Mastering manual focus in Street Photography

My favorite focussing method in Street Photography is Zone focussing. In this video I will tell you why and how you can master manual focussing in Street Photography.

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[streetphotographyguy]

Some additional tips around Zone Focus and utilizing of Hyperfocal distance for you:
Zone focusing and hyperfocal distance are two techniques that can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of street photography. Both strategies revolve around maximizing the depth of field (DoF) to ensure that your subjects are in sharp focus, which is particularly useful in fast-paced environments where manual focusing for each shot can be impractical.

Zone Focusing

Zone focusing is a technique where you pre-set your camera's focus to a specific distance range before taking a photograph. This method is especially useful in street photography, where subjects move unpredictably, and the action unfolds quickly. By setting your focus zone in advance, you can capture moments instantly without needing to adjust focus for each shot.

Here's how to apply zone focusing:

Select a Small Aperture: Choose an aperture between f/8 and f/16 to achieve a deeper depth of field. The smaller aperture ensures that a larger area of your scene will be in focus.
Pre-Set Focus Distance: Manually set your lens to focus at a certain distance. For instance, if you anticipate your subjects to be around 3 meters away, set your focus to that distance.
Utilize the DoF Scale: Many lenses have a depth of field scale that shows which parts of the scene will be in focus at different apertures. Use this scale to determine the range within which objects will appear sharply focused.
Shoot Within Your Pre-Set Zone: With your focus distance pre-set, you can now shoot freely within that range, knowing that anything within the specified zone should be in focus.

Hyperfocal Distance

Hyperfocal distance is the focusing distance that provides the greatest depth of field for a given aperture and focal length. When your lens is focused at the hyperfocal distance, everything from half of this distance to infinity will be in acceptable focus. This technique is incredibly beneficial in street photography for ensuring maximum sharpness throughout your scene.

Here's how to calculate and use the hyperfocal distance:

Calculate the Hyperfocal Distance: There are various online calculators and smartphone apps available that can compute the hyperfocal distance based on your camera's sensor size, lens focal length, and selected aperture.
Set Your Focus to the Hyperfocal Distance: Once you have calculated the hyperfocal distance, manually set your lens to focus at that distance. This setting optimizes the depth of field, keeping as much of your scene in focus as possible.
Understand the Limits: While focusing at the hyperfocal distance maximizes depth of field, it's important to remember that the "acceptable focus" is subjective and depends on the viewing distance and size of your final image.
Practice Makes Perfect: Getting comfortable with calculating and setting the hyperfocal distance takes practice. Experiment with different settings to see how they affect your images.

Hope that helps!

[ArnoNagele]

I totally agree with you. Zone focusing is my preferred technique in street fotography when using shorter focal lengths.
Just set the aperture to 5.6 -16,
check the depth of field (by using the depth of field scales on your lens/in your electronic viewfinder),
set the focus mode to manual,
put ISO to auto,
and just press the release when appropriate.
No more delay to chose the autofocus point, no delay by waiting to the autofocus to grip the object. Just compose and press the button!

Btw this is a very old technique. I used it in non-electronic times with my beloved Retina II c and Pentax Spotmatic (at least in principle, because of no automatic options).
I remember still well, when a guy at a photo shop tried to convince me to buy a camera with autofocus. My spontaneous answer was "Why the hell should I need autofocus? To me it still works fine by doing it manually" . And fifty years later I still have the tendency to think like that. 😋

[Jerryrobert-im]

Thank you for the explanation. Do you think that zone focusing can also be used on the X100VI? Is there no issue that the focus ring on the lens moves during for example walking? I think that the focus ring on the old film cameras or the Leica are more stiff.

[elblaino]

Thank you for these tips, very helpful!

[dangilmore]

This is why I use vintage Schneider and Curtis lenses on my DSLRs - these old lenses for earkt SLRs have depth of field scales and distance scales on the lens barrels. Very few modern lenses for AF systems have the DoF scales.

[rawvoltairephoto]

I liked the way you approached the subject 👍

[LouisCockerill]

Been looking at the Laowa 10mm f2.8 and it comes in either Af or MF options. May go with the MF after seeing this 😊

[Pfuetzenspringer]

Im englischen ganz normal „Focus“. Sorry, ich hab immer zusammengezuckt. Ansonsten Daumen hoch!😊