Here you have a universal field-of-view calculator and learning tool for your photography. The two rows in the calculator let you determine and compare field of view, focal length or focusing distance for any two formats simply by typing the short and long side of each format in millimeters in the appropriate fields. Focal length always refers to the actual focal length of the lens. You may also be interested in my Depth-of-Field Calculator and Shutter Speed Calculator.
| Digital SLR Dimensions | |||||||||||
| Format | Nikon APS-C |
Canon APS-H |
Canon APS-C |
Fuji APS-C |
Sony APS-C |
Sigma Foveon |
Pentax APS-C |
Olympus 4/3 |
|||
| Short x Long (mm) | 15.8x23.6 15.6x23.7 |
18.7x28.1 | 14.8x22.2 15x22.5 |
15.5x23 | 15.7x23.5 | 13.8x20.7 | 15.7x23.5 15.6x23.4 |
13x17.3 | |||
| Film Format Dimensions | |||||||||||
| Format | 35 | 645 | 6x6 | 6x7 | 6x9 | 4x5 | 8x10 | ||||
| Short x Long (mm) | 24x36 | 41.5x56 | 56x56 | 56x69.5 | 56x84 | 96x120 | 200x250 | ||||
| Compact Digital Dimensions | |||||||||||
| Format | 1/3.6" | 1/3.2" | 1/3" | 1/2.7" | 1/2.5" | 1/2" | 1/1.8" | 1/1.7" | 2/3" | 1" | |
| Short x Long (mm) | 3x4 | 3.42x4.54 | 3.6x4.8 | 4.04x5.37 | 4.29x5.76 | 4.8x6.4 | 5.32x7.18 | 5.7x7.6 | 6.6x8.8 | 9.6x12.8 | |
| from Wikipedia "Image Sensor Format" article | |||||||||||
| Decimal/Inch Conversion for Feet Calculations | |||||||||||
| Decimal | .083 | .167 | .25 | .333 | .417 | .5 | .583 | .667 | .75 | .833 | .917 |
| Inch | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
Directions
Field of View: To determine the field of view yielded by a specific focal length and focusing distance for the format whose dimensions you entered in millimeters in the 'Short Side' and 'Long Side' fields, enter the focal length in the 'Focal Length' field and the focusing distance in the 'Focus Distance' field. Click the 'Field of View' button and the calculator will show you the field of view in the 'Short Field' and 'Long Field' fields.
Focal Length: To determine the focal length to use to achieve a specific field of view and focusing distance for the format whose dimensions you entered in millimeters in the 'Short Side' and 'Long Side' fields, enter the focusing distance in the 'Focus Distance' field and the long side of the field of view in the 'Long Field' field. The calculator will show you the focal length to use in the 'Focal Length' field. For example, if you wanted to photograph a songbird that was six inches long and you wanted it to take up at least half the frame when photographed vertically, you would enter 1 in the 'Long Side' field (6" x 2 = 12" = 1'). If you knew you couldn't get any closer than 15 feet to the bird, you would enter 15 in the 'Focus Distance' field and click the 'Focal Length' button. The calculator will show you the focal length of the lens you need.
Focus Distance: To determine the focusing distance to use for a specific field of view and focal length for the format whose dimensions you entered in millimeters in the 'Short Side' and 'Long Side' fields, enter the focal length in the 'Focal Length' field and the long side of the field of view in the 'Long Field' field. The calculator will show you the distance to shoot from. For example, if you wanted to photograph the same songbird in the example above and you still wanted to keep that 1 foot long field as above, but the longest lens you have is a 300mm, you would enter 300 in the 'Focal Length' field and 1 in the 'Long Field' field and click the 'Focus Distance' button.
Details
Enter Film/Sensor Size: Enter the length in millimeters of the short side of the format you are analyzing in the short side field and the length in millimeters of the long side of the format you are analyzing in the long side field.
Feet, Meters: Choose feet or meters. Default is feet.
Focal Length: This is the field in which you will enter or view the focal length of the lens.
Focus Distance: This is the field in which you will enter or view the focusing distance. It is calculating from the front of the lens and not the film or sensor plane.
Short Field: This is the field where you will view the short side of the field of view. You do not enter anything in this field.
Long Field: This is the field where you will view or enter the long side of the field of view. If you are determining the focal length to use for a specific focusing distance and field of view or if you are determining the focusing distance for a specific focal length and field of view, you would enter the long side of that field of view here.
Subject Mag.: This is where you view subject magnification. It is the size the subject would be on the film/sensor in relation to its actual size. For example, if Subject Mag. showed 0.1 the subject would record at 10% or one-tenth (1/10) its actual size. A 10-inch square would record as a one-inch square on the sensor. All calculations will also show you subject magnification.
Diagonal Angle at Inf.: This is where you view the diagonal angle of view for the focal length in the 'Focal Length' field. The measurement is in degrees. All calculations will show you the diagonal angle of view.
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