Infinity Focus Stops
Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AI-s set to its infinity stop.
This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.
April 2024 Better Pictures Canon Nikon Sony Fuji OM SYSTEM LEICA Zeiss HASSELBLAD All Reviews
|
An infinity focus stop is a mechanical blockage in a lens' focus system that prevents a lens from focusing beyond infinity. Set the lens to this stop, and you're in perfect focus at infinity.
Back in the days of manual-focus lenses this stop made it easy to focus for landscape and astronomical photos. It is still valuable today for astronomical photos where it's often too dark to autofocus or focus manually on the stars.
All lenses were made this way until about 1990 until autofocus became standard. Camera makers realized they could remove remove this feature to save manufacturing costs since autofocus systems easily focus at infinity so long as there's enough light.
Removing this feature saves lens makers money as this was usually calibrated with laser interferometers very precisely for each and every lens. Infinity focus adjustment used to be a big deal because you had to get it perfect and every lens was calibrated by hand.
Thus today almost no new lenses have an infinity focus stop, which saves camera makers money, but makes it a bear trying to focus for astronomical photos in the dark.
© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Alla rättigheter förbehållna. Toate drepturile rezervate. Ken Rockwell® is a registered trademark.
Help Me Help You top
I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.
The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places always have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.
If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.
If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!
If you haven't helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.
As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!
Thanks for reading!
Ken.