Depth of Field Calculator

Depth of field (DOF) is the zone of acceptable sharpness in front of and behind your focus point. Aperture has the biggest impact: wide apertures (f/1.4-f/2.8) create shallow DOF with blurry backgrounds—ideal for portraits. Narrow apertures (f/8-f/16) create deep DOF keeping everything sharp—ideal for landscapes. Example: At f/1.8, a portrait might have only the eyes sharp while ears blur. At f/11, both a person and mountains behind them stay sharp.

Longer focal lengths and closer distances both reduce DOF. A 200mm lens at 3 meters has extremely shallow DOF; a 24mm lens at the same distance has much deeper DOF. Moving closer to your subject dramatically decreases DOF—macro photography at 10cm may have only 1-2mm of sharpness. Practical tip: For group photos, step back and use a longer focal length to ensure everyone's face is sharp, rather than getting close with a wide lens.

Hyperfocal distance is the focus point that maximizes depth of field from half that distance to infinity. When you focus at the hyperfocal distance, everything from half that distance to infinity appears sharp. Use it for landscapes when you want both foreground and distant mountains sharp. Example: At 24mm f/11 on full frame, hyperfocal distance is about 2.1m—focus there and everything from 1.05m to infinity is sharp. Many landscape photographers use hyperfocal focusing exclusively.

Circle of confusion (CoC) is the largest blur spot that still appears as a point to the human eye. It determines the boundaries of 'acceptable sharpness' in DOF calculations. Standard CoC values: 0.03mm for full frame, 0.02mm for APS-C, 0.015mm for Micro 4/3. Smaller sensors need smaller CoC because images are enlarged more. For critical sharpness (large prints, high resolution), use a smaller CoC value. For web/social media viewing, standard values are generous enough.

Smaller sensors give deeper DOF at the same field of view. To get the same framing, smaller sensors use shorter focal lengths, increasing DOF. A Micro 4/3 camera at 25mm f/2 has roughly the same DOF as full frame at 50mm f/4. This is why phone cameras (tiny sensors) have nearly infinite DOF, and why full frame is preferred for shallow DOF portraiture. Crop factor comparison: Full frame f/1.4 ≈ APS-C f/2.1 ≈ Micro 4/3 f/2.8 for equivalent DOF.