Zone Focusing with Fujifilm’s Depth of Field Scale

What is Zone Focusing?

Zone Focus refers to an “old” method of focusing just by estimating the distance to your subject and rotating your lens focus ring until that distance fell into a “zone” inscribed on your lens. The width of that zone is based on your aperture, which dictates your depth of field.

You’ve probably seen similar scales on some Fujifilm lenses; the 16mm f/1.4 has a scale like this.

This method of focusing was the go-to before cameras had other focusing tools like prisms. But even though it was the “old” method of focusing, it’s still extremely popular among photojournalists, street photographers, and cinematographers. It’s a great tool to have in your toolbox.

Even if your lens doesn’t have a scale like this, you can still use Zone Focus with Fujifilm X & GFX cameras. We’ll take a look at how to set it up next. We also look at it in the Fujifilm Camera Fundamentals course.

Focus Tricks - Zone Focus

Watch this video on YouTube.

When would you use Zone Focusing?

One of the best modern-day use cases for using Zone Focus is in street photography. You have a fairly complex street scene, and people are quickly moving in and out of your frame. God knows where the autofocus is going to lock with everything going on, and you may not want to bring your camera up to your face to focus manually.

If the subjects that you want to be in focus are somewhere within a range of 10-30 feet away from you, you just set that zone to cover those distances.

In the example below, the nearest part of this old gate is 4 feet away (point 1). The farthest part is 20 feet away (point 2). I set the “zone” from about three and a half feet to just past 30 feet, and voila, it’s all in focus.

Or, if you estimate your subject to be six feet away, you can set your focus distance to six feet. Based on your aperture and focal length, you’ll then have a zone that gives you what you can think of as a margin of error. On a Fujifilm X100 with an aperture of f/8, that zone is from about 4.75 feet to 10 feet. As long as the actual subject distance is within that zone, it should appear sharp.

In the example below, I estimate the distance of this old wooden post at five feet. That’s where I set the focus distance, and the blue depth-of-field bar covers from 3 to 15 feet. The actual distance is 8 feet, within the “zone,” so it’s still in focus.

Zone focusing is also a quick way to get an idea of your hyperfocal distance and set that using the focus scale.

In the example below, I set the right side of the blue bar just to touch the infinity mark. My near depth of field limit is 4 feet, and my far limit is infinity. This is a quick way of getting the deepest possible depth of field with that aperture & focal length combination.

You probably do not want to use Zone Focusing when working with very close focus distances and/or long focal lengths. These situations will give you very shallow depths of field.

The whole basis of Zone Focusing is estimation, and when your depth of field is just one inch deep, estimating a subject distance of 9 inches versus 10 inches is nearly impossible. It will almost surely result in a blurry subject.

In the example below, I’m at f/4 and 50mm. My “zone” is just inches across, making estimation difficult with this wooden beam that is an actual distance of 9 feet away. I don’t have a lot of wiggle room.

There are many times when manual focus is a better option than autofocus, and zone focus is one more manual focus tool for you to use when appropriate.

Effects of Aperture, Focal Length, and Focus Distance

There are some truths when working with zone focus, and these truths will help you get the most out of it.

Assuming nothing else changes, you’ll have a deeper depth of field – a larger zone – when you

• Stop down to a smaller aperture (larger f-number).
• Use a shorter focal length (wider lens).
• Have a further distance to the subject.

So, with that in mind, I mentioned earlier that you probably don’t want to Zone Focus when things are the opposite. And especially with all three combined. A longer focal length (like >50mm), a wide aperture (like f/1.4), and a close subject distance (like <2 feet) will make it impossible to Zone Focus. Your depth of field with those numbers is less than one inch. Good luck guessing where to drop your subject into that zone!

It’s much easier to Zone Focus using Fujifilm’s Depth of Field Scale when you stop down to about f/8 or smaller, your subject is a bit further away, and/or you’re using a wider lens, less than 35mm.

Knowing that you’ll have to stop down to use Zone Focus effectively, remember that this will probably also require you to raise your ISO, especially if you need a faster shutter speed to freeze movement. Don’t fear high ISOs! You’ll completely miss the shot otherwise if you do.

Practicing Zone Focus with Fujifilm cameras

Go out and practice this new technique of focusing!

You will guess your subject’s distance and set that distance using the white line on the focus scale. Your depth of field zone (acceptable sharpness) is the blue bar.

Here are some “drills” to get good at this:

• See how the Depth of Field scale changes as you rotate your aperture ring, rotate your focus ring, and rotate your zoom if you have a zoom lens. This will help you remember how those changes affect your depth of field (zone).
• Calibrate your eyeballs to certain distances. I’m reasonably confident I can guestimate my height for a horizontal distance, just under six feet. I also spent so much time on my 27-foot sailboat that I can guestimate that distance really well. Train yourself to guestimate a few distances like that.
• “Zone Focus” on objects at known distances – measure them out if you need to. Put that distance within different places in that zone, like at the beginning, middle, and end. See where it still looks sharp.
• Hit the streets or your backyard, or wherever else, and just zone focus over and over. Try different focus distances, apertures, and focal lengths.

The more you practice, the better you’ll get at this! Being able to set a focus zone when you don’t have the time to use other focus methods will really help you capture more memorable photos! An entire chapter of the Fujifilm Camera Fundamentals course is dedicated to different manual focus techniques if you’d like to learn more in an interactive format.

Please leave any questions or other techniques in the comments below.