P3D Hyperfocal Warnings

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is from my book on the Realist camera (to be released shortly :-)):

"Hyperfocal focusing brings the Realist (or any manual camera) one 
step closer to being a point & shoot camera (meaning no adjustments 
are necessary between shootings).  But I have to caution users to use 
their brain first, instead of blindly focus at the hyperfocal 
distance.  For example, assume that my closest object is at 10 ft from 
the camera on a nice sunny day with ISO 100 film at f16 and 1/100.  
According to the hyperfocal table, I should focus my camera at 8 ft so 
I can have everything sharp from 4 ft to infinity.  Just a minute!!!  
My closest object is at 8 feet.  I don't need to have things sharp 
from 4 to 8 feet.  In this case, I would focus the camera at 10 ft or 
15 ft.

Another fine point is that hyperfocal focusing does not take into 
account the nature of the subject being photographed.  XXX [ ] argues 
(successfully, in my opinion) that in most photographic situations 
there is more detail to be resolved further away (at infinity) than 
close by.  For example, people, rocks, etc. in the foreground do not 
need much resolution to be recognized, while distant details need more 
resolution because they are very small in size.  As a result, the 
camera should be focused closer to infinity than suggested by the 
hyperfocal setting.  At certain times it even makes sense to focus 
right at infinity.  Sure, all the depth of field "beyond infinity" is 
wasted, but infinity is super sharp.  I have been following this 
recommendation, focusing at 20 ft or even at infinity in some instance 
(especially with wider apertures and distant foregrounds).  The result 
is very sharp infinity details that catch my eye by surprise because I 
have been conditioned to expect rather soft backgrounds (after seeing 
many improperly focused stereo slides, many from the 50s where the 
photographer really did not have a choice due to the slow speed of the 
available film)."

One last comment of interest to Andrea:  When it comes to closeups or
macros, I aways focus on my subject.  That's because this is my main
concern and the background usually just happened to be there.  The
subject dominates in a close-up and I want the maximum detail on it.
In a portrait under poor DOF, always focus on the eyes!  It would
be terrible to have the reflection in the eyes slightly out of focus 
just to catch the ears or nose in better focus!!!

George Themelis


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