Depth of Field, Field of View & Exposure Calculator
Near and far sharpness limits, hyperfocal distance, angle of view, crop factor and ND filters.
Try an example: 50 mm at f/8 on full frame, focused at 3 m · Landscape: 24 mm f/11 on APS-C, judged on a 30 × 20 cm print · Portrait: 85 mm f/1.8 at 2 m · Long exposure: 10-stop ND filter on Micro Four Thirds · Milky Way: 14 mm f/2.8, 6000 px wide full-frame sensor · Phone main camera: 6.9 mm f/1.8 at 1 m
How it works
Enter the sensor, focal length, aperture and focus distance to get the near and far limits of acceptable sharpness, the total depth of field and the hyperfocal distance, with the circle of confusion taken from the sensor size, from a print and viewing distance or from your own value. The same input gives the horizontal, vertical and diagonal angle of view, the scene width covered, the full-frame equivalent focal length and aperture, the magnification, the exposure value, ND filter conversions (stops, optical density, filter factor) and the 500 and NPF rules for sharp stars. Part of the Lumina photo studio.
- Thin-lens depth of field: hyperfocal distance H = f²/(N·c) + f; near limit s(H − f)/(H + s − 2f); far limit s(H − f)/(H − s), or infinity once the focus distance s reaches H. Distances are measured from the lens.
- Circle of confusion c: the sensor diagonal divided by 1500 (or your divisor); or, from a print, the smallest blur the eye resolves on the print (1/acuity at 25 cm, scaled with the viewing distance) divided by the enlargement from the sensor diagonal to the print diagonal; or your own value.
- Angle of view 2·atan(d/2f) for the sensor width, height and diagonal at infinity focus, and with the image distance fs/(s − f) at the focus distance. Magnification f/(s − f); the scene covered is the sensor size divided by it.
- Crop factor = 43.27 mm (full-frame diagonal) ÷ sensor diagonal. The same field of view needs f × crop on full frame; the same depth of field and total light needs N × crop (and ISO × crop² for the same noise from total light).
- Exposure value EV = log₂(N²/t), EV₁₀₀ = EV − log₂(ISO/100). ND filters: stops = log₂(factor), optical density = log₁₀(factor) = 0.301 × stops; the shutter time grows by the filter factor.
- Star trails: 500 rule = 500/(f × crop) seconds; NPF rule (Michaud) simple (35N + 30p)/f and full (16.856N + 0.0997f + 13.713p)/(f·cos δ) with the pixel pitch p in µm. These are rules of thumb, not guarantees.
Depth of field is a convention, not a physical edge: sharpness falls off gradually, and the result depends on the chosen circle of confusion. Lens distance scales measure from the sensor plane; close-ups, zoom lenses that breathe, and very wide or fisheye lenses deviate from the thin-lens model.
Sources
- S. F. Ray: Applied Photographic Optics, 3rd ed. (Focal Press, 2002), chapters on depth of field, hyperfocal distance and angle of view (Focal Press)
- H. H. Nasse: Depth of Field and Bokeh (Carl Zeiss AG, Camera Lens Division, 2010) (Carl Zeiss AG)
- ISO 2720:1974 General purpose photographic exposure meters — guide to product specification (exposure value) (ISO)
- F. Michaud: NPF rule for star photography without trails (Société Astronomique de France), described in PhotoPills’ star-trail guide (PhotoPills)
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Work out depth of field, hyperfocal distance and field of view
Enter sensor, focal length, aperture and focus distance to see what will be sharp, how much of the scene fits, and how ND filters change the shutter time.
What it is for
Before you press the shutter you often want to know how deep the sharp zone will be, how much of the scene fits, and how long the exposure gets with a filter. This calculator answers all three.
Pick the Sensor size (full frame, APS-C, Micro Four Thirds, 1-inch or the small phone formats, or a custom size), then enter the real Focal length printed on the lens, the Aperture (f-number) and the Focus distance in metres.
It uses the standard thin-lens formulas, so close-ups, focus-breathing zooms and fisheye lenses will differ.
Worked example
A 35 mm lens at f/2 on an APS-C camera (23.5 × 15.6 mm), focused at 1.5 m, shot at 1/250 s and ISO 400 with a 6-stop ND filter. The summary reads: sharp from 1.435 m to 1.571 m, a depth of field of 13.5 cm. That is 6.46 cm in front of the subject and 7.06 cm behind it. The circle of confusion is 0.0188 mm and the hyperfocal distance 32.61 m.
The aperture table shows what stopping down buys you: f/5.6 gives 38.4 cm, f/11 gives 79 cm. The field of view is 37.12° horizontally, covering 0.98 m of the scene at 1.5 m. The equivalence table gives a crop factor of 1.53, so this lens frames like 53.69 mm on full frame and the depth of field matches f/3.07 there.
The 6-stop filter is optical density 1.81 and factor 64 (1.56 % transmission), so 1/250 s becomes 1/4 s for the same exposure. EV at ISO 100 is 7.97.
How to read the result
The four headline numbers are the near limit, far limit, total depth and hyperfocal distance. When the focus distance reaches the hyperfocal distance, the far limit becomes infinity, and everything from half that distance onwards is acceptably sharp. The tool also shows that half distance directly.
The circle of confusion decides all of this. The classic choice is the sensor diagonal ÷ 1500 (0.029 mm on full frame). If you print large or look closely, choose From a print size and viewing distance or a stricter divisor, and the zone shrinks.
Angles are shown at infinity focus and at your focus distance.
Tips and common mistakes
- Enter the real focal length, not the 35 mm equivalent your phone reports. The sensor preset supplies the crop factor.
- Focus distance here is from the lens. Lens distance scales measure from the sensor plane; the difference matters only up close.
- The equivalent f-number matches depth of field, not exposure: f/2 is still f/2 for your light meter.
- Add the Image width in pixels to get the pixel pitch, which the NPF rule needs.
- For stars, treat the 500 rule as an upper bound. In the 14 mm f/2.8 full-frame example the 500 rule allows 35.7 s, the NPF rule 19.9 s, and 10.8 s at −30° declination.
FAQ
Why does my depth of field differ from other calculators?
Most differences come from the circle of confusion or from rounding the sensor size. Set the same value with My own circle of confusion and the results agree with standard thin-lens tables.
Is the sharp zone a hard edge?
No. Sharpness falls off gradually. The limits mark where blur reaches the chosen circle of confusion.
Does this work for phone cameras?
Yes, if you pick the right sensor type and use the real focal length (around 5–7 mm for main cameras). Phone sensor sizes vary, so use the custom size when you know the exact dimensions.
What do the ND filter numbers mean?
Stops, optical density and filter factor describe the same filter: 10 stops ≈ density 3.0 ≈ factor 1000 (ND1000). The shutter time grows by the factor.
Guide last updated:
For scripts and AI agents
- JSON API:
POST https://luminadepthoffield.usefulweb.site/api/v1/calculate(same calculation as this page) - Interface description: OpenAPI 3.1 · AI guide: llms.txt
- MCP server (Streamable HTTP):
https://luminadepthoffield.usefulweb.site/mcp· tool namelumina_depth_of_field
Example request
curl -s -X POST https://luminadepthoffield.usefulweb.site/api/v1/calculate \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-d '{"sensor":"full-frame","focalLength":50,"fNumber":8,"focusDistance":3,"shutter":"1/125","iso":100}'