In short: You can focus wherever you want, usually infinity is fine in a landscape, just don't go over f14. Also, check every image after you take it so you can be sure it's in focus.
@UCYXY09r7RmaIvvV4-pTA9Kw Yeah, but it doesn't look good so you wouldn't do that anyway. If you really want it just photoshop in after, easier and looks better.
Your skill to explain how you put in practice your photography is simply stunning !!. Every class you gift us makes me feel like running to get that beutiful realm your pictures have. They are so simple for the eye that I can’t help falling in love with them ☺️. Thank you so much indeed !!!!!
Thanks so much for showing us where you focused. NOBODY does that and it helps. NOBODY shares how this impacts the height they shoot from or what size focus point to use or from where in the screen to focus; center, or lower. You teach well!!
Really appreciate the fact that while out in the field you’re exploring aperture settings and focus to get the image that you want. I routinely come back with 8-10 images from a composition because I want options when I go to post.
Yeah, this is something I've been trying to remind myself of is to take multiple images with varying focus points and aperture settings, but I often forget to do this.
I don’t always know what mood I’m trying to convey, so I feel like have a variety of images for each composition... and I always switch up from landscape to portrait to understand the different framing. Maybe with time each scene will just be more natural to compose.
This video helped me immensely to get sharp images from front to back. It required still some practice though, as the final result is only really visible on the big screen at home, not that tiny display of the camera in the field 😃
Nice video. Loved how you clarified things in the first half using some theory and graphs! Makes it a lot easier to understand and retain the core concept!
Thank you, Nigel. I appreciate the time that you put into this video and I will need to review it over and over again. There are a lot of techniques to use and the key is to practice and know your camera. My goal is to completely understand these tools and when to use them in different scenarios.
Very good information. Can say that when I first started the number of images I did not check on the back screen and then opened in lightroom to find they werent sharp was scary. It was also very frustrating to hike or travel a vast distance only to find your images are out of focus was soul destroying at times but all part of the learning curve. Biggest issue I now avoid was relying on the cameras autofocus and assuming it would nail it every time. Have also now switched to the Nikon D810 which I am waiting on arriving and keen to see how it performs over the winter compared to my now sold Sony setup. Atb
Time to sit down and go back through your back catalog as you provide so many great tutorials Nigel that you make learning a very enjoyable experience. Very much appreciated
Gah! 🤯 I’m new so aperture has all been about light settings for me. Adding in how it effects focus is gonna be fun for my brain. I get it, kind of. I need to try this practically. I have photopills and will use that and it’ll sink in 🤞🏻😂
At the start i missunderstood, so I shot landscape at low f number and portrait at high, and wondered why it wasnt the "blur effect" behind and was sooooo sure it was my camera or settings... The more you know
It seems obvious, but needs to be stated. DoF calculations will give you an acceptably sharp range if you print/view the whole frame. Crop your picture & you're in effect increasing the focal length & decreasing the DoF (assuming you're viewing it at the same size as the uncropped image). I just stumbled onto your channel. Great information & well done videos. Thank you for sharing it them with the world.
Thanks for another great tutorial Nigel. Before the dreaded unmentionable, I used to do quite a bit of travel photography and trying to estimate the actual distance to the hyperfocal point and then double check focus across the whole image in the camera out in the field is really challenging - especially in bright light. So I always say to myself (and anyone else who wants to listen), you have spent goodness knows how much money, time and energy getting to that special place so why not just spend a few minutes more to bracket several optional aperture settings - f8, f11, f16 - just to be sure ?
Very helpful video Nigel. Up until now I've been using a sort of stab in the dark technique combined with reviewing the image and making adjustments. I'll definitely take a more methodical approach from now on.
Great video. Front to back sharpness is something that I struggle with. Now got an X-T3 and use the focus peaking facility BUT I’d like to be able to get results myself. I really should go out and just experiment. One method I’ve used is - double the distance, ie. if the clearest thing to you that must be in focus is say 4ft away, then focus at 8ft and everything from 4ft to infinity should be acceptably sharp.
The sharpest picture I ever created was done with focus stacking. I really enjoyed seeing two mediocre pics turn into something better before my eyes in photoshop with this method.
Enjoying your video and your discussion on hyperfocal distance/point. Which I have not heard for years since the days I was shooting films. When I was a child I used to read whatever was available on photography and even as I got older they were very few people that were into it it is much as I was at the time. I believe there was a club or organization called ‘F8’Where you could read articles on photography and concepts are theory on depth of field ,white balance,,films speed, exposure and film developed. That conversation went out the window with digital photography. Which made this video so refreshing.
Interesting. For landscape shots Ive always focused on the farthest mountains (infinity) and just thought that made the most sense! I never was taught about that. Glad to know my method wasnt too bad after all! Great video.
First few minutes was leaving me with brain ache - but the many examples later brought everything together and it made sense. Sometimes struggling with focus, which seems such a basic (and annoying) thing to get wrong. Cheers!
