Can I estimate a smartphone camera’s sensor size from image resolution and focal length in pixels?
Asked 11/12/2014
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I’m trying to estimate a smartphone camera sensor’s physical size in mm. I know the image resolution in pixels and a focal length value expressed in pixels, and I can measure the size of a stationary object and its distance from the lens. However, I don’t have any direct pixel-to-mm conversion for the sensor or lens. Is it possible to calculate the sensor dimensions from this information alone, or do I need some other specification?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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If you consider geometrical lenses, it is not possible to get sensor dimensions and focal length as an object only determines a certain angle and from that information you can only determine the sensor size/focal length ratio. E.g. you don't know which of the purple, orange or cyan case is inside the camera, and you get the very same picture.
You can try to use the non-geometrical quality of lenses, but that needs some understanding of the lens structure. E.g. you can play with large apertures, so that the DOF is small, measure the DOF and the camera distance, and calibrate the lens. Rather tedious task I guess, and I am not sure you would get the necessary precision.
Originally by user24785. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user24785
11y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Not from those measurements alone. From image geometry, you can determine the field of view, which gives you only the ratio of sensor size to focal length—not the actual sensor dimensions in mm.
So if all you know is resolution, focal length in pixels, object size, and object distance, you generally cannot recover the physical sensor size uniquely.
What you do need is at least one real-world camera specification, such as:
- the actual focal length of the lens in mm, and
- the 35mm-equivalent focal length
From those, you can estimate crop factor:
crop factor = equivalent focal length / actual focal length
Then, assuming the phone uses the same aspect ratio as a 35mm full-frame sensor, you can estimate sensor dimensions by dividing 36mm × 24mm by that crop factor.
In practice, the easiest route is to look up the phone camera specs online. Without an actual focal length in mm or another physical calibration reference, the sensor size cannot be determined reliably from the image data alone.
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