Camera calculator · free in CineMath

Depth of Field Calculator

Near and far focus limits, hyperfocal distance, and the stop that holds two subjects in focus.

Depth of Field works out how much of the scene is acceptably sharp, in feet or meters. Solve for depth of field around a focus distance, for the hyperfocal distance that carries focus to infinity, or for a split: where to focus and what stop to hold so a near and a far subject are both sharp. The circle of confusion comes from a preset for each format, from Super 16 to large format, or a value you enter.

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CineMath Depth of Field on iPhone: a 50 mm lens at f/2.8 focused at 3 m on Super 35 gives a near limit of 9.09 ft, a far limit of 10.7 ft, 1.64 ft total depth of field and a 117 ft hyperfocal distance, with the focus range drawn on a line

Worked examples

Depth of field, Super 35 (CoC 0.025 mm)

Depth of field, Super 35 (CoC 0.025 mm)
Lens and stopFocusNearFarHyperfocal
35 mm at f/2.83 m2.57 m3.61 m17.54 m
50 mm at f/22 m1.92 m2.08 m50.05 m
50 mm at f/2.810 ft9.23 ft10.9 ft117 ft

Hyperfocal mode, Super 35 (CoC 0.025 mm)

Hyperfocal mode, Super 35 (CoC 0.025 mm)
Lens and stopHyperfocal distanceSharp from
18 mm at f/5.62.33 m (7.65 ft)1.17 m (3.83 ft)
25 mm at f/2.88.95 m (29.4 ft)4.48 m (14.7 ft)
25 mm at f/5.64.49 m (14.7 ft)2.24 m (7.36 ft)
35 mm at f/5.68.79 m (28.8 ft)4.39 m (14.4 ft)

Split mode, Super 35 (CoC 0.025 mm), as the app shows it

Split mode, Super 35 (CoC 0.025 mm), as the app shows it
LensSubjectsFocus atStop
50 mm2 m and 3 m2.40 mf/8.7
35 mm1.5 m and 2.5 m1.88 mf/7.0
50 mm6 ft and 10 ft7.50 ftf/11.7

What you enter

  • Solve For: DOF, Hyperfocal or Split
  • Focal length (mm), with presets of 14, 24, 35, 50, 85, 135 and 200 mm
  • Stop, with presets from f/1.4 to f/22 (most crews enter the T-stop)
  • Focus distance (DOF mode), or the near and far subject distances (Split mode), in feet or meters as set in Settings › Unit System
  • Sensor format, which sets the circle of confusion: Large Format 0.035, Full Frame 0.030, Super 35 0.025, APS-C 0.019, Micro 4/3 0.015 or Super 16 0.012 mm, or a custom value

What you get

  • DOF mode: near limit, far limit (∞ at or past the hyperfocal distance), total depth of field and hyperfocal distance
  • Hyperfocal mode: the hyperfocal distance and the near limit when focused there (half the hyperfocal distance)
  • Split mode: the focus point between the two subjects, the stop needed to hold both, and the distance between them
  • Notes when the far limit reaches infinity or the depth of field is under 5 cm; in Hyperfocal mode, when the distance is over 100 m or the stop is wider than f/2 or past f/16; in Split mode, when the stop needed is past f/22

How CineMath works it out

  • Hyperfocal H = f² ÷ (N × c) + f
  • Near = s × f² ÷ (f² + N × c × (s − f))
  • Far = s × f² ÷ (f² − N × c × (s − f)), infinite once the denominator reaches zero
  • Split focus sits at the harmonic mean of the two distances: 2 ÷ (1/near + 1/far)
  • Split stop N ≈ (far − near) × f² ÷ (2 × c × d²), with d the split focus point; when the far subject is several times farther than the near one, this asks for a deeper stop than the exact thin-lens figure

A focus-range diagram shows the near and far limits around the subject.

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