Panorama Shot Calculator

Panorama shot count determines how many individual frames you need to capture in order to stitch together a seamless wide-angle or 360° panoramic image. The formula must account for lens focal length (angle of view), desired overlap between frames, and whether you’re shooting a single-row or multi-row panorama.

Horizontal shot count formula: Shots = Total Horizontal Angle ÷ (Angle of View per Frame × (1 − Overlap))

Vertical shot count (for multi-row panoramas): Rows = Total Vertical Angle ÷ (Vertical AOV × (1 − Overlap))

Total frames = Horizontal Shots × Rows

Where:

• Total Horizontal Angle: 360° for full sphere, 180° for half-dome, or your chosen sweep angle
• Angle of View (AOV): determined by focal length and sensor size
• Overlap: expressed as a decimal; 0.30 = 30% overlap (minimum for reliable stitching)
• Recommended overlap: 30–40% for flat scenes; 40–50% for scenes with nearby subjects (parallax issues)

Approximate horizontal AOV by focal length (full-frame sensor):

• 14mm: ~104°
• 24mm: ~73°
• 35mm: ~54°
• 50mm: ~40°
• 85mm: ~24°
• 200mm: ~10°

Worked example: 360° panorama with a 35mm lens (54° AOV) and 40% overlap:

Effective coverage per shot = 54° × (1 − 0.40) = 54° × 0.60 = 32.4° Shots needed = 360° ÷ 32.4° = 11.1 → round up to 12 shots

For a two-row panorama (shooting at 0° and −30° tilt): Total frames = 12 × 2 = 24 frames

Key tips:

• Always shoot in portrait (vertical) orientation for panoramas: you capture more vertical angle per frame
• Use a nodal slide on your tripod to eliminate parallax error for close subjects
• Bracket exposure and use manual mode to avoid exposure variation between frames
• Most stitching software (Lightroom, PTGui, Hugin) works best with 30–40% overlap minimum