Hyperfocal Distance Calculator

It is the nearest distance you can focus at while keeping everything from half that distance out to infinity acceptably sharp. Focusing there gives the deepest depth of field a lens and aperture can produce, which is ideal for landscapes.

H equals the focal length squared divided by the f-number times the circle of confusion, plus the focal length, all in millimetres, then divided by 1000 for metres. The near sharp limit shown is simply half of H.

It is the largest blur spot that still reads as a sharp point at a normal viewing size. It scales with sensor size, so the presets use 0.029 mm for full frame, 0.018 mm for APS-C, 0.015 mm for Micro Four Thirds and 0.011 mm for a 1 inch sensor.

The distance grows with the square of the focal length, so halving the focal length roughly quarters the hyperfocal distance. That is why wide lenses reach front-to-back sharpness so easily and are favoured for deep landscape focus.

Yes. A larger f-number, meaning a smaller aperture, shortens the hyperfocal distance and deepens the zone of sharpness. Past roughly f/16 on most lenses, diffraction starts to soften fine detail, so there is a practical limit to how far you should stop down.

Match the button to your camera: full frame for 35mm sensors, APS-C for most enthusiast bodies, Micro 4/3 for Olympus and Panasonic, and 1 inch for many premium compacts. A smaller sensor uses a smaller circle of confusion, which lengthens the hyperfocal distance for the same focal length and aperture.

Switch to manual focus, or focus once and lock it, on a subject at roughly the calculated distance, then recompose. Live view magnification helps you confirm the focus point, since autofocus will not target an empty patch of ground at that exact distance.

Enter the true focal length engraved on the lens, not an equivalent. The crop is already accounted for by the smaller circle of confusion in the sensor preset, so converting to a full frame equivalent would double count the effect.

Yes. The calculation runs entirely in your browser with no data sent anywhere, and once the page has loaded you can keep using it without a connection, which is handy in the field.