Panorama Calculator
Calculate how many shots you need to cover a panorama, given your lens, sensor, and desired overlap. Use it when planning stitched panoramas to avoid gaps between frames.
About this calculator
A panorama is built by stitching overlapping frames that together cover a wide angle. Each individual frame's horizontal field of view (FoV) is determined by the lens focal length and sensor width: FoV = 2 × arctan(sensorWidth / (2 × focalLength)), expressed in degrees. To ensure stitching software has enough matching pixels, adjacent frames must overlap — typically 30–50%. The effective coverage per shot after accounting for overlap is FoV × (1 − overlap/100). The number of shots required is therefore: shots = ⌈totalAngle / (FoV × (1 − overlap/100))⌉, which matches the formula: ceil(totalAngle / (2 × arctan(sensorWidth / (2 × focalLength)) × 180/π × (1 − overlap/100))). The ceiling function ensures you always have enough frames.
How to use
You're shooting a 180° panorama with a 35 mm lens on a full-frame camera (sensorWidth ≈ 36 mm) and want 30% overlap. FoV = 2 × arctan(36 / (2 × 35)) × 180/π ≈ 2 × arctan(0.514) × 57.3 ≈ 54.4°. Effective coverage per shot = 54.4 × (1 − 0.30) ≈ 38.1°. Shots = ⌈180 / 38.1⌉ = ⌈4.72⌉ = 5 shots. Enter focalLength = 35, sensorWidth = 36, totalAngle = 180, and overlap = 30 to verify.
Frequently asked questions
How much overlap should I use when shooting a panorama?
A minimum of 25–30% overlap is recommended for most stitching software to find enough matching features between adjacent frames. For scenes with repetitive textures like sky or water, 40–50% overlap helps the software avoid misalignment. Very wide-angle lenses produce more distortion at frame edges, so more overlap compensates for that. This calculator lets you experiment with different overlap percentages to find the minimum shot count that still gives reliable stitching.
What focal length is best for panoramic photography?
Longer focal lengths (50 mm and above) produce less geometric distortion per frame and stitch more cleanly because the perspective is flatter. Wide-angle lenses cover more scene per shot, reducing frame count, but introduce barrel distortion that can cause misalignment. A 35–85 mm range on full frame is a popular sweet spot for landscape panoramas. Use this calculator to compare how focal length choices affect the total number of shots required for your scene.
Why does sensor width affect the number of panorama shots needed?
Sensor width directly determines how much horizontal scene each frame captures at a given focal length. A wider sensor sees a broader angle, so fewer shots are needed to cover the same total angle. For example, a full-frame sensor (36 mm wide) captures a significantly wider horizontal field than an APS-C sensor (approximately 23 mm) with the same lens, reducing the required shot count. Entering your actual sensor width ensures the calculator gives accurate results for your specific camera.