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Field of View Calculator

Find the angle of view of a lens on your camera.

Result

39.60°
7.20 m

How it is calculated

The angle of view of a lens depends on its focal length and on the sensor size along the direction you measure: AOV = 2 × arctan(sensor ÷ (2 × focal)). Enter focal in millimetres (above zero) and sensor as the sensor width in millimetres; if the sensor is empty or not positive, 36 mm (full-frame width) is used. The result is in degrees, for that dimension only, so use the sensor height or diagonal for those angles. If you also enter a distance to the subject in metres, the tool gives the scene width covered there: width = 2 × distance × tan(AOV ÷ 2). The calculation assumes a simple rectilinear lens focused at a distance, ignoring focus breathing and distortion.

Worked example

A 50 mm lens on a 36 mm wide sensor, subject 10 m away. AOV = 2 × arctan(36 ÷ 100) = 2 × arctan(0.36) = 2 × 19.8° = 39.6°. Width at 10 m = 2 × 10 × tan(19.8°) = 20 × 0.36 = 7.2 m. The tool shows an angle of view of 39.60° and a width of 7.20 m. Switching to a 25 mm lens roughly doubles the width at the same distance.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering the crop-sensor equivalent focal length with a full-frame sensor width. Use the real focal length with the real sensor width, or the equivalent focal length with 36 mm.
  • Mixing sensor dimensions. The width gives the horizontal angle; the diagonal angle quoted by lens makers is larger.
  • Entering distance in feet or centimetres. It must be metres, or the scene width is wrong.
  • Expecting the lens spec sheet to match exactly. Real lenses focus closer by shifting elements, which changes the true angle slightly.
  • Leaving the sensor blank and assuming a crop camera. The default is 36 mm full-frame width.

About this calculator

This calculator finds a lens's angle of view using the formula: AOV = 2 · arctan(sensor dimension / (2 × focal length)), and combines it with the shooting distance to give the physical frame width you'll capture at that distance. It accounts for sensor size, so the same focal length gives a different angle of view on a full-frame camera than on a crop-sensor or micro four-thirds body.

Photographers and videographers use it to pick the right lens before a shoot — making sure a wide-angle lens fits a whole room, or that a telephoto frames a subject at the required distance — and cinematographers use it for shot planning and previsualization. Enter your focal length, sensor size (or camera model), and distance to subject.

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