Nigel, a friend sent this video to me, given I had discussed hyperfocal distance with him. I like your technique as well. Though this is an older post, I thought I'd add a tip I learned from a pro photographer (who shoots with a Deardorff 8x10). He uses a loupe to check his focus on the ground glass before exposing (a $35 single negative!) and I almost accidentally discovered it is also handy to check focus on the back of LCD screens, especially in bright light. I have an older X-T2 and G7X. Especially with the G7X or other cameras without a eyepiece, the loupe works wonderfully when you zoom the image to check focus. All the best - John
Nice explanation. I would add 2 things. #1, high MPix sensors are pushing the boundary. I find the advanced DoF mode in PhotoPills useful for that: enter your print size, viewing distance and it calculates the optimum hyperfocal for your sensor. Turns out to be double for the D810 (unless you select a high viewing distance). #2 yes diffraction is cropping up past f/16 and it’s better to stay away from it but modern convolution sharpening techniques are making it almost negligible compared to the ease of use vs. focus stacking for example. Capture One has it built-in and LR as well though it’s hidden behind the detail slider (push it way past 50 to favor convolution).
Hey Nigel. I just want to say THANK YOU for this video. I don’t much care for the exacting science of hyperfocal distance - tho I do practice it when needed. What I found truly eye opening was one of your three tips especially for us Fuji shooters: the manual focus highlighting! I am preparing for an Iceland trip and I really want to nail not only focus but DOF and this tip is genius! I’ve had my manual focus set to bright red when using my M42 mount lenses on the xt1 and xt2 but due to your incredible tip I’m using auto focus but have the small S C M switch on the front of the camera set to M. This works flawlessly!!! Ingenious! Thanks again. Heck just for that I’m subscribing!
Nigel, many thanks for all the great stuff you put up. Just one word on diffraction. This has nothing to do with your camera, setup or aperture. It is a characteristic of light waves (actually any waves with a short wave length), when they pass over an object obstructing their path (in other words and relevant in photography, when the light waves hit the edge of the aperture in the lense). Therefore, diffraction happens at any setting of the aperture--but it becomes noticeable in a photograph only at smaller aperture settings (from 16, sometimes from 11 on), because there aren't enough "unbent" light waves to overpower those going astray (ok, this is a very simplified explanation ...). Thanks again for all the work and effort you put into your tutorials, Michael
Nigel Excellent discussion and some very useful information. I read through the excellent comments and a few very good points were raised and might be addressed in a follow up video: Apply the three focusing techniques when using the 24-70 and 70-200 lenses as hyper critical focusing doesn't work well passed the 35mm focal length or what techniques you use for these two common focal lengths. This past year, I've started printing and some images I thought were very sharp when printed to16x24 and 16x60, there was softness in the background. I've also started using focus stacking and my initial results are very promising. Peter
I can imagine the preassure to upload usefull and quality content every week. I´ve been a follower from some time now, and I can say that your vids are getting better and better. Congratulations and keep the hard work! Cheers.
Great Video Nigel, It's interesting how many photographers have ceased using the hyper focal distance technique and started focussing on infinity instead, as we did in the film era. Your grass & mountain image at 6:36 is superb. The Iceland image at 8:40 is stunning so is the Skye coastal image. The bluebell photo and the birch tree photo are lovely. But the coastal shot at 10:45 for me doesn't work. I find out of focus foregrounds really distracting unless very subtle. With this image one third of the picture is out of focus, it is so blurred it really strains my eyes to look at it.
Same - I'm surprised Nigel likes this shot with such a large blurry section. It's a great shot, but for me there is just too much blur, and I feel a little dizzy.
Yours is the only video I’ve seen on hyperfocal distance where the importance of not focusing shorter than the hyperfocal distance was emphasized. It now explains why I am sometimes getting poor images… Because I’m probably guessing wrong regarding the hyperfocal distance. I’d like the suggestion to focus at twice the hyperfocal distance so that my wrong guesses have a little more leeway.
I have an XT2 and can move the point of focus around with the joystick. When I do that the XT2 will give the focus distance in feet as you look through the viewfinder so if you know the minimum acceptably in focus distance you need, you can check to see if the closest thing in frame meets that rule... Hope that makes sense... PS thanks for another awesome tutorial Nigel. 👍🏼
Ahh Sunday. Coming home from a short photo trip, importing images into Lightroom, doing the first back up, making a cup coffee and enjoying your new video. Thanks a lot Nigel, as always very informative. Have a nice Sunday!
Thanks Nigel. I struggle with the infinity technique, no idea why! The one that works best for me was from Ross Hoddinott and Mark Bauer - focus at twice the distance of the nearest thing you want to be pin sharp. It's a variation on HFD but it seems to work better for me. You still have to make judgments on aperture to get the desired DoF - a bit like your trees sequence. I found that playing with an HFD app at home more useful than trying to apply it in the field. The most interesting thing was that focusing on HFD does not always ensure infinity is on focus - for example with longer focal lengths and I think there lies some of the confusion over pinning all your hopes on HFD.
