Tags Posts tagged with "Hyperfocal Distance"

Hyperfocal Distance

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Street Talk Episode 06 -

Introduction

Most of the times I teach a workshop or I go on a photowalk I get asked the “zone focus” question. What is funny is that although zone focusing is a very old manual focusing technique that was used by most if not all photographers before the days of autofocus technology, it seems like it has gradually been “forgotten” by younger shooters. Is zone focusing a dying focusing technique? Far from it!

Personally I use zone focusing 99% of the time and I also tap into the sweet hyperfocal distance magic spot where everything is in focus. I find it so easy and so fast, much faster than any af system. Anyway, if you want to find out more about zone focusing and hyperfocal, click play on the video below and check it out. If you are person that prefers reading to watching and you also like understanding lots of technical details, you can always visit our very popular Learn Zone Focusing and Hyperfocal Distance in Street Photography blog post. Everything you need to know about the technique is there in detail.

Blurred man by Spyros Papaspyropoulos

Introduction

If you are new to Street Photography you might have heard the term “Zone Focusing” being discussed by more experienced street shooters from time to time. You might have even heard the term “Hyperfocal distance” too. If you have been shooting in the Streets for quite a while, you have probably looked into these terms and even tried applying them to your shooting style. Street Hunters that use manual lenses or film cameras without auto focus capabilities, swear by both methods and most of them have possibly reached a point where they can take sharp, in focus pictures using Zone Focusing or the Hyperfocal distance, faster than they would using any AF capable camera. But how you might ask? What is Zone Focusing? What is Hyperfocal Distance and how can it help a Street Photographer take sharp photos with a Manual Focus lens so fast!?

During this post I will try and explain both terms as simply as possible, in my own words. I will give you my personal interpretations and I will also offer links to more “official” resources that explain the terms in a more scientific way if you wish to look into them further.

Before we learn about those two terms though, we need to understand what happens when we focus with a lens. So let’s start.