Use our Camera Depth of Field calculator which includes the Nyquist Frequency and Hyperfocal Distance.

The depth of field of a camera is the range of distances which objects are in focus. The depth of field is dependent upon the camera sensor pixel pitch, the lens effective focal length, and the lens aperture diameter. 

This depth of field calculator has five primary outputs:
1.) Depth of Field
2.) Hyperfocal Distance
3.) Geometric and Diffractive Depth of Focus
4.) Sensor Nyquist Frequency
5.) Relative Transmittance of 2 F#s and the required exposure length difference

A faster aperture (lower F/#) results in a shorter depth of field, whereas a slower aperture (higher F/#) results in a longer depth of field.

The depth of field is related to the "Hyperfocal Distance" which is the distance at which if you focus a camera, all objects beyond the distance will be in focus.

If you focus a camera closer than the hyperfocal distance,  the depth of field will get shallower. The depth of field is not symmetric around the selected focus distance; It extends further beyond the focus distance than in front of the focus distance.

The depth of field can be characterized by three metrics:

• The Hyperfocal Distance is the distance at which a lens should be focused to achieve acceptable focus out to infinity.
• The Near Focus Distance is the closest distance which will be in focus, given a specific focus distance. When a camera is focused at the Hyperfocal distance, the Near Focus Distance is equal to half of the Hyperfocal distance.
• The Far Focus Distance is the further distance which will be in focus, given a specific focus distance. When a camera is focused at the Hyperfocal distance, the Far Focus Distance is  Infinity.

The amount of light incident on the image sensor is reduced using a higher F/#, requiring a longer exposure or more digital gain / ISO. We've added an f-stop calculator to provide relative illuminance (throughput) of a lens with different f-stops. This way you can adjust exposure and gain based upon the lens F/#.