Focus Throw
The angle through which a focus ring must turn to travel from minimum distance to infinity.
Measured in
degrees
In depth
A long throw — 180° or more — allows fine, precise adjustment and repeatable focus pulls, which is why cine lenses use 270° or beyond. A short throw of 90° reaches infinity quickly, which suits autofocus lenses where manual use is occasional. Neither is better in the abstract; they serve different working methods.
Examples in practice
A cine lens with 300° of throw lets a focus puller move between two marked points smoothly over three seconds.