Very useful. This is a critical topic that seems to be presented much less than many others. I would like to hear more about how you make aesthetic decisions about selective focus in different situations. Sometimes deciding what the "star" of the image is can be challenging.
I would also recommend Photopills, lots of help for the experienced and beginner, and with the new update selecting your iso/f no./aperture you can then see an overhead map view of where your hyperfocal distance is on the ground, or even a mark (shown by a coloured arc) of double the hyperfocal distance, a really good app, (not sponsored by them either) great tips Nigel, now i need to get out and practice more.
Such a useful video! Just watched it for the second time because there is so much useful info here to learn from. THanks for a concise explanation of why hyperfocal distance is difficult to use well. I think when I am pushing the limits, I'm going to start using 2x the hyperfocal distance. Your explanation shows why. Well done!
Another great episode, Nigel. These tips are very useful if you’re looking to capture the scene in a single shot. Since you have a Fuji X-T3 you might also want to consider using focus bracketing in the camera and focus stacking in Photoshop if the scene and conditions allow it. This is very useful for macro work but I’ve also had good results in landscape photography where I wanted most everything tack sharp. Since you end up with multiple shots of the scene you can choose which ones you want to use for the stacking in Photoshop.
Your videos are my favourites, thank you! This one just made me realize I know nothing about anything. What determines the hyperfocal distance? Is it the lense and the aperture? Or just the aperture? What lense do I have when the Canon G7X Mark II spec says 24-100mm f1.8/-2.8? Why can I choose greater f numbers than 2.8 on the camera? Why is life difficult? What is the meaning of it all?
Nigel, this is a great video but something caught my attention in your comparison chart between the 3 focusing approach 5:10. As you know, the DOF with standard lenses (non tilt-shift) extend from 1/3 on front of your focal point and 2/3 behind it. Whatever, focal length, aperture and distance your focal point is. How did you come up with the value where your DOF starts when you set your focal point at infinty? Any app will tell you the DOF is infinity and does not give you a specific value. So how did you come up with 1.6m as the start of your DOF when focussing at infinity, at f8 with your ff camera and a 20mm?
Really great video Nigel thanks!! Both very useful and interesting will have to give this a go as do struggle with focus at times. Thanks again and keep the videos coming 👍
Great video Nigel - Great starting points - let the testing begin. Focusing is my biggest challenge in the field - choosing what to focus on to get it all in focus with my landscapes. Thank again. J
I have recently learned how to operate with the mysterious AF-Lock on the Fujifilm X-T2... & that is just amazing!! Even use it for landscape photography 😊 Edit: I say mysterious because I never bothered to learn it's applications.. initially, I just made a half hearted attempt.. But recently during a Fuji event in Singapore the instructor forced me to use it & I cannot believe how awesome it is! 😊
Great tutorial! It would be wonderful if you could demonstrate the technique for finding the hyperfocal distance using the camera. Being new to photography, I did not fully understand it.
Great detailed video with excellent examples. The pictures are truly amazing. I have one comment with regards to Fuji cameras. On the LCD you can see the depth of field indicated by a blue line above the distance indicator. I ususally work with that indicator to ensure clear and sharp images. The cool thing is that by changing the aperture you can see how the depth of field changes. I love that feature of the Fuji.
A pretty important caveat, Nigel, is that your examples in this video really only work for short focal length, wide angle lenses. With telephoto lenses, even on the lower end, the compression pushes the focal distances so far away from you that you cannot focus on infinity and have nearer objects in acceptable focus. In those cases you definitely need a higher f-stop and possibly even to focus stack. For example, using a 16mm lens at f/4 for a subject at effectively infinity... the suggested hyperfocal distance is 7’ 5/8”, but move that up to 70mm at f/4 and your hyperfocal distance is now a whopping 134 feet! Moving up to f/11 you can reduce the distance down to 47 feet, which is still pretty far from your camera and if you have foreground objects, you will need to focus stack to get them in focus.
Nigel Danson I actually shoot a lot with my 70-200, and I’ve been working on best practices for focusing for longer focal length in order to help speed up my process and generate more keepers. You make a lot of great points though, and one of your earlier videos actually got me to go out a test my lenses to find the sweet spots. I was pretty lazy about doing that, but it really helped :)
After shooting some test composition shots, I then zoom waaaay in on the last image, in-camera, to make sure it's sharp. You can also zoom in in-scree while in Live Camera and tweak your focus prior to next shot. I do these steps for every serious composition because I learned early on that every image looks sharp on a 3 inch screen!!!
I have a problem with this composition and that is the accepted 'rule of thirds' seem to be ignored to the detriment of the image. Sorry big guy, not your best.
