What Is Focus Throw (and Focus Pull?)

The term “focus” is used to describe the distance between the camera’s lens and its sensor. A camera’s focus can be adjusted manually, or automatically, depending on what type of device you’re using. For example, if you’re using a smartphone, you can change your phone’s focus manually by tapping on your screen. But if you’re using a DSLR, it will probably be set to auto-focus mode and will adjust automatically when necessary.

What is Focus Throw (or Focus Pull?)

When talking about focus throw, we’re referring to how far you have to move the lens in order to change its focus from close up to far away. Typically, the greater the focus throw distance is on a specific camera model, the more precise and accurate the autofocus system will be. This is because it gives photographers more control over how quickly they can move from one focal length to another.

Focus throw is a term used in photography to describe the distance that a lens can move from its closest focusing distance to infinity. It’s measured in millimetres (mm), and it’s determined by the amount of rotation of the focus ring.

Focus throw is useful for macro photography, as it allows you to make micro adjustments to get your subject into focus. It’s also useful if you want to take photos of a wide variety of subjects, because it means you can adjust quickly between different focal lengths without having to change lenses.

The other type of focus control is called “focus pull,” which refers to how much you need to turn the focus ring before you reach infinity. For example, if your camera has a 40mm lens with 1-turn focus throw and 10-turn focus pull, then it would take 10 full rotations to go from close focus to infinity — but only 1/4 turn for each stop in-between.

Why we should use focus throw?

If you’ve ever used a camera with manual focus, then you know that focusing is pretty important. It’s necessary for getting a sharp image. It also affects depth of field, which is how much of the scene appears sharp from front to back.

The problem with manual focus is that it’s not always easy to get right. Even if you’re using an autofocus lens (which can be set to automatically adjust focus as needed), there are times when the autofocus doesn’t work properly or when you want even more control over your images than auto-everything allows.

That’s where focus throw comes in handy. Focus throw refers to how far the lens barrel moves during autofocus or manual focus adjustments. You’ll see this listed in millimeters (mm) or inches (in) on lenses and other camera components — or sometimes both!

Focus Pulling vs Focus Throwing

Focus throw is a camera’s ability to adjust its focus from one part of the scene to another. It’s important for filmmakers because we need our shots to be sharp, but sometimes you want one part of the shot to be in focus and another part not to be.

When you’re filming handheld, it’s important to know how much focus throw your lens has so you can make sure that your subject stays in focus as you move around.

Focus pullers are the unsung heroes of filmmaking. Their job is to ensure that everything stays in focus during a shot (or at least looks like it does).

The easiest way to think about what they do is by imagining shooting with a fixed-focal-length lens: If the camera crew moves closer or farther away from their subject during the shot, then they’ll have to move the camera along with them — which means adjusting all of those tiny moving parts inside the lens itself. A manual focus ring allows them do this by hand while they’re filming (or after if they’re using an external follow-focus unit).

But sometimes filmmakers want one part of a scene in focus while another isn’t — so they use focus throws instead of pulls. For example

Focus throw and Focus Pull

I’ve been getting more into photography lately and I find myself having more fun trying to capture more details and “finesse” in my images rather than being able to take a photo with a blurriness effect.

Focus throw is when you focus on something, stop focusing, move the camera around or focus somewhere else, and the subject that you focused on will stay in focus. So if you have your subject within 1/3rd of the frame, if you move the camera away from it, then bring it back to the center, it should stay in focus. If the subject stays in focus, you are focusing throw.

The other thing that I wanted to cover here is focus pull. This is when you focus on something, stop focusing and you let the camera do all the work. The reason why you do this is because sometimes when you use auto focus, the camera might not have found the right focus. By pulling out the camera and letting it figure it out, it can find the focus faster.

Focus throw is not the same thing as focus pull.

Focus throw is when you focus on something, stop focusing, move the camera around or focus somewhere else, and the subject that you focused on will stay in focus. So if you have your subject within 1/3rd of the frame, if you move the camera away from it, then bring it back to the center, it should stay in focus. If the subject stays in focus, you are focusing throw.

This does not work the other way round, you cannot put a focus throw into a photo that already has autofocus.

However, if you don’t know whether your subject has autofocus or not, you can place it in the center of the viewfinder to see whether the subject is in focus or not. If it is in focus, you know you need autofocus, if it is not in focus, you have an autofocus issue.

This technique does not work the other way round, you cannot put a focus pull into a photo that already has autofocus.