Best Way To Focus WA lens

[MG Jennings]

I have been having problems getting clouds in really sharp focus, even using a moderate WA. It's hard for me to manual focus on clouds. I have heard to use hyper focal distance and have heard use auto focus. Likewise have heard don't use auto focus and set at infinity. It's me not the equipment....any suggestions?....thanks

 

[Jason Boggs]

I usually set my camera to infinity. That way I don't have to worry about it auto focusing if I need a quick shot. I think the photos usually come out pretty decent.

 

[DRMabe]

+1 on the infinity. Learned that while shooting lightning. Camera has trouble focusing in low light, just set to infinity and open the shutter. As for clouds, alot of camera's sensors have trouble getting accurate AF on things like the sky.

 

[Scott Weberpal]

Clouds will focus at infinity, no matter what lens or camera/camcorder you are using.

 

[J Allen]

Hmmm, this sounds odd. Two approaches ideas here:
1. Set to Manual focus mode, and then set the lens at infinity (depending what camera a single point AF might show up as pretty good)
2. Perhaps its your shutter speed being too low, this can give the appearance of movement in the photo which can appear as OOF. To correct this bump up ISO or Aperture if you can.

 

[MG Jennings]

Thanks for the responses.....I'll experiment tomorrow set at infinity. Today, I was using an 11-18 & 24-105 and could not manual focus with either due to the focal lengths. Might just be this old man's sight.

 

[Wes Carter]

Also, remember that lenses are at their sharpest at moderate apertures, and usually are less sharp at either end of their range. Most lenses I have are tack sharp at f/8 - f/11 *IF* that aperture allows for a fast enough shutter speed at the aperture/ISO I have selected. In the days of film and full size sensors there was an old rule-of-thumb that you need at least a shutter speed of 1/X where X=the focal length of your lens in order to hand hold the shot. With the APS sized digital sensors it is a good idea to go one stop faster than that.

Considering this is storm photography, you might not have the luxury of using f/8. My opinion is to bump the aperture at least one stop up from wide open if you can, then compensate with the ISO. In my opinion, a little more grain is much more acceptable than a soft shot due to camera movement.

 

[Mike Deep]

Thanks for the responses.....I'll experiment tomorrow set at infinity. Today, I was using an 11-18 & 24-105 and could not manual focus with either due to the focal lengths. Might just be this old man's sight.

Set to infinity and use the focus index when you do so, not the viewfinder.

 

[Dan Robinson]

If the clouds lack sharp edges, you could try autofocusing on a distant horizon, which will typically give you an infinity setting.

 

[Bill Hark]

The problem with many of the autofocus lenses is that they focus slightly beyond infinity. My old manual 35 mm lenses would easily stop at infinity. With autofocus, I'll usually let it focus on something near the horizon though getting a focus my be difficult in dark rainy conditions. Some folks will find infinity and make a small mark on the lens ring and the camera to align when needed.

Bill Hark