Set your sensor, focal length, aperture and focus distance to see exactly where sharpness begins and ends: near and far limits, total depth of field, hyperfocal distance, angle of view and the full-frame equivalent. Built for photographers by Nakada Design, with a visual focus map so you can compose before you leave the studio.
Three Dials Decide Your Depth of Field
Depth of field (the band of your scene that reads as sharp) is set by three things and one hidden fourth. Aperture: stop down and the zone deepens. Focal length: go wider and it deepens; go longer and it collapses. Focus distance: the closer you focus, the thinner it gets, which is why macro is measured in millimetres. The hidden fourth is your sensor: a smaller one needs a shorter lens to frame the same shot, and shorter lenses hold more in focus, so a phone keeps everything sharp while medium format melts a background at the same aperture.
This tool runs the real optical formula, not a rule of thumb, so the near and far limits match what your lens actually delivers. Change one field and watch the focus map redraw, the fastest way to learn how your gear behaves before you are standing in front of the subject.
Shoot the Hyperfocal Distance for Front-to-Back Sharpness
For a landscape where the foreground rocks and the far ridge must both be sharp, do not just close the aperture to f/22. Diffraction will soften the whole frame. Instead focus at the hyperfocal distance: the nearest point you can focus while still holding infinity sharp. Everything from half that distance to the horizon falls inside your depth of field. The Hyperfocal tab gives you the number for your exact lens, plus a table across apertures so you can pick the setting that reaches your foreground without over-stopping.
Circle of Confusion & Full-Frame Equivalence by Format
Every depth-of-field figure rests on the circle of confusion, the largest blur spot that still looks like a sharp point in the final print. It scales with sensor size, so the same lens settings give different results on different cameras. These are the standard values this calculator uses, alongside the crop factor you multiply focal length and aperture by to translate a look to full-frame terms.
Format
Sensor size
Crop factor
Circle of confusion
Medium format (44×33)
44 × 33 mm
0.79×
0.039 mm
Full frame (35mm)
36 × 24 mm
1.0×
0.030 mm
APS-C, Nikon / Sony / Fuji
23.6 × 15.7 mm
1.5×
0.020 mm
APS-C, Canon
22.3 × 14.9 mm
1.6×
0.019 mm
Micro Four Thirds
17.3 × 13.0 mm
2.0×
0.015 mm
1-inch
13.2 × 8.8 mm
2.7×
0.011 mm
Frequently Asked Questions
方法 is depth of field calculated?
Depth of field is the zone between the nearest and farthest points that appear acceptably sharp. It is found from the hyperfocal distance H = f²/(N·c) + f, where f is the focal length, N the f-number and c the circle of confusion for your sensor. The near limit is s·(H−f)/(H+s−2f) and the far limit is s·(H−f)/(H−s), where s is the focus distance. When the focus distance reaches the hyperfocal distance, the far limit becomes infinity.
业务 is hyperfocal distance?
The hyperfocal distance is the closest distance you can focus at while keeping everything out to infinity acceptably sharp. Focus there and your depth of field runs from half the hyperfocal distance all the way to the horizon. It is the classic landscape trick for maximum front-to-back sharpness, and it gets shorter as you stop down or use a wider lens.
Does sensor size affect depth of field?
Yes. For the same framing and aperture, a smaller sensor gives more depth of field because it needs a shorter focal length to fill the frame. That is why phones keep almost everything sharp and medium format throws backgrounds out so easily. To match a full-frame look on a crop sensor you multiply both the focal length and the f-number by the crop factor: an APS-C 35mm f/2.8 frames and blurs roughly like a full-frame 53mm f/4.
业务 is the circle of confusion?
The circle of confusion is the largest blur spot that still reads as a sharp point in the final image. It scales with sensor size: roughly 0.030 mm for full frame, 0.020 mm for APS-C, 0.015 mm for Micro Four Thirds. Every depth-of-field figure depends on it, which is why the same lens settings yield different numbers on different cameras.
业务 aperture gives the most depth of field?
Stopping down increases depth of field, but past roughly f/11-f/16 on full frame diffraction begins to soften the whole image, so there is a limit to how far it helps. For maximum front-to-back sharpness, use the hyperfocal distance rather than simply closing the aperture: focus at the hyperfocal point at f/8 to f/11 and everything from half that distance to infinity is sharp, without the diffraction penalty of f/22.
Have clients discover you before your competitors do
This tool is built by Nakada Design, a Los Angeles marketing agency that specializes in photographers. The same care that went into it goes into your visibility: the search presence and advertising that gets clients finding and booking you first. Tell us about your work below.
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