Excellent video as always Nigel. Keep up the good work. I often use tripod for landscapes, so I can use the live view to zoon in 5x then 10x to manually focus for best precision. This is a common technique I guess which most of us know.
Great video! I do struggle with getting everything sharp front to back. These tips help, as does Photopills. One question... In Photopills when you enter focal length, aperture andsubject distance it provides not only hyperfocal distance, but also hyperfocal near limit and DoF near limit. Which of those two numbers are the limit wherein the image will be sharp?
Nigel - Excellent, very informative - thankyou so much for that Just bought a D850 & 24-70 f2.8 ED VR so now I really need to up my game and landscape is one genre I love and want to nail Will try the 2 x Hyperfocal but its good to experiment and try varying ideasInteresting that you don't mention focus shifting / stacking which I just cant quite seem to get so will stick with this method
Very useful video, Nigel. If you allow me a suggestion, every time that you mention the settings of your camera for a specific photo, it would be very nice if you could show them on screen as well. That's because we're paying attention to the explanation and when you mention the settings of the camera/lenses, we (at least I do) kind of pause to think about those settings, but then you're already ahead in the explanation. Thanks!
Enjoyable and thought provoking video. Like the idea of 2x hyperfocal to be on the safe side. With that in mind, couldn’t you or shouldn’t you use this method all the time if you need front to back sharpness ie ignore focusing at infinity completely! Keep up the great work...your videos are top notch👍
Wonderful presentation. I have 2 queries. 1 ) How one can find out at what aperture light defraction sets in in my camera?. I generally shoot between f8 to f16 but as per your recommendation you do not use f16. You limit yourself to max f14. 2) When using hyperfocal distance method, You mentioned that double the Hyperfocal distance & focus at that point. Assuming it comes out to be 3.5 meters then in the field, how one can focus exactly at 3.5 meters. Thanks you sirin advance.
Nikon definitely king when it comes to colors, I know this is few years old, but it still holds :> I love the focus tips, I watched this video a year ago, and I've been having this issue sometimes with the focus and colors just not coming to life and I suspect I focused a bit to close.
I was watching a video on YT the other day, that suggested focussing on the nearest part of the scene you wish to remain sharp in the landscape - Then refocus on double this distance... I have not tested this out yet, but if it works, it saves a lot of faffing about...
In short: You can focus wherever you want, usually infinity is fine in a landscape, just don't go over f14. Also, check every image after you take it so you can be sure it's in focus.
LOL I was falling asleep cause he talked sooo much!...but your comment was so easy to understand and got to the point hehe ;)
My goodness! My head started spinning after awhile. Thanks for info!
@UCYXY09r7RmaIvvV4-pTA9Kw Yeah, but it doesn't look good so you wouldn't do that anyway. If you really want it just photoshop in after, easier and looks better.
Thanks for the summary. Saves me 18mins
Man alive, that makes it seem even more complicated than it is to me!
Your skill to explain how you put in practice your photography is simply stunning !!. Every class you gift us makes me feel like running to get that beutiful realm your pictures have. They are so simple for the eye that I can’t help falling in love with them ☺️.
Thank you so much indeed !!!!!
Thanks so much for showing us where you focused. NOBODY does that and it helps. NOBODY shares how this impacts the height they shoot from or what size focus point to use or from where in the screen to focus; center, or lower. You teach well!!
Really appreciate the fact that while out in the field you’re exploring aperture settings and focus to get the image that you want. I routinely come back with 8-10 images from a composition because I want options when I go to post.
Yeah, this is something I've been trying to remind myself of is to take multiple images with varying focus points and aperture settings, but I often forget to do this.
I don’t always know what mood I’m trying to convey, so I feel like have a variety of images for each composition... and I always switch up from landscape to portrait to understand the different framing. Maybe with time each scene will just be more natural to compose.
This video helped me immensely to get sharp images from front to back. It required still some practice though, as the final result is only really visible on the big screen at home, not that tiny display of the camera in the field 😃
Nice video. Loved how you clarified things in the first half using some theory and graphs! Makes it a lot easier to understand and retain the core concept!
Thank you, Nigel. I appreciate the time that you put into this video and I will need to review it over and over again. There are a lot of techniques to use and the key is to practice and know your camera. My goal is to completely understand these tools and when to use them in different scenarios.
Very good information. Can say that when I first started the number of images I did not check on the back screen and then opened in lightroom to find they werent sharp was scary. It was also very frustrating to hike or travel a vast distance only to find your images are out of focus was soul destroying at times but all part of the learning curve. Biggest issue I now avoid was relying on the cameras autofocus and assuming it would nail it every time. Have also now switched to the Nikon D810 which I am waiting on arriving and keen to see how it performs over the winter compared to my now sold Sony setup. Atb
Once again Nigel a very intuitive video. One to keep in favourites until it all sinks in to my thick head.Thanks very much.
