Simple DoF Calculator Reviews

I am an experienced award winning photographer and bought SimpleDoFCalculator. I use a Nikon D 800. There are no instructions on use with SimpleDoFCalculator , and little useable information. It’s a complete waste of $1.99.

SimpleDoFCalculator is not up-to-date for Canon R5 Mark II cameras. Do not buy if that is what you’re looking for at this time.

The new cameras are not included. Its time to update.

I would love for them to add the Sony a6700 ! I have SimpleDoFCalculator but it’s missing would make it raise otherwise

do not have the Canon EOS RP camera in the list. 😔

A bit awkward and a little hard to view. OK for $1.99 but probably not worth more. TrueDoF Pro is better but more expensive.

Was a very good app, with both graphical and numeric feedback. Depiction of DoF is excellent. But lack of newer camera inclusion and silence from developers suggests moving on. A good implementation that’s not keeping up.

This is a very easy to use app that makes calculating depth of field quick. My only suggestion to improve the program is that it would be nice if the depth of field could be set to display inches or feet. Worth the money!!!

As a long-time user of DOFMaster on the Palm and recent switch to iPhone, I downloaded Simple DoF Calculator based on the high reviews. Simple DoF Calculator makes data entry fast and simple because all data entry is done on one 3-slider wheel. DOF calculations are identical between the two (as they should be). Couldn't imagine a simpler and more straightforward way to design SimpleDoFCalculator. It does exactly what it should and is attractive and very easy to use.

Two minor quibbles:

1) The focus (distance) and focal length (lens) choices should run in consistent geometric progressions just like real cameras. It's odd to see choices of 90, 95, 100, then 101, 102, 103, ... for focal length, and a 1 mm precision at 100 mm is not really useful and makes it harder to find the right setting. Instead, have every choice be, for example, 5% or 20% bigger than the last one depending on whether fast spin mode is selected. Similar for f/stop.

2) Even though it is likely rarely needed (maybe never), it would be nice to have the focus setting go beyond 100 feet.

This is a fantastic app; it is well designed and easy to use. I love that you can set and keep up to four cameras with their own different settings, really handy if you have more that one, otherwise you would have to scroll through hundreds of them in its database to choose a different one. The last used settings are retained even if you quit SimpleDoFCalculator . As per how accurate it is, I haven’t done any thorough testing yet, but it seems to be pretty good.

One request: please add a setting for optionally displaying 1/3, 1/2, or full f-stops - less scrolling is always better, especially if you don’t have to. Thank you.

At first glance i thought the math of this calculator was off. Why was it giving smaller DOF measurements for cameras with smaller sensors? It should be the opposite. But then i realized the difference between focal length and angle of view. If you take two cameras with the same 50mm lens, one camera w/ a full frame 35mm sensor and the other with a 1.5x crop sensor, the DOF of the 1.5x crop camera will actually be slightly smaller. The reason is that even though the camera has a smaller sensor (and therefore greater DOF) that lens is now behaving like a 75mm lens. So it is providing the angle of view and the DOF of a 75mm lens on a full frame body. If you want to compare the same angle of view between the two cameras then you need to compensate for the crop factor. In other words a full frame body w/ a 75mm lens will have shallower DOF then a 1.5x crop body w/ a 50mm lens and both cameras will have the same angle of view.

I've tried a slew of these apps, and this takes the cake in terms of layout and ease of use. The slider wheels are very straightforward to use and the info is well displayed. I'm not sure what one reviewer was complaining about when he said they won't give you the distances in inches. It will say something like 1' 5.47". But converting 0.47 inches into fractions would be absurd.

Also of great importance, the info yielded does seem to be correct, which I've confirmed by doing photo tests and also cross referencing it with other apps and websites. Interestingly, they don't all come up with *exactly* the same results, but they're close. The reason for this, and for many other questions about this (and other) app's accuracy, is that depth of field is a very subjective measure. It relies on a determination of what "acceptably sharp" means, and also varies depending on how much you enlarge your photo. That is essentially what crop sensors do, which is why the same 50 mm lens on a full frame will have a different DOF than it will on a crop sensor.

Completely separate from that is the question of field of view.

You can try and figure it all out--I have, but even I still get confused sometimes--or you can just rely on SimpleDoFCalculator. Because it's right.

My only other suggestion for an app in this category is called Lens Lab. It has a slightly different take on how to display the info. Kinda neat, but in terms of actual usability, I still prefer this one.

Tried a number of DoF calculators. Most suffer from inconvenient method to enter data: focal length, distance, f/stop; you have to erase current value, then use the keyboard to enter new values. So slow in practice. Many offer long lists of camera models to choose from; kinda nice but the DoF calulation mostly related to sensor size, not camera model. Likely you only need to do this once, though. Many cameras models use the same or equivilent sensor.

And lastly, the DoF formula is based on a specific value for the circle of confusion (CoC). (In fact when you pick a camera from the list, you are really selecting the CoC that will be used in the DoF calulation.) Many photographers prefer to choose a value that is somewhat smaller than commonly specified; this has the effect of suggesting a smaller f/stop and larger DoF.

Here's where SimpleDoFCalculator shines: it uses scroll wheels to enter data. This makes it incredibly easy to fine tune the DoF values when making compositional changes to focal length using a zoom lens. And in addition to the common list of camera models, you can simply select the CoC you want to use. It also support two camera model (or CoC settings) if you have cameras with different sensors.

Whether you decide to use a Camera Model or select a CoC, SimpleDoFCalculator is fast to use and easy to read DoF values. The fact that it's free is amazing!

Easy to use and does what it is supposed to do. Even offers no cost updates for new cameras. No attempt to sell me anything else. Nice.

It's one of the best I've tried so far. Good job!

Very easy to use. Just what I was looking for. Thanks!

Really nice app. Looks good and it's easy to use.

Thanks for the update!

Simple to use and understand...a great help when trying to achieve maximum dof

I tried some other DoF apps but none compare to the slick interface and ease of use of this one. Well worth the couple bucks.

Much better than using a web based calculator, and way better than other abandoned DOF calculators in SimpleDoFCalculator Store. Wish it was possible to add custom cameras (or at least rename the camera choices to match your kit), and the text in the "road" could be larger and easier to read in a hurry, but otherwise a perfect app.