Tokyo-X-Vario project: Leica X-Vario @ 18mm, 1/1000th sec f/7.1 @ ISO 1600. Zone focused to 3.5 M There’s been much talk about scale or zone focusing and I’ve had a lot of people asking me what the difference is between the two and the advantages of shooting this way. I’ve mentioned it many times in my camera review articles, so I thought I would post a quick video to explain the basics. Scale focus just means that you focus by using a scale, instead of using a focusing aid, such as rangefinder focus or split image focusing. Many older cameras used scale focusing as the only focus aid, and with a depth of field scale, most could estimate the distance pretty good. Zone focus is more purposeful in that you choose a comfortable focus distance based on the focal length of your lens and the subject you’re shooting, choose a suitable aperture that will give you enough depth of field within the ‘zone’ you are focusing on, and then leave your settings there. Once you get use to zone focusing,