I'm a beginner to photography and this channel has by far been the most informative. Thanks so much Nigel! Your photography is super inspiring :)
Wow, thanks!
Time to sit down and go back through your back catalog as you provide so many great tutorials Nigel that you make learning a very enjoyable experience. Very much appreciated
This is without a doubt one of the best videos I've watched about focusing. Thank you so much Nigel! Love your explanations!
It is a pity not to have met you before. It's never too late. Thank you for your teachings and for sharing.From Bogota, Colombia
Gah! 🤯 I’m new so aperture has all been about light settings for me. Adding in how it effects focus is gonna be fun for my brain. I get it, kind of. I need to try this practically. I have photopills and will use that and it’ll sink in 🤞🏻😂
Good luck!
At the start i missunderstood, so I shot landscape at low f number and portrait at high, and wondered why it wasnt the "blur effect" behind and was sooooo sure it was my camera or settings... The more you know
Very valuable info to help me to increase my photgraphy knowledge. Thanks Nigel and have a good Sunday!
It seems obvious, but needs to be stated. DoF calculations will give you an acceptably sharp range if you print/view the whole frame. Crop your picture & you're in effect increasing the focal length & decreasing the DoF (assuming you're viewing it at the same size as the uncropped image).
I just stumbled onto your channel. Great information & well done videos. Thank you for sharing it them with the world.
Thanks for another great tutorial Nigel. Before the dreaded unmentionable, I used to do quite a bit of travel photography and trying to estimate the actual distance to the hyperfocal point and then double check focus across the whole image in the camera out in the field is really challenging - especially in bright light. So I always say to myself (and anyone else who wants to listen), you have spent goodness knows how much money, time and energy getting to that special place so why not just spend a few minutes more to bracket several optional aperture settings - f8, f11, f16 - just to be sure ?
recent sub, aiming to gear my photography more towards landscapes. Yourself and Thomas Heaton are helping so much, loving going through your vids sir!
Very helpful video Nigel. Up until now I've been using a sort of stab in the dark technique combined with reviewing the image and making adjustments. I'll definitely take a more methodical approach from now on.
Very underrated photographer and content creator. Keep up the great work, man.
The best in explaining of all focusing techniques, congratulations and thank you.
Great video. Front to back sharpness is something that I struggle with. Now got an X-T3 and use the focus peaking facility BUT I’d like to be able to get results myself. I really should go out and just experiment. One method I’ve used is - double the distance, ie. if the clearest thing to you that must be in focus is say 4ft away, then focus at 8ft and everything from 4ft to infinity should be acceptably sharp.
Very nice, Nigel, thanks. Perfect split between theory and examples.
The sharpest picture I ever created was done with focus stacking. I really enjoyed seeing two mediocre pics turn into something better before my eyes in photoshop with this method.
Thanks for all your videos. It's so much fun to learn and to emprove my ability and watching the results.
Thanks a lot from Germany.
Enjoying your video and your discussion on hyperfocal distance/point. Which I have not heard for years since the days I was shooting films. When I was a child I used to read whatever was available on photography and even as I got older they were very few people that were into it it is much as I was at the time. I believe there was a club or organization called ‘F8’Where you could read articles on photography and concepts are theory on depth of field ,white balance,,films speed, exposure and film developed. That conversation went out the window with digital photography. Which made this video so refreshing.
Interesting. For landscape shots Ive always focused on the farthest mountains (infinity) and just thought that made the most sense! I never was taught about that. Glad to know my method wasnt too bad after all! Great video.
@Nigel Danson I’ve seen over 30 videos about DoF and hyperfocal distance, but yours is absolutely the best of them! :-)
First few minutes was leaving me with brain ache - but the many examples later brought everything together and it made sense. Sometimes struggling with focus, which seems such a basic (and annoying) thing to get wrong. Cheers!
Nigel, a friend sent this video to me, given I had discussed hyperfocal distance with him. I like your technique as well. Though this is an older post, I thought I'd add a tip I learned from a pro photographer (who shoots with a Deardorff 8x10). He uses a loupe to check his focus on the ground glass before exposing (a $35 single negative!) and I almost accidentally discovered it is also handy to check focus on the back of LCD screens, especially in bright light. I have an older X-T2 and G7X. Especially with the G7X or other cameras without a eyepiece, the loupe works wonderfully when you zoom the image to check focus. All the best - John
I'm new at using a dslr camera, so there is a lot to learn and understand.
Both inspiring, helpful and nice to watch such great photos.
Thank you :)
Nice explanation. I would add 2 things. #1, high MPix sensors are pushing the boundary. I find the advanced DoF mode in PhotoPills useful for that: enter your print size, viewing distance and it calculates the optimum hyperfocal for your sensor. Turns out to be double for the D810 (unless you select a high viewing distance). #2 yes diffraction is cropping up past f/16 and it’s better to stay away from it but modern convolution sharpening techniques are making it almost negligible compared to the ease of use vs. focus stacking for example. Capture One has it built-in and LR as well though it’s hidden behind the detail slider (push it way past 50 to favor convolution).
