What does infinity focus mean

Submit a News Tip! Reading mode: Light Dark. Login Register. Best cameras and lenses. All forums Beginners Questions Change forum. Started Aug 22, Discussions. Aug 22, Reply to thread Reply with quote Complain.

Reply Reply with quote Reply to thread Complain. Ok, so I read the article you linked I think I somewhat understand now, but, I am still a little confused on how infinity focus works in relation to the aperture size.

But, it doesn't explain WHY. Why is this? However, does this still apply to when you focus to infinity? Isn't it only when doing NON-infinity focusing that there is a depth of field difference between wide apertures and narrow apertures, whereas, when focusing to infinity, it would look identical either way I mean, other than how bright the image would be i guess, since a wider aperture would let in more light?

I have a cell phone app on my Droid. It's great! Peeping Thomas wrote: I think I somewhat understand now, but, I am still a little confused on how infinity focus works in relation to the aperture size. AnandaSim's gear list: AnandaSim's gear list. Any wise thoughts? I drew you a picture Dave -- hide signature Peeping Thomas wrote: I just bought my first DSLR last week, and have been reading some articles and a few times now I've seen some people mention how with some lens adapters you lose the ability to do "infinity focus" or "focus on infinity" or "focus to infinity".

Third party adapters were made and lo and behold, the lens could fit and be used for near distance but if the subject was far, no matter how much you rotated the focus ring, the image would not reach focus - hence the phrase - "you can't focus to infinity" I have also seen some lenses on the internet that show the sideways-8 infinity symbol on their focusing wheel of the lens. Yes, those are manual focus lenses or premium priced lenses of some size. The above is correct. Peeping Thomas wrote: To focus to infinity, do you just turn your focus wheel clockwise as far as it can go, and then that's infinity focus?

Peeping Thomas wrote: Let's say you have your lens on f1. Isn't it only when doing NON-infinity focusing that there is a depth of field difference between wide apertures and narrow apertures, whereas, when focusing to infinity, it would look identical either way I mean, other than how bright the image would be i guess, since a wider aperture would let in more light Why don't you do some experiments and see for yourself?

Thanks Dave, I didn't see the date. AnandaSim wrote: Thanks Dave, I didn't see the date. F Forum M My threads. Latest sample galleries. Tamron mm F2. Panasonic S 35mm F1. DJI Mavic 3 Cine sample gallery.

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Nikon Z9 3. Popular interchangable lens cameras ». Popular compact cameras ». Shedding some light on the sources of noise. Most bookmarked in this forum. Mobile site. Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited. Threaded view. Irridescent forks by microsurgeon from Cutlery. Simple computer question. Exposure for beginners. Securing the focus ring on your lens with a piece of gaffer tape can help prevent you from bumping the focus later at night.

Arriving early enough so that you can see the scene gives you the added opportunity to look for compositions of the sky that include foreground objects like trees, rocks, or mountains. It is quite difficult to make these composition decisions when you are in a pitch-black environment.

Many lenses have a focus distance scale viewable through a window on the top of the lens. If you are using a zoom lens, set the focal length that you plan on using to shoot the stars. During daylight or twilight hours, focus the lens on the most distant object you can, then take a snapshot of the focus distance scale on your lens. If there is a moon in the sky, even a sliver of the moon, use it to focus. The moon is extremely bright, is at an infinite distance, and is easy to focus on, even at night, for most autofocus systems.

Once again, put your focus point in the center of the frame. Put the focus point on the bright part of the moon and focus, either using auto or manual focus. For autofocus, it will be easiest if you focus on the edge of the moon, which has the most contrast.

A street light, building lights, or car headlights in the distance can be bright enough to focus on, so make use of them if they are present. Of course, if you sought out the darkest skies, there may be no option for distant lights. If you have a bright flashlight, use it to illuminate the farthest object that you can and focus on that. Further away is better, but for a wide-angle lens, you should be able to focus at infinity with an object that is at least ft or m away.

Some planets are quite bright and can be used for focus. If Venus, Jupiter, Mars, or Saturn is in the sky, these planets are going to be brighter than stars, which are generally too dim to focus on. There are a couple of methods to use planets to focus to infinity. Place your camera in live view and point your lens at the brightest planet that you can find.

In live view, zoom in to your focus point to the maximum available, then move your focus point so that it is directly over the bright planet. Turn the manual focus ring until the planet or bright star is in precise pinpoint focus.

It requires a very small movement of the focus ring and is very obvious when it is in focus. It will help if you zoom in on the bright planet or star in live view using live view zoom controls. Some very recent cameras can auto-focus on planets or bright stars.

I can only speak to the low-light capabilities of the new Nikon Z6 and Z7, but those two cameras do have a low-light AF mode that you can turn on. The focusing speed in low-light situations is not particularly fast, but it does work on bright planets.

This is found mainly on moderately new lenses. Plenty of lenses just stop sharply at infinity. Infinity focus is used for when shooting something that is hard to focus on. An example would be fireworks or a lightning storm way off in the distance. Once you use this setting the things way off in the distance will now be in focus. You asked how to get everything from front to back in focus for landscape shots. I suggest shooting in aperture priority mode and selecting the highest fstop you can.

That has been the best advice I've learned about keeping great detail from front to back. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. What does infinity focus mean and when should I use it? Ask Question. Asked 8 years, 6 months ago. Active 4 years, 10 months ago. Viewed 41k times.

Also, why is infinity a range on most lens. It's never a single point. Improve this question. Michael C k 9 9 gold badges silver badges bronze badges. The other question is concerned with astrophotography, this one is concerned with landscape photography. Yeah, but the same infinity. Not exactly the same at a practical level. To get stars focused at a single point requires the center of focus to be at infinity. For landscape photos the ideal center of focus is usually the hyperfocal distance that makes the rear "edge" of the DoF contain infinity.

Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. As the different parts of a lens made of different materials expand and contract at different temperatures focus position will change slightly.

Another variable for zoom lenses is the focal length. As you zoom in and out many of the parts inside the lens move in relation to each other. The position for infinity at one focal length may be in a slightly different place than the position at another focal length. Lenses that hold focus when zoomed are said to be parfocal. These are normally quite expensive, however there are many lower priced lenses that are effectively parfocal.

This means they stay close enough to focused when changing focal lengths to appear in focus within the limits of the lens' minimum DoF and maximum resolution.

Different wavelengths of light focus at slightly different distances.