How to focus a camera: set your AF mode, stay sharp and when to use manual

Maximise depth of field with hyperfocal focusing

Landscape photography usually requires the precision offered by manual focusing. Although only one point will be truly sharply focused, you can increase the depth of field by using smaller apertures and what's called hyperfocal focusing.

This technique involves manually focusing at the hyperfocal distance, a point at which maximises the amount of front-to-back sharpness in a scene. Having a lens with a built-in distance scale helps.

SEE MORE: What is hyperfocal distance? Download our free cheat sheet

Using Live View or the viewfinder, everything will appear blurred, so use your camera's depth-of-field preview button to show what will be sharp in the image.

PAGE 1: Common questions on how to focus a camera
PAGE 2: How to focus with Live View
PAGE 3: Maximise depth of field with hyperfocal focusing

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