Before I begin, I need you guys to do something for me.
I need you guys to focus…
and get into the zone…
because today we’re talking about zone focusing!
*awkward pause*
Welcome everyone, if you’re new to my channel, my name is Jay, I’m an amateur enthusiast
photographer navigating my way through the photography world, learning as I go and sharing
my insights with you guys.
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Zone focusing is a very niche technique, and I generally would not recommend it for most
photographic endeavours.
However, if you are into the street photography genre, then this is something I recommend
adding to your technical repertoire.
In the past, when digital did not exist and film cameras were completely mechanical, It
was entirely up to the photographer to determine the outcome of an image.
As you can imagine, street photography and documentary journalism in fast paced environments
would prove to be a nightmare.
As a result, techniques were implemented to make manual photography as ‘automated’
as possible; the ‘sunny 16 rule’ was the ‘aperture priority’ equivalent to digital
at the time, and zone focusing was the closest thing to autofocus.
Before I go any further, some theory on how zone focusing works.
So we understand how to manually adjust our focus ring to change our focus distance.
Rotate one way to focus on subjects closer to you and the opposite way on subjects farther
away.
We can imagine this as a rectangular plane moving forwards and backwards in whichever
direction the camera and lens is pointing; whatever the frame aligns with will be the
exact point of focus.
Now we also understand how to manipulate aperture and how that affects our image, the lower
the aperture value the shallower the depth of field, the less things in focus, the higher
the aperture value the deeper the depth of field, the more things in focus.
We can imagine depth of field as two more rectangular frames, for this example, these
blue frames, in front and behind our main focus plane and everything in between these
two blue frames will be in focus too.
This is known as the ‘zone of focus’ hence the term zone focusing.
The concept of zone focusing is simple, it is the application that is challenging and
takes time to perfect.
Zone focusing relies heavily on the photographer’s ability to gauge distance; and this can only
come with trial and error through practice.
On most manual focus lenses, there is a focus distance scale labelled in both metres and
feet and also an aperture dial and in between these two dials there is a guide that has
a center point showing the lowest aperture value and to either side of it, increasing
aperture values.
This forms a symmetrical guide so that when you turn the focus ring, whatever distance
value falls on the center point will be the exact point of focus, and whatever aperture
you set, locate the values on either side of the center point and wherever it points
to on the focus ring will determine the distance in front and behind the exact point of focus
that will also be in focus.
So if you have a digital camera with a manual lens, you can get started playing with
and getting used to how the focus distance works, however if you have an X100V like myself,
there is no focus distance scale, and the lens is not entirely manual, but don’t despair,
there is always a workaround.
First we need to set the x100V into manual mode, if you want to learn more about the
focus modes on the X100V, click on the card to get up to speed.
Next we will go into the menu settings, wrench icon, screen setup, and make sure these specific
settings are as follows:
Focus scale units should be set to your preferred way of measuring distance, I prefer the metric
system so I use meters.
Next Display custom settings we want to make sure both AF and MF distance indicator is
checked for all viewing options, this will show you the distance scale bar and when you
turn the focus ring it will show you the exact point of focus as a white strip and the zone
of focus as two blue bars on either side of the white strip.
This is important as it will allow us to set the distance later on.
We also want to make sure large indicators mode are turned OFF for all viewing options.
When large indicators mode is turned ON, there is no way to see the distance scale.
While in menus, let’s also move to the AF/MF icon, MF assist set to peak with color of
choice, and also depth of field scale and set it to Pixel basis for the sake of this
video.
To really get the most out of zone focusing and ensure as much of the scene is in focus,
there are some prerequisites to take into consideration.
We want a really wide depth of field, so the higher the aperture number you go, the bigger
your zone of focus becomes.
To make it easier to see, I'll select f16 on the aperture dial.
Currently I’m at a close focus distance 0.1 metres and even at f16 you can see that
the zone of focus barely exists, as I start to focus farther away, you will start to see
the blue lines on either side extending out.
Now my point of focus is at 2 metres and the blue lines indicate that my zone of focus
is between roughly 1.6 metres to 2.8 metres.
Theoretically speaking everything within that range will be in focus.
As I move it to 5 metres, we can see now between 3 metres and 10 metres will be in focus.
That’s a whopping 7 metre zone of focus.
So let’s choose a workable distance, I will set the focus back to 1.5 metres.
Once I have set my focus, if I switch the camera off and back on again, it will stay
at that focus distance, provided I do not bump or accidentally rotate the focus ring.
Now to practice zone focusing, we will find a subject matter to focus on.
With the focus distance set, I will slowly approach the subject until my focus peaking
is highlighting the subject at the highest intensity.
This will indicate the subject matter is now 1.5 metres away from me, so if I set my camera
down and place something roughly 20cm in front of it, and 30cm behind it, it should also
be in focus too.
Now try to remember the position and distance you are to the subject and let’s reverse
the process.
This time, without looking at the camera, let’s aim to focus on the subject from another
position whilst trying to keep it within the zone of focus.
So as you can see, the more you practice guessing a certain distance, the better you will become
at knowing how far you need to position yourself and the camera.
And that is what zone focusing is all about.
By mastering zone focusing, you can be certain without looking at your camera that as long
as the subject is at distance and within that zone of focus, they will definitely be in
focus.
The takeaway of this method is that it is a lot faster and more discreet because you
will spend a lot less time looking through the viewfinder or LCD.
However zone focusing does have its drawbacks.
The biggest drawback is that you need to shoot at a higher aperture to make zone focusing
viable.
The whole point is to have peace of mind knowing you have some leeway to work with from the
point of focus.
And in order to compensate for higher apertures you need to compromise on either shutter speed
or ISO.
If you are shooting still subjects that is less of a problem, but if you want to capture
moving subjects, you will need a high shutter speed to match.
High aperture value and high shutter speed equates to a very dark exposure, so the only
2 ways to fix this issue is either take photos on a sunny day in broad daylight, or set a
very high ISO.
The first fix cannot be effectively determined and constrains you to a certain timeframe
and the second method is not the most ideal when it comes to image quality on digital
cameras.
So that about wraps things up, it’s never too late to start practising zone focusing
and it might just become your favourite method of taking street photos!
Thanks guys and until next time!