About the Hyperfocal Distance Calculator
This hyperfocal distance calculator tells you where to focus so that your depth of field stretches all the way to infinity. Focus at the hyperfocal distance and everything from half that distance to the horizon will look acceptably sharp — the classic technique for landscapes, street photography and nightscapes where you want both the foreground and the distant scene in focus.
Enter the focal length and aperture, choose your sensor format and the calculator picks a matching circle of confusion (the blur size you accept as “sharp”). It returns the hyperfocal distance, the nearest sharp point, and a chart for every common aperture so you can build your own hyperfocal chart for a lens.
The default circle of confusion is 0.030 mm on full frame, scaled by the crop factor for smaller sensors, which suits normal viewing of an 8 × 10 inch print. If you print large or inspect files at 100%, enter a smaller custom value — the hyperfocal distance moves further away and you will gain critical sharpness at infinity.
With the default inputs, the hyperfocal distance is 1.77. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the hyperfocal distance calculator
- 1Enter your lens’s focal length and the aperture you plan to use.
- 2Choose your sensor format so the right circle of confusion is used.
- 3Optionally enter a smaller custom circle of confusion for big prints.
- 4Focus your lens at the hyperfocal distance shown (use live view distance scale or a known object).
- 5Check the near limit to make sure your closest foreground subject is behind it.
Formula and method
The hyperfocal distance H is the closest focus distance at which the far limit of depth of field reaches infinity. It depends on the square of the focal length f, the aperture f-number N and the circle of confusion c — the largest blur spot that still looks like a point at normal viewing size. When you focus at H, the near limit of sharpness falls at H ÷ 2 (to a very close approximation).
The standard circle of confusion is 0.030 mm on a 36 × 24 mm sensor (about the diagonal ÷ 1,440). For other formats it is divided by the crop factor, so an APS-C camera uses about 0.020 mm and Micro Four Thirds about 0.015 mm. All lens values are in millimetres; results are converted to metres or feet.
- H
- Hyperfocal distance
- f
- Focal length (mm)
- N
- Aperture f-number
- c
- Circle of confusion (mm)
Worked examples
24 mm at f/11 on full frame
H = 24² ÷ (11 × 0.03) + 24 = 576 ÷ 0.33 + 24 ≈ 1,769 mm. Focus at about 1.77 m and everything from roughly 0.88 m to infinity is acceptably sharp.
16 mm at f/8 on APS-C, in feet
With a 1.53× crop the circle of confusion is 0.030 ÷ 1.534 ≈ 0.0196 mm. H = 256 ÷ (8 × 0.0196) + 16 ≈ 1,652 mm, or about 5.4 ft — so focus there and you are sharp from about 2.7 ft to the horizon.
50 mm at f/16 with a strict 0.025 mm circle of confusion
H = 2,500 ÷ (16 × 0.025) + 50 = 6,250 + 50 = 6,300 mm, or 6.3 m. A standard lens needs a much further focus point than a wide-angle, so everything nearer than 3.15 m will be soft.
Frequently asked questions
What is hyperfocal distance?+
It is the focus distance that puts the far edge of the depth of field at infinity. Focusing there gives the greatest possible depth of field for a given lens and aperture, from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity.
Does a crop sensor change the hyperfocal distance?+
Yes. At the same focal length and aperture, a smaller sensor uses a smaller circle of confusion because the image is enlarged more, so the hyperfocal distance is further away. At the same framing (equivalent focal length) a crop sensor has a shorter hyperfocal distance.
Why is everything soft at f/22 even at the hyperfocal distance?+
Very small apertures cause diffraction, which blurs the whole image. On most modern sensors sharpness starts to drop beyond about f/8–f/11, so a hyperfocal setting at f/11 is often sharper overall than one at f/22.
Should I focus exactly at the hyperfocal distance?+
Many landscape photographers focus slightly beyond it, because erring short makes infinity soft while erring long only moves the near limit back a little. Distant mountains are often more important than the closest rock.
What circle of confusion should I use?+
0.030 mm on full frame is the traditional standard for an 8 × 10 inch print viewed at about 25 cm. For large prints or pixel-level sharpness, photographers often use half that value, around 0.015 mm.