Hyperfocal Distance Explained, With Galaxy Camera Values

In landscape photography, it’s often desirable to have everything in focus, from the foreground all the way to the horizon. Using the so-called hyperfocal distance on a DSLR or mirrorless camera achieves that effect.

On a Galaxy, though, the hyperfocal distance is a whole lot closer. We’ll list out what the distances are first, and then explain what hyperfocal distance is, and why you may or may not care.

Hyperfocal distances for Galaxy cameras

These were calculated using the formula given on Wikipedia: H = f² / (N x c) + f, where f is focal length (actual not equiv), N is f-number and c is the circle of confusion. The real focal length is the 35mm-equivalent figure divided by the crop factor, and our circle of confusion guide explains where the c values come from.

So for, say, the S26 Ultra main camera (1/1.3" sensor (crop factor around 3.5), 23mm equiv (therefore ~6.5mm), f/1.4, CoC 0.0082mm): H = 6.5² / (1.4 x 0.0082) + 6.5 = 42.3 / 0.0115 + 6.5 ≈ 3,700mm, i.e. ~3.7m.

If you are planning to print big or crop significantly, use a figure for c half this size (this will result in all figures above being doubled, e.g. the S26 Ultra main camera would have a hyperfocal distance of ~7.4m).

Why a Galaxy mostly handles this for you

Depth of field is also a consideration. Since all current Galaxy lenses have a fixed aperture (which is why GSMArena lists a single f-number for each Galaxy lens), and the sensors are small, depth of field on a Galaxy phone is already pretty good. Brightness is another story. Our exposure triangle explainer talks about this in more detail, but basically ISO and shutter speed are what will compensate for the fixed aperture.

Autofocus will generally focus on something far away when taking a landscape shot, meaning the lens will be focused at (or close to) infinity. This means everything from the hyperfocal distance onwards will be acceptably sharp. For the S26 Ultra’s main camera, that is around 3.7m and onwards. If you manually focused on the hyperfocal distance instead, you’d only increase the depth of field by the band between 1.9m and 3.7m, which is not much use if you’re taking a landscape with nothing particularly close to the camera!

The ultrawide camera has a hyperfocal distance of around half a metre, which is a big part of why shots on this camera appear sharp from front to back, unless you’re taking a photo of a flower or rock right up close!

Where hyperfocal focusing still pays off

• For shots where the nearest part of your foreground is about 2-4m away, focusing at ~3.7m (on the S26 Ultra’s main camera) keeps everything from about 1.9m to the horizon acceptably sharp, so rocks and patches of flowers won’t end up out of focus just because AF decided to nail the horizon instead. Our landscape guide covers foreground composition.
• For landscapes shot on the telephoto, the hyperfocal distance at 5x is 20m+, so focusing on the mountain range in the far distance can result in trees and other mid-ground elements ending up slightly soft.
• Night/astro photography, especially useful in Pro mode where AF can struggle to find focus in the dark. Sliding manual focus to the far end and checking a bright star keeps the sky sharp, as our northern lights settings explain, and anything beyond the hyperfocal distance stays sharp with it.
• Zone focusing is something street photographers will be all too familiar with. The street photography guide employs it, and if you pre-focus the main camera a few metres out, anyone walking through that area will be in focus without waiting for autofocus.
• Situations where you may well be viewing your images at 100%, for example when shooting in 50MP or 200MP mode. If that’s your bag, double the distances mentioned above!

Setting hyperfocal focus on a Galaxy

According to Samsung’s guide for using Pro mode, you can manually focus by switching to manual focus and dragging the bar to the desired setting. An easy way to focus at a particular distance is to simply focus on an object that’s approximately that distance away. These steps also apply in Photo mode.

1. 1

   Pick the lens and read the distance

   Once you’ve selected your camera, find out what the hyperfocal distance is from the table above. In the case of the S26 Ultra’s main camera it’s around 3.5 to 4m.

2. 2

   Lock focus in Photo mode

   Tap and hold an object at that distance until the AF/AE lock square appears. According to Samsung’s own S26 user guide you can then move the exposure portion of the lock away from the focus portion, meaning you can expose either for the sky or the land.

3. 3

   Or set it by hand in Pro mode

   Open Pro mode, set the focusing mode to manual and slide the bar until you are satisfied with the sharpness of objects at the hyperfocal distance.

4. 4

   Turn on focus peaking

   In Camera Assistant on One UI 9 there’s an option called Focus peaking in Pro modes that will outline in-focus edges, which makes it much easier to see on the relatively small phone screen if the focus bar is where it should be.

5. 5

   Recompose and check

   Frame the full scene before you take your picture, and afterwards zoom in on the closest object you care about being in focus as well as the horizon line in Gallery. If necessary, refocus closer and take another shot.

Camera Assistant in One UI 9 has a Presets in Pro mode option. Try it out for your landscape shooting configuration, but make sure the focus location is retained with presets before you count on it. For more on the lock itself, see our AE/AF lock guide.

When to skip it

Do not use hyperfocal focusing if you want a soft background, or if your subject is less than half the hyperfocal distance away (for example, if you're photographing a flower about a metre from your main camera, because there's no way of getting both it and the horizon acceptably sharp, whatever focusing distance you use). In Portrait mode, make sure the subject is in focus, especially when taking close-ups and portraits.