Hey Nigel. I just want to say THANK YOU for this video. I don’t much care for the exacting science of hyperfocal distance - tho I do practice it when needed. What I found truly eye opening was one of your three tips especially for us Fuji shooters: the manual focus highlighting! I am preparing for an Iceland trip and I really want to nail not only focus but DOF and this tip is genius! I’ve had my manual focus set to bright red when using my M42 mount lenses on the xt1 and xt2 but due to your incredible tip I’m using auto focus but have the small S C M switch on the front of the camera set to M. This works flawlessly!!! Ingenious! Thanks again. Heck just for that I’m subscribing!
Nigel, many thanks for all the great stuff you put up.
Just one word on diffraction. This has nothing to do with your camera, setup or aperture. It is a characteristic of light waves (actually any waves with a short wave length), when they pass over an object obstructing their path (in other words and relevant in photography, when the light waves hit the edge of the aperture in the lense).
Therefore, diffraction happens at any setting of the aperture--but it becomes noticeable in a photograph only at smaller aperture settings (from 16, sometimes from 11 on), because there aren't enough "unbent" light waves to overpower those going astray (ok, this is a very simplified explanation ...).
Thanks again for all the work and effort you put into your tutorials, Michael
Great job Nigel, it’s nice to get a tutorial that’s easy to understand.
You are absolutely correct about Diffraction and its effect is very real.
Nigel, that was such a good video. I don't remember anyone else explaining focus so thoroughly, Thank you.
Nigel, great choice of topic. I found your technical explanation just right. I especially enjoyed the examples and found the particularly useful.
Thanks Erich!
Nigel
Excellent discussion and some very useful information. I read through the excellent comments and a few very good points were raised and might be addressed in a follow up video:
Apply the three focusing techniques when using the 24-70 and 70-200 lenses as hyper critical focusing doesn't work well passed the 35mm focal length or what techniques you use for these two common focal lengths. This past year, I've started printing and some images I thought were very sharp when printed to16x24 and 16x60, there was softness in the background. I've also started using focus stacking and my initial results are very promising.
Peter
Such an enjoyable channel. Receptive and open, with field-tested "what works" knowledge, supported by an endless stream of beautiful images.
I can imagine the preassure to upload usefull and quality content every week. I´ve been a follower from some time now, and I can say that your vids are getting better and better. Congratulations and keep the hard work!
Cheers.
Thanks - I really do appreciate the kind words. Makes it all worth it.
The most useful video i found in you tube. Thanks a lot mate.
Cracking video Nigel, I have been struggling with this a little and this has helped me a lot.
Your videos never disappoint. Thanks!!!
Great Video Nigel, It's interesting how many photographers have ceased using the hyper focal distance technique and started focussing on infinity instead, as we did in the film era. Your grass & mountain image at 6:36 is superb. The Iceland image at 8:40 is stunning so is the Skye coastal image. The bluebell photo and the birch tree photo are lovely. But the coastal shot at 10:45 for me doesn't work. I find out of focus foregrounds really distracting unless very subtle. With this image one third of the picture is out of focus, it is so blurred it really strains my eyes to look at it.
I agree, but I think it works if cropped in to a 16x9.
Same - I'm surprised Nigel likes this shot with such a large blurry section. It's a great shot, but for me there is just too much blur, and I feel a little dizzy.
Yours is the only video I’ve seen on hyperfocal distance where the importance of not focusing shorter than the hyperfocal distance was emphasized. It now explains why I am sometimes getting poor images… Because I’m probably guessing wrong regarding the hyperfocal distance. I’d like the suggestion to focus at twice the hyperfocal distance so that my wrong guesses have a little more leeway.
I have an XT2 and can move the point of focus around with the joystick. When I do that the XT2 will give the focus distance in feet as you look through the viewfinder so if you know the minimum acceptably in focus distance you need, you can check to see if the closest thing in frame meets that rule... Hope that makes sense... PS thanks for another awesome tutorial Nigel. 👍🏼
Actually hadn’t thought of using that in the camera - great idea!!!!
A very helpful and timely video Nigel. Okay, so now I can start to work out where I'm going wrong with my focusing.
Ahh Sunday. Coming home from a short photo trip, importing images into Lightroom, doing the first back up, making a cup coffee and enjoying your new video. Thanks a lot Nigel, as always very informative. Have a nice Sunday!
Excellent lecture on a complex issue. I am sure that I will use manual focus more often to check and use what you‘ve explained 👍🏻
Thank you so very much indeed.. just amazing & just brilliantly done!
Thanks Nigel! I'll have to re-visit this. It must be too early to get my brain engaged. More coffee!!
