Depth of Field Calculator.
  

Many thanks to Alastair Houston for permission to use his JavaScript

Depth of Field is that distance in front and behind the subject which is in focus.
It varies with four factors:

  1. the focal length of the lens;
  2. the focal distance;
  3. the aperture and;
  4. the frame size of the sensor or film.
A fuller explanation can be found at Wikipedia.
Input the necessary values in their respective boxes, click on calculate and the results are displayed at the bottom.

Sensor ratio refers to the ratio between sensor size and 35mm film size.

When inputting lens focal length the figure used should be the actual focal length of the lens and not the adjusted figure produced by multiplying the focal length by the sensor ratio.
    Format.
    Lens focal length.
    Selected aperture.
    Subject distance. Metres.  Feet.

    

  Hyperfocal distance for this lens/aperture combination.
  Near limit of acceptable sharpness.
  Far limit of acceptable sharpness.
  Total depth of field.

For a calculator with a more comprehensive list with details for individual cameras, see
The DOFMaster Version.

copyright © tony cropper 2006