Photography Calculators & Tools
Free photography calculators that do the maths for you: plan focus and framing, time the light, nail long exposures and flash, and print and look after your work. Every calculator runs in your browser, explains how it works, and gives you a link you can share.
Plan the shot
Work out focus, framing, timing and the sky before you go.
Depth of Field Calculator
Tell it how much depth of field you need and it works out the aperture and distance — or enter your settings to see the exact focus range, hyperfocal distance and a diagram. Includes a printable hyperfocal chart, a focus stacking planner and close-up figures.
Field of View Calculator
See how much of a scene a lens takes in at any distance, compare two lenses or cameras side by side, and find the focal length that fits a subject exactly.
Macro Photography Calculator
Magnification, subject distance, effective aperture and depth of field for macro lenses, extension tubes and close-up filters — plus how many frames a focus stack needs.
Golden Hour Calculator
Sunrise, sunset, golden hour, blue hour and twilight for any place and date, with sunrise and sunset bearings and a chart of the Sun's height through the day.
Astrophotography Calculator
The longest exposure before stars trail, using the accurate NPF rule for your camera, lens and part of the sky — and a planner for star trail sequences.
Time-lapse Calculator
Intervals, frame counts, clip length, shutter speed, card space and batteries — from the length of the event or the clip you want.
Exposure and light
Get long exposures and flash right first time.
ND Filter Calculator
Long-exposure times for any ND filter — ND8 to 15 stops — with a built-in countdown timer for Bulb mode, plus equivalent exposures and exposure value.
Flash Guide Number Calculator
Use your flash's guide number to find the aperture, distance or power setting for any ISO, including modifiers, bounce and several flashes together.
Print and gear
Print well, buy wisely and look after your equipment.
Print Size Calculator
How big can you print, and will it look good? Maximum sizes by quality, the resolution a print needs, a quality check with crop preview, mat and frame planning, and an LPI/DPI converter.
Rent vs Buy Calculator
Should you buy that lens or keep renting? See the real cost of owning — maintenance, insurance and resale — against rental, and when buying pays for itself.
Silica Gel Calculator
Keep your gear out of the fungus zone: how much silica gel your dry box or bag needs, safe recharge times and temperatures, and calendar reminders to recharge.
About These Photography Calculators
BeyondPhotoTips has helped photographers get better at their craft since 2007. These photography calculators take the maths out of the technical side — focus, framing, light, exposure, printing and gear — so you can spend your time on the picture.
- Built on published formulas. Each calculator explains its maths, from the exact thin-lens depth of field equations to the NPF rule and the NOAA sun position equations, with a worked example you can check by hand.
- Tested. Every calculator has automated tests against known results — sunrise times for London and New York, the hyperfocal distance of a 50mm lens, guide number reach — which run before every update.
- Free, with no sign-up. Nothing you enter is stored on our servers. Results can be shared as a link or printed.
Photography Calculator FAQs
Are these photography calculators free?
Yes. Every calculator is free to use with no sign-up, no download and no limits. You can share any result as a link or print it.
Do the calculators work on a phone?
Yes. They're designed for phones and tablets as well as computers, so you can use them in the field. Several, including the depth of field and ND filter calculators, work instantly without waiting for a server.
How accurate are the results?
Each calculator uses the standard published formulas — exact thin-lens optics for depth of field, the NPF rule for star trails, the NOAA solar equations for golden hour — and each page shows the formula with a worked example. Every calculator is covered by automated tests that check its results against known values.
Is my data stored?
No. Calculations use only the numbers you enter, and nothing is saved on our servers. The golden hour calculator can use your location if you allow it, but it stays in your browser.
Which calculator should I start with?
For sharper landscapes and portraits, start with the depth of field calculator. For timing a shoot, use the golden hour calculator. If you print your work, the print size calculator tells you how big you can go.