Thanks Nigel. I struggle with the infinity technique, no idea why! The one that works best for me was from Ross Hoddinott and Mark Bauer - focus at twice the distance of the nearest thing you want to be pin sharp. It's a variation on HFD but it seems to work better for me. You still have to make judgments on aperture to get the desired DoF - a bit like your trees sequence. I found that playing with an HFD app at home more useful than trying to apply it in the field. The most interesting thing was that focusing on HFD does not always ensure infinity is on focus - for example with longer focal lengths and I think there lies some of the confusion over pinning all your hopes on HFD.
I have been struggling with focusing recently and your tips will be very helpful to get sharper photo. Thankss
Very useful. This is a critical topic that seems to be presented much less than many others. I would like to hear more about how you make aesthetic decisions about selective focus in different situations. Sometimes deciding what the "star" of the image is can be challenging.
Excellent video; concisely explained what was something of a mystery to me.
Thank you so very much for this very well explained tutorial.
Nigel - absolutely a great video on focus. I must of watched it 5 time. Now if I can only remember it while I'm in the field.
You will! Thanks for watching
Excellent video, Nigel. Very well explained.
Man you very creative with your settings and the way you see things.
I am going to experiment with the selective focus more Thanks.
Focus peaking. Thanks.
I would also recommend Photopills, lots of help for the experienced and beginner, and with the new update selecting your iso/f no./aperture you can then see an overhead map view of where your hyperfocal distance is on the ground, or even a mark (shown by a coloured arc) of double the hyperfocal distance, a really good app, (not sponsored by them either) great tips Nigel, now i need to get out and practice more.
Wow, clear as mud, but thank you for taking the time to explain it.
Such a useful video! Just watched it for the second time because there is so much useful info here to learn from. THanks for a concise explanation of why hyperfocal distance is difficult to use well. I think when I am pushing the limits, I'm going to start using 2x the hyperfocal distance. Your explanation shows why. Well done!
Another great episode, Nigel. These tips are very useful if you’re looking to capture the scene in a single shot.
Since you have a Fuji X-T3 you might also want to consider using focus bracketing in the camera and focus stacking in Photoshop if the scene and conditions allow it. This is very useful for macro work but I’ve also had good results in landscape photography where I wanted most everything tack sharp. Since you end up with multiple shots of the scene you can choose which ones you want to use for the stacking in Photoshop.
Good tip Ron - haven’t tried it in xt3 yep but works in the Nikon well. I prefer to get in one shot (bit of a traditionalist in that respect)
Really good explanation on focusing Nigel. Thanks
Nigel excellent video! Thank you so much great information!!
Your videos are my favourites, thank you! This one just made me realize I know nothing about anything. What determines the hyperfocal distance? Is it the lense and the aperture? Or just the aperture? What lense do I have when the Canon G7X Mark II spec says 24-100mm f1.8/-2.8? Why can I choose greater f numbers than 2.8 on the camera? Why is life difficult? What is the meaning of it all?
Nigel, this is a great video but something caught my attention in your comparison chart between the 3 focusing approach 5:10. As you know, the DOF with standard lenses (non tilt-shift) extend from 1/3 on front of your focal point and 2/3 behind it. Whatever, focal length, aperture and distance your focal point is. How did you come up with the value where your DOF starts when you set your focal point at infinty? Any app will tell you the DOF is infinity and does not give you a specific value. So how did you come up with 1.6m as the start of your DOF when focussing at infinity, at f8 with your ff camera and a 20mm?
Such good explanations. Amazing how much help the x's on the lines makes. If only I knew how far a meter is.
Great video Nigel. I've been looking for a video like this on UA-cam for years. Thank you 👏👏
Great video, good reminder of the great time in Skye . Thx for sharing your knowledge.
Really great video Nigel thanks!! Both very useful and interesting will have to give this a go as do struggle with focus at times. Thanks again and keep the videos coming 👍
Really happy to see your new episode . It's been a long time 📸
Great video Nigel - Great starting points - let the testing begin. Focusing is my biggest challenge in the field - choosing what to focus on to get it all in focus with my landscapes. Thank again. J
I have recently learned how to operate with the mysterious AF-Lock on the Fujifilm X-T2... & that is just amazing!! Even use it for landscape photography 😊
Edit: I say mysterious because I never bothered to learn it's applications.. initially, I just made a half hearted attempt.. But recently during a Fuji event in Singapore the instructor forced me to use it & I cannot believe how awesome it is! 😊
Teach us, sensei! 😅
Great tutorial! It would be wonderful if you could demonstrate the technique for finding the hyperfocal distance using the camera. Being new to photography, I did not fully understand it.
Great detailed video with excellent examples. The pictures are truly amazing. I have one comment with regards to Fuji cameras. On the LCD you can see the depth of field indicated by a blue line above the distance indicator. I ususally work with that indicator to ensure clear and sharp images. The cool thing is that by changing the aperture you can see how the depth of field changes. I love that feature of the Fuji.
