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What Is Hyperfocal Distance? And When to Use It
The hyperfocal distance is the focus setting at which everything from half that distance out to infinity reads as acceptably sharp. Focus there and you have the deepest field that lens and stop can give you.
Also called: hyperfocal · hyperfocal focus
The rule
Focus at the hyperfocal distance and the near limit lands at half of it. A 24mm at f/8 on full frame has a hyperfocal distance of roughly eight feet, so focusing at eight holds everything from about four feet to the horizon. Rack to infinity instead and you have given away everything between four and eight for nothing.
Where it earns its keep
Landscape and establishing work, plates, drone shots, anything wide where you want the whole frame sharp and there is nobody to pull focus. It is also the standard trick for run-and-gun documentary on a wide lens: set it once and stop thinking about focus.
Where it will let you down
"Acceptably sharp" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. The calculation assumes a circle of confusion sized for a normal viewing distance, and a 4K master on a large screen is not that. If the shot is going to be examined closely, focus on the subject and stop down rather than trusting the table.
