Hyperfocal Distance Calculator

In short The hyperfocal distance is the closest you can focus while still keeping infinity acceptably sharp, and focusing there gives you the largest possible depth of field: everything from half that distance to infinity. A 24 mm lens at f/11 on full frame has a hyperfocal distance of about 1.8 metres, so focusing at 1.8 m makes everything from 0.9 m to the horizon sharp in one setting. That is the single most useful number in landscape photography, and it is why focusing on the mountains is a mistake — infinity has nothing behind it, so all the depth you would have had in front is thrown away for nothing. The formula is H = f² divided by (N times the circle of confusion), plus the focal length. Two consequences follow that people find counter-intuitive. Focal length matters as its SQUARE, so going from 24 mm to 48 mm at the same aperture quadruples the hyperfocal distance — which is exactly why wide lenses are the landscape tool. And stopping down helps only as a square root: two full stops from f/8 to f/16 merely halves it, while diffraction is taking sharpness away at the same time. The practical refinement is to focus slightly BEYOND the hyperfocal distance rather than exactly at it. You give up a little at the near end and remove the risk of a marginally soft horizon, which is the failure people actually notice in a print.