Subject framing calculator
How far to stand to frame a headshot, a full-length portrait or a whole team at your focal length, or which lens fits the room you have.
All tools- Distance to fill the frame
- 4.25 mSubject height fills the frame height at 85 mm
- Frame covers at that distance
- 1.2 m × 1.8 mWidth × height
- Field of view at 5 m
- 1.41 m × 2.12 mWidth × height. The subject fills 85% of the frame height.
- Lens to fill the frame from 5 m
- 98 mmSubject height fills the frame height
How it works
The method behind the numbers.
A lens projects the scene onto the sensor at a fixed ratio: the subject is to the sensor as the distance is to the focal length. Fix any three of focal length, subject size, sensor side and distance, and the fourth follows.
distance ≈ f × S ÷ s
field ≈ d × s ÷ f
exact = f × (1 + S ÷ s)
lens = d × s ÷ (S + s)f is the focal length, S the subject size, s the sensor side the subject fills (height or width, depending on how the camera is held) and d the distance. The first two are the thin-lens shortcut for a subject much farther away than the focal length; the third is the thin-lens result without that shortcut, and the lens line is that same exact result solved for the focal length that fits the subject from where you stand. Distances are measured to the lens, roughly the front of the camera.
- The preset sizes are examples. People vary, so edit the size to match your subject, and add room if you want space around them.
- Portrait orientation puts the long side of the sensor upright. Choose Width and Landscape for groups.
- Zoom lenses change their focal length as they focus, so use this as a starting place and fine-tune by eye.