Angle of view (photography)

In photography, angle of view (AOV) describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.

It is important to distinguish the angle of view from the angle of coverage, which describes the angle at which the lens projects the image circle onto the image plane (the plane where the film or image sensor is located). In other words, while the angle of coverage is determined by the lens and the image plane, the angle of view (AOV) is also determined by the film's image size or image sensor format. The image circle (giving the angle of coverage) produced by a lens on a given image plane is typically large enough to completely cover a film or sensor at the plane, possibly including some vignetting toward the edge. If the angle of coverage of the lens does not fill the sensor, the image circle will be visible, typically with strong vignetting toward the edge, and the effective angle of view will be limited to the angle of coverage.