Optimum focus setting for wide angle shots?

[Patrick Cooper]

When trying to maximise depth of field in super 8, is there are a particular distance setting that some people use when their zooms are set to their widest settings? I think I recall someone on another forum quoting 3 meters....would that be about right? I'll be using a Canon 1014 but depth of field tables for that camera's lens won't come in much handy since I'll be using it in auto exposure mode (depth of field tables of course refer to the relationship between the f stop and the distance setting.) For this particular project, I'm not too worried about getting close subjects in focus. It will mainly be medium distance and far away subjects that I want in sharp focus, regardless of the f stop selected by the camera.