It is good - but focus peaking is even better!!!
A pretty important caveat, Nigel, is that your examples in this video really only work for short focal length, wide angle lenses. With telephoto lenses, even on the lower end, the compression pushes the focal distances so far away from you that you cannot focus on infinity and have nearer objects in acceptable focus. In those cases you definitely need a higher f-stop and possibly even to focus stack.
For example, using a 16mm lens at f/4 for a subject at effectively infinity... the suggested hyperfocal distance is 7’ 5/8”, but move that up to 70mm at f/4 and your hyperfocal distance is now a whopping 134 feet! Moving up to f/11 you can reduce the distance down to 47 feet, which is still pretty far from your camera and if you have foreground objects, you will need to focus stack to get them in focus.
Yep - I was just talking about wide angle - but should have made clearer.
Nigel Danson I actually shoot a lot with my 70-200, and I’ve been working on best practices for focusing for longer focal length in order to help speed up my process and generate more keepers. You make a lot of great points though, and one of your earlier videos actually got me to go out a test my lenses to find the sweet spots. I was pretty lazy about doing that, but it really helped :)
@@oneeyedphotographer Erm? Not true. The lens massively impacts the DOF.
Thank you Nigel. Very useful tutorial.
After shooting some test composition shots, I then zoom waaaay in on the last image, in-camera, to make sure it's sharp. You can also zoom in in-scree while in Live Camera and tweak your focus prior to next shot. I do these steps for every serious composition because I learned early on that every image looks sharp on a 3 inch screen!!!
The soft foreground with the lighthouse is amazing. Great tip!
I have a problem with this composition and that is the accepted 'rule of thirds' seem to be ignored to the detriment of the image. Sorry big guy, not your best.
Very useful video Nigel, thanks for sharing. I also use PhotoPills but your explanation was very welcome.
Superb and very inspiring!
Great video!... I just really need these techniques. Thanks for sharing these guide! 😊
Very useful video Nigel! Great work!
Excellent video as always Nigel. Keep up the good work. I often use tripod for landscapes, so I can use the live view to zoon in 5x then 10x to manually focus for best precision. This is a common technique I guess which most of us know.
Thanks Nigel, the light went on for me.
A Great Content! The only photo related channel where I have to keep my grey cells working to keep up with all the information :D. Thank you!
Great video! I do struggle with getting everything sharp front to back. These tips help, as does Photopills. One question... In Photopills when you enter focal length, aperture andsubject distance it provides not only hyperfocal distance, but also hyperfocal near limit and DoF near limit. Which of those two numbers are the limit wherein the image will be sharp?
Nigel - Excellent, very informative - thankyou so much for that
Just bought a D850 & 24-70 f2.8 ED VR so now I really need to up my game and landscape is one genre I love and want to nail Will try the 2 x Hyperfocal but its good to experiment and try varying ideasInteresting that you don't mention focus shifting / stacking which I just cant quite seem to get so will stick with this method
Another interesting video Nigel, great information to keep us all shooting.
Very useful video, Nigel. If you allow me a suggestion, every time that you mention the settings of your camera for a specific photo, it would be very nice if you could show them on screen as well. That's because we're paying attention to the explanation and when you mention the settings of the camera/lenses, we (at least I do) kind of pause to think about those settings, but then you're already ahead in the explanation. Thanks!
Enjoyable and thought provoking video. Like the idea of 2x hyperfocal to be on the safe side. With that in mind, couldn’t you or shouldn’t you use this method all the time if you need front to back sharpness ie ignore focusing at infinity completely! Keep up the great work...your videos are top notch👍
Probably yes but the quickest and easiest method is focus at infinity and it works 90% of the time
Wonderful presentation. I have 2 queries.
1 ) How one can find out at what aperture light defraction sets in in my camera?. I generally shoot between f8 to f16 but as per your recommendation you do not use f16. You limit yourself to max f14.
2) When using hyperfocal distance method, You mentioned that double the Hyperfocal distance & focus at that point. Assuming it comes out to be 3.5 meters then in the field, how one can focus exactly at 3.5 meters. Thanks you sirin advance.
Brilliant stuff as usual Nigel! Your simple and concise method of explaining subjects make your videos a must watch for me!
Nikon definitely king when it comes to colors, I know this is few years old, but it still holds :> I love the focus tips, I watched this video a year ago, and I've been having this issue sometimes with the focus and colors just not coming to life and I suspect I focused a bit to close.
Outstanding session, best I’ve seen, that answered a bunch of questions, and guidance to use. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. - hg
I was watching a video on YT the other day, that suggested focussing on the nearest part of the scene you wish to remain sharp in the landscape - Then refocus on double this distance... I have not tested this out yet, but if it works, it saves a lot of faffing about...
An amazing video. Great tips and insights. Thanks!