Hyperfocal Distance Calculator

1. Enter your lens focal length in millimetres.
2. Enter the aperture as an f-number, such as 8 or 11.
3. Choose your sensor size.
4. Read the hyperfocal distance to focus at, and the near limit of sharpness.

Hyperfocal distance is the closest distance you can focus at while still keeping the far horizon sharp. Focus there and your depth of field stretches from half that distance all the way to infinity, the deepest possible for your settings.

It is a landscape photographer secret weapon: instead of focusing on infinity and wasting sharpness behind the horizon, you focus a little closer and pull the whole scene, foreground included, into acceptable focus. The payoff is a foreground you can almost reach out and touch that stays crisp right through to distant mountains, all in a single frame without any focus stacking, which is why the technique has been a staple of landscape work since long before autofocus existed.

1. Square the focal length in millimetres.
2. Divide by the aperture times the circle of confusion for your sensor.
3. Add the focal length and convert to metres.
4. The near limit of sharpness is half the hyperfocal distance.

Because the focal length is squared, wide lenses have a very short hyperfocal distance, which is why they seem to keep everything sharp so easily. Doubling the focal length roughly quadruples the hyperfocal distance, so the jump from a wide lens to a standard one changes your focusing strategy far more than the modest change in framing might suggest.

A 24 mm lens at f/11 on a full-frame camera has a hyperfocal distance of about 1.8 metres. Focus there and everything from roughly 0.9 metres to infinity is sharp. A 50 mm lens at the same f/11 jumps to about 7.9 metres, sharp from 3.9 metres to infinity, because the longer focal length pushes the hyperfocal distance out sharply. In practice this means a landscape shot on a 24 mm lens can be focused barely two metres away and still hold the horizon, while the same scene on a 50 mm lens needs you to focus much further out to achieve the same front-to-back sharpness.

Focal Length

It is squared in the formula, so a longer lens pushes the hyperfocal distance out quickly.

Aperture

A smaller aperture, a higher f-number, brings the hyperfocal distance closer and deepens the field.

Sensor Size

A smaller sensor has a smaller circle of confusion, which pushes the hyperfocal distance further out.

Sharpness Standard

A stricter circle of confusion, for large prints, gives a longer hyperfocal distance.

Hyperfocal distance on full frame at f/11.

Wide lenses reach infinity from very close, which is why they are the landscape photographer favourite.

Landscapes

Focus at the hyperfocal distance to keep foreground and horizon both sharp.

Street Photography

Set focus to the hyperfocal distance for quick, deep zone focusing.

Astro and Night

Judge where to focus for both stars and a sharp foreground.

1. Focusing on Infinity

Focusing at infinity wastes depth behind the horizon; the hyperfocal point pulls the foreground in.

2. Ignoring Sensor Size

The hyperfocal distance differs between a crop sensor and full frame at the same settings.

3. Using Too Small an Aperture

Very small apertures shorten the hyperfocal distance but soften the image through diffraction.

4. Forgetting the Near Limit

Only from half the hyperfocal distance is sharp, not right up to the lens.

The formula is the standard optics with a typical circle of confusion per sensor. It is a planning guide, not a guarantee for every lens and print size.

It is the closest focus distance that still keeps the horizon sharp. Focus there and everything from half that distance to infinity is sharp.

Square the focal length, divide by the aperture times the sensor circle of confusion, and add the focal length. A 24 mm lens at f/11 on full frame is about 1.8 m.

It gives the deepest possible depth of field, pulling the foreground into focus without losing the horizon, unlike focusing at infinity.

It is half the hyperfocal distance. Focus at the hyperfocal distance and everything from there to infinity is sharp.

Yes. A smaller aperture, a higher f-number, shortens the hyperfocal distance and deepens the field.

Yes. A smaller sensor has a smaller circle of confusion, which pushes the hyperfocal distance further away.

Because focal length is squared in the formula, wide lenses have a very short hyperfocal distance, so they reach infinity from close up.

Not usually. It shortens the hyperfocal distance but softens the image through diffraction. Many lenses are sharpest near f/8 to f/11.

No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

• Hyperfocal distance (Wikipedia).
• Depth of field (Wikipedia).
• Circle of confusion (Wikipedia).