by ø) to your subject, not from the front of your lens to the subject. Great video though!
Nicholas Fanzo Sorry that’s not zone but hyperfocal. Zone is where you pick where the focusing is desired. For instance pick you f stop, say f8, then choose the distance say 5 metres on the top centre of the lens, then read the corresponding f stop on the left and that shows you the distance scale up to 5 metres which will be in focus. Hyperfocal is the focusing between the corresponding f stop to infinity. Also, if you use a tape measure, the distance is not to the lens but to the sensor Mark on top of the camera, or on a film camera to the film plane Mark again of top os the camera. That’s how I was taught by my peers in the old days.
And if you set the Aperture lower than F4? ..... the distance for a subject to be in focus will be smaller... And what about the minimum focus distance of the lens?
Are you sure it is measured “from the lens” as you say and not from the film plane or in the case of digital the plane that the sensor is on, which is often shown via an inscribed line on the camera body?
Really dumb question are these older features available on dslr lenses. Yes I'm aware that d850 has a ton of features but I'm interested in spending time shooting with this technique. A way of embracing the old and the new.
So I conclude if I like less dof I need to focus by hand and Leica is slow otherwize if I buy 1.4 lenses and like to use them what I pay for I will never use zone focusing! Thank you
This is a little misleading as it seems to suggest that if you want infinity focus at f/8 that you should line the infinity sign up with the 8 indicator when actually, for optimum sharpness at infinity, you should line infinity up with the central line, not the second 8. I had to watch it two times to fully make sense of what you were saying but I think it is worth noting that you target focal length needs to be lined up with the center point marking ideally.
The hyperfocal technique is used when you want everything (not just the solitary subject) within your target depth of field to be within focus. That's why you use the depth of field scale on your lens. You know what depth of field means, right? If you set the infinity to the central line instead of the 8' then your depth of field will be significantly narrowed. Your sunject might not even be in focus either.
excelent explanation! I have a question, What do you do with te AF and Focus settings? Do you use AFS or AFC? or when you turn to manual focus you do not worry about that? Thanks again! this explanation really help me to understand
In full manual mode, the auto focus has been taken away from the camera, having been pre-determined by the zone focus. You do have options though to shoot either single shot (pressing or holding the shutter button will simply take one shot) or burst mode (button can be held down to take multiple shots within at a certain rate i.e 8fps.) This is all dependent on your camera capabilities. Hope that helps
...it will pick a point of focus, (whatever your previous settings and intentions were...!) Sometimes you want to "discard" a near point of focus...other times you want to discard a far point of focus,,, In manual you have options...in auto you don't!
I have the Q and when I use this technique, the EVF only shows anything at the middle marker to be in focus..is this cause it's an EVF? Do I just have to trust it and it'll come out sharp after I take the image and long as it's in within the distance I set? I'm a bit confused..
Paul, I really enjoyed your piece. Very clear and well explained. I like how you used the examples of the camera lens and book. One question, the book looks extraordinary. You mention Henri Cartier-Bresson. I'm guessing the book is all about some of his greatest images. Do you have the name of the book and author please. I'd love to check it out. Again much appreciated..
Please help me. I have been passed down my grandfather’s Canon canonet QL17 GIII and want to use it for street photography. The lens has a 40mm focal length and has the markings for distance on the focus ring in feet and meters. The lens DOES NOT have a hyperfocal distance graph to line up with however. How do I use zone focusing with this in mind? I don’t know how far to turn the focus ring depending on distance and do not want to use the viewfinder as it can lose the decisive moment. Please please please let me know your step by step in depth answer to this problem as if you were a beginner with no knowledge at all. Thank you so much for your time and assistance and I wish you the best day!
Julian Showalter all lenses have an infinity mark which look like figure 8 on its side. Using this in conjunction with your selected f stop example f8 put the infinity Mark with the f8 on the right markings on the lens, then read the f8 on the left. The distance from left to right is your Hyperfocal distance where everything in that scale is in focus. Zone is when you read the distance marks behind the infinity Mark on the scale ring. Note the Zone and hyperfocal distances changes depending on the focal length of each lens. Ps the above is for manual lines only.
this system works, HOWEVER, if you enlarge the image it is anything but in focus......You can not enlarge the images and have them in focus, leave the images as taken......
you will get a very shallow depth of field. for example everything from about 40 metres from the sensor will not be sharp and then after 40 metres to infinity would be acceptably sharp but I would only use those apertures for closer subjects and blurring backgrounds and it would be better to focus normally. if you are shooting street and you need the aperture wide open you can preset the focal distance and wait for your subject to get to that distance and shoot but again it's only applicable to some situations.
You do and actually, you don't. :))) You focus in the zone between. And you know, that everything in the zone will be sharp (relatively, when taken in consideration the shutter speed and ISO).
