Panorama Shots Calculator
How many frames a stitched panorama needs — from focal length, sensor size, orientation, overlap and the horizontal and vertical field to cover — with the per-frame field of view and final resolution.
How it works
FOV = 2·atan(sensor side ÷ 2f); frames across = ceil((angle − FOV) ÷ (FOV × (1 − overlap))) + 1; same for rows
A stitched panorama trades many narrow frames for one wide image with far more detail than a wide-angle lens could deliver. Each frame covers a field of view fixed by focal length and sensor size — a 50 mm lens on full frame sees 39.6° across in landscape but only 27° in portrait, which is why panoramas are usually shot portrait: more vertical coverage per row and more pixels in the final height. Frames must overlap by 25–40% so the stitching software can find matching features; less and you risk gaps, more and you waste shots. Rotating around the lens’s entrance pupil rather than the tripod socket avoids parallax errors when anything is close to the camera. The resulting file can be enormous, so check the resolution before committing to a gigapixel project.
Worked example
180° × 60° at 50 mm on full frame in portrait with 30% overlap: each frame is 27° × 39.6°, so 10 frames across in 2 rows — 20 shots for roughly a 130 MP stitch.
Frequently asked questions
Does a longer lens make a better panorama?
It gives more resolution and less distortion but needs many more frames and a steadier scene; 35–85 mm is the sweet spot for landscapes, 100–200 mm for gigapixel work.
How much vertical angle do I need?
A single row usually suffices for landscapes (25–40°); include a second row when the sky or foreground matters, or shoot 360 × 180° for a full sphere.
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This calculator is for educational purposes. Double-check important results before acting on them.