Depth of Field Calculator
How much room the focus puller has before the shot goes soft. The calculator above takes sensor, focal length, aperture and distance and returns near limit, far limit, total depth and hyperfocal distance — computed in your browser, with no sign-up and nothing leaving your device.
Depth of Field Calculator
- Near limit
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- Far limit
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- Total depth
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- Hyperfocal
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- FoV / frame width
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Circle of confusion per camera derives from sensor width (d/1000 convention). Camera list: nominal manufacturer specs.
What the number actually depends on
85 mm at T1.4 on a 2 m subject distance gives about 3 cm of depth — a breath of movement is out of focus.
Stopping from T1.4 to T2.8 roughly doubles the depth of field, at the cost of two stops of light.
The gap between a number that goes into a quote and one that holds on the day is rarely the formula — it is whether the constraints were entered honestly. That is why the inputs are spelled out below.
Common mistakes
The places where the arithmetic is right and the day still falls over:
- Booking a T1.3 lens for a handheld documentary interview
- Using a stills circle of confusion for a cinema sensor
In day-to-day production
Depth of field grows with the square of distance: doubling the subject distance quadruples the depth.
The number belongs in pre-production — the point where a decision is still free to change. Working it out on the shoot day is no longer calculating; it is finding out.
In TillyGen this is not a separate step: the result sits inside the plan itself, alongside the shot list, schedule and call sheet. Change a constraint and the dependent values move with it — the affected parts of the plan are flagged rather than quietly left behind.
Pre-computed variants
For these 11 cases the numbers are worked out on their own page:
- Depth of field: ARRI Alexa 35
- Depth of field: ARRI Alexa Mini LF
- Depth of field: ARRI Amira
- Depth of field: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K
- Depth of field: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6K Pro
- Depth of field: Canon EOS C500 Mark II
- Depth of field: Panasonic AU-EVA1
- Depth of field: Panasonic Lumix GH6
- Depth of field: RED Komodo 6K
- Depth of field: RED V-Raptor 8K VV
- Depth of field: Sony Venice 2 (8.6K)
Frequently asked
How accurate is the Depth of Field Calculator?
The maths is exact; the inputs rarely are. Treat the result as a solid floor and add your buffer deliberately rather than smuggling it into the inputs — a flattered input hides the buffer from everyone who plans with it later.
Is the calculator free?
No. It runs entirely in your browser, with no sign-up and nothing transmitted. There is no usage limit and no account.
Where does this fit in production planning?
In pre-production. There it is a basis for deciding; later it is only a finding.
Can I export the result?
The calculator itself only displays the value. In TillyGen it lands directly in the shot list, schedule and call sheet, and goes out as PDF, CSV or through the API to everyone working from it.
What does the calculator return?
Near limit, far limit, total depth and hyperfocal distance. The first value is the one you carry into the plan; the rest show how sensitively it reacts to the inputs.
What should I watch for in the result?
Mainly this: booking a T1.3 lens for a handheld documentary interview. That is the mistake that most often turns a correctly calculated number into one that does not hold.