Depth of Field Calculator
Choose your camera sensor, set focal length, aperture, and focus distance to see exactly how much of your scene will be sharp. Near and far focus limits, hyperfocal distance, and a live top-down diagram update instantly. Nothing uploaded.
Sensor Format
CoC: 0.029 mm
Focal Length
Aperture
Focus Distance
Results
Advanced DoF details
Top-Down Diagram
Learn more: reading the near and far limits
Depth of field is a threshold someone picked, not a hard edge
Every number this calculator prints is built on one assumption: the circle of confusion, the largest blur spot that still reads as sharp in the finished image. It is the c in the hyperfocal formula the tool uses, H = (f² / (N × c)) + f, where f is focal length in mm and N is the f-number.
The sensor menu is just a shortcut for picking c. Full frame uses 0.029 mm, APS-C Canon 0.019 mm, APS-C Nikon and Sony 0.020 mm, Micro Four Thirds 0.015 mm, Super 35 0.021 mm, and the custom option lets you type your own. Nothing physical happens at the near and far limits; they mark where blur crosses the value you chose.
Hyperfocal distance, worked through
Take a 24 mm lens at f/8 on full frame. H = 24² / (8 × 0.029) + 24 = 2,507 mm, so the tool reports a hyperfocal distance of 2.51 m.
Focus there and the near limit lands at 1.25 m with the far limit at infinity. That half-the-hyperfocal-distance result is not a rule of thumb bolted on afterwards, it drops out of the near-limit formula whenever focus distance equals H.
A smaller sensor does not automatically give more depth of field
At identical settings it gives less. Take the tool's defaults, a 50 mm lens at f/2.8 focused at 5 m: full frame returns 1.65 m of total depth, Micro Four Thirds returns 0.84 m. The smaller sensor has a stricter blur threshold, so the sharp zone is narrower.
The familiar "crop sensors have more depth of field" line is about matching framing, not matching settings. Swap to 25 mm at f/2.8 on Micro Four Thirds, which frames roughly like 50 mm on full frame, and total depth goes to 3.76 m against full frame's 1.65 m. The shorter focal length does the work, not the sensor.
FAQ
Why does the front/rear split keep changing?
The sharp zone is never centred on the focus point, and the imbalance grows with distance. With a 50 mm lens at f/2.8 on full frame the tool reports 48.5% in front at 1 m, 42.0% at 5 m, and 33.8% at 10 m. Close-up work is nearly symmetrical; distant work throws most of the depth behind the subject.
Why does the far limit sometimes read as infinity?
The far-limit formula divides by (H - focus distance). Once you focus at or beyond the hyperfocal distance that term stops being positive, so the calculator reports infinity and puts the whole rear share at 100%. It is a real result, not an error state.
When is a custom circle of confusion worth entering?
When the viewing conditions are stricter than the preset assumes, such as a large print someone will study from close range. Tighten full frame's 0.029 mm to 0.015 mm and the 24 mm f/8 hyperfocal distance moves from 2.51 m to 4.82 m, so the focus point you would have used is no longer the one that reaches infinity.