Calculating the focal length

The parameters you need

Calculating the focal length often leads to misunderstandings concerning the determination of the
parameters necessary for the calculation. In the following text, we offer some general advice on
how to avoid these misunderstandings. Please find more detailed information in the white papers
Lenses - Selection and setup and Basic optics.
Please note:
• It is the responsibility of an on-site engineer to select and apply lenses in the context of real
applications.
• All calculation methods are based on ideal lenses. The differences to commercial lenses are
negligible in practice. Wide-angle lenses, however, may vary considerably from the ideal.

Content
Parameter 1: Object size.................................................... 2
Parameter 2: Working distance.......................................... 3
Parameter 3: CCD format................................................... 4
Calculating the focal length................................................ 5

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www.theimagingsource.com/en All weights and dimensions are approximate.

Calculating the focal length - The parameters you need 

Parameter 1: Object size

This parameter frequently leads to misunderstandings. This is mainly due to the fact that not only the
"object" itself is to be represented but also the surrounding area. Consider the following example:

Access control example:

In this case the "object under consideration" is a
human face. To compensate for variations of the
position we also take the surrounding area.
Thus, to calculate the focal length our object
size is:
• Object width = 40 cm
• Object height = 50 cm

Object width Object height

Calculating the focal length

Objektive
- The parameters
- Auswahl und
youMontage
need 
Parameter 2: Working distance

The working distance is the distance between the object and the lens' leading edge:

ista nce
i n g d
Work

Calculating the focal length - The parameters you need 

Parameter 3: CCD format

The camera's specification sheet provides you with the CCD chips format (1/4", 1/3", 1/2", ...).
Here you see the The Imaging Source FireWire camera DFK 21AF04 as an example (please see
www.1394imaging.com):

CCD format

Calculating the focal length - The parameters you need 

Calculating the focal length

In order to represent an object completely on the CCD chip,

we calculate the focal length for the object height and width. CCD CCD CCD
The smaller value is our lenses focal length. format height width
[mm] [mm]
The CCD's format determines its height and width (see table
1/4" 2.4 3.2
on the right). Please find detailed information concerning the
CCD format in the white paper Basic optics. 1/3" 3.6 4.8
1/2" 4.8 6.4
2/3" 6.6 8.8
1" 9.6 12.8

Working distance * CCD height

Focal length of the height =
Object height + CCD height

Working distance * CCD width

Focal length of the width =
Obejct width + CCD width

Access control example (page 2):

• Object width = 40 cm
• Object height = 50 cm
• Working distance = 3 m
• CCD format = 1/4"

3000 * 2, 4
Focal lenght of the height = = 14, 3 mm
500 + 2, 4

3000 * 3, 2
Focal lengthof thewidth = = 23, 8 mm
400 + 3, 2

The white paper Lenses - Selection and setup shows how to select a commercial lens based on
this theoretical values.

Calculating the focal length - The parameters you need