Free calculator · runs in your browser

Depth of Field Calculator

Enter your focal length, aperture, subject distance and sensor size to get the near and far focus limits and the total depth of field. It runs entirely in your browser — the same engine the Viewpoint app uses in the field, offline.

Near focus limit—
Far focus limit—
Total depth of field—
In the app

Turn the numbers into the shot

Viewpoint takes depth of field off the spreadsheet and onto the scene: see your focus zone in context, line the sun, moon or Milky Way up behind your subject, auto-stamp the GPS, and plan it all offline at the trailhead. The calculators above are the same math — the app is where you use them.

Start free trial Open the web app

What is depth of field?

Depth of field (DoF) is the range of distances in your scene that appears acceptably sharp — from the nearest in-focus point to the farthest. A shallow depth of field isolates a subject against a soft background; a deep one keeps a whole landscape crisp from foreground to horizon.

How this calculator works

It uses the standard circle-of-confusion model: the acceptable blur is scaled from your sensor width, then combined with the focal length, aperture (f-number) and subject distance to solve for the near and far limits. When the subject distance reaches the hyperfocal distance, the far limit becomes infinity (∞) — everything beyond the near limit is sharp.

Tips

  • Stop down (a larger f-number) for more depth of field; open up (a smaller f-number) for less.
  • Wider focal lengths and smaller sensors give more apparent depth of field at the same framing.
  • Focus roughly a third into the scene as a starting point, then refine with the numbers above.

Which lens should I bring?

Depth of field is why a longer, "faster" lens can leave less in focus, not more. Picture a subject 30 m away: a 600 mm at f/2.8 gives a razor-thin sharp zone, while a humbler 400 mm at f/4 — from the very same spot — keeps noticeably more of the subject sharp, because the shorter focal length and narrower aperture both work in your favour. Run both setups through the calculator before you pack the bag: "longer and faster" is the lens to bring when you want to isolate a subject against a melted-away background, but the wrong one when you need the whole subject sharp.

Related

See also the Hyperfocal distance calculator. Both are in the Viewpoint app.

For the creative side of this dial, read Aperture and depth of field: controlling what's sharp.

More calculators

Hyperfocal distanceThe focus distance that's sharp to infinity. Exposure value (EV)A single value from aperture, shutter and ISO. ND & long exposureYour shutter time with a neutral-density filter. Star trailsTrail arc length and total sky rotation. Astro shutterSharp stars via the 500 and NPF rules.