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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LensWork" data-source="post: 5362" data-attributes="member: 1283">On a telephoto zoom, or any zoom lens for that matter, the DOF is a function of whatever the focal length is set to at the time of exposure, irregardless of the minimum/maximum focal length of the lens.Hyperfocal distance, now here is where things can really get confusing. Hyperfocal distance is that distance which when focued at gives the maximum DOF at a given aperture. For instance, let's assume we have a 50mm lens on our APS-C format (DX) camera and we are shooting a scene of a mountain in the distance at f/11. If we focus on the mountain, which would be at the infinity mark ∞, our DOF calculator tells us that the range of DOF is from ~29' to beyond infinity. If we adjust our focus point to 29', our DOF is now from ~14 1/2' to infinity. Therefore, 29' is the hyperfocal distance. Thoroughly confused? Don't be. In the old days it was much easier to figure the hyperfocal distance. Lenses had engraved lines below the distance scale so that you could easily set the hyperfocal distance, like this:[ATTACH]481[/ATTACH]Each colored line below the distance scale corresponded to the matching color of the aperture. It was easy to see the DOF without the need for complex charts or calculators. Even some zoom lenses had the colored lines, like this:[ATTACH]482[/ATTACH]Few modern AF lenses have any sort of markers like those above.</blockquote>