Most used zone focus distance on 28mm

gzisis69

gzisis69

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Hello to the forum, since i startef getting more into street photography the last year i realised i like the 28mm view a lot since i like the character i get from it. Which is the most used focus distance when you do street with 28mm ? Do you constantly change the focus for example 1, 1,5 3 meter or do you set mostly one and stay with it ?
 
Does your lens have a tab or lever? Are you shooting film or digital? Many of us would focus by feel with a tab or lever, and change focus. ISO 800 with film gives more options for fixed focus setting. The Monochrom with open shade on a sunny day at ISO 1600 is ridiculous with a setting of 1/500s at f8. You could fix focus at 3m on that exposure setting, but habit means you probably wouldn’t.
 
My lens doesnt have a tab or lever so i normaly check te distance that is writen on it. I shoot mostly trix 400 and on darker days i push it to 1600.
 
Does you lens have DOF markings?. If it does and you don't know how to use them, look at some articles and videos on DOF markings. That's how I zone focus my 28mm and I rarely use any other type of focus. If your lens doesn't have DOF marked, you will need to use a table. The main thing is to know the distance range you use for your street photography and make sure the ranges fit the DOF scale based on you f/stop needed.
 
Almost all my lenses are "fixated" on f/8. The 28 is no exception. My 28/2.8 D Nikon ha been set on eight for so long, it may well be stuck there.

Years, in fact decades of experience have taught me that f/8 is about perfect with a 24, 28 or 35. The 50 is more fiddly with distances and demands a more careful approach. Anything above 60 macro requires very careful focusing on the main subject, but I reckon most wouldn't be using a 60 or an 85 for street work anyway.

In general, the lens distance settings will vary depending on the subject. For street work, try 2.5-3.0 meters. Landscapes do better with infinity.

Different strokes for different folks...
 
pvdhaar said:
My approach is to divide the focal length by 10 and set that as a distance (in meters that is) for zone focusing.
50mm -> 5m
35mm -> a little over 3m
28mm -> halfway between 2 and 3m
This fits a person full length in the frame..
Click to expand...
That’s a useful rule of thumb.
 
Bbsteinle said:
That’s a useful rule of thumb.
Click to expand...
I forgot to add that it works both ways..

If you set the scale focus at the focal length divided by 10, it fits a person full length in the frame.
And vice versa, if you have a person full length in the frame, you know that that person is within the zone covered by DOF; it's a sort-of focus by framing.
 
pvdhaar said:
I forgot to add that it works both ways..

If you set the scale focus at the focal length divided by 10, it fits a person full length in the frame.
And vice versa, if you have a person full length in the frame, you know that that person is within the zone covered by DOF; it's a sort-of focus by framing.
Click to expand...
Very nice!
 
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