Recipe Unit Converter & Camera FOV Calculator - Free Tool

Recipe Unit Converter and Camera Field of View Calculator

This page hosts two separate tools. The recipe unit converter changes cooking measurements between units such as cups, grams, ounces, and liters. The camera field of view (FOV) calculator works out how much of a scene a camera lens captures, based on sensor size, focal length, and distance to the subject.

Recipe Unit Converter

How the recipe unit converter works

The converter changes a value from one unit into every other unit of the same kind. Enter a mass, such as grams, and it shows the same amount in milligrams, kilograms, ounces, and pounds. Enter a volume, such as milliliters, and it shows cups, tablespoons, liters, and more.

It does not convert between mass and volume, because that conversion depends on the ingredient. A cup of flour and a cup of sugar weigh different amounts, since flour is less dense. To turn a volume measurement into a weight (or the other way round) for a specific ingredient, look up that ingredient's density and do the multiplication separately. The reference figures below can help.

Common volume conversions

• 1 cup (US) = 236.588 milliliters = 8 fluid ounces
• 1 tablespoon (US) = 14.787 milliliters = 3 teaspoons
• 1 teaspoon (US) = 4.929 milliliters
• 1 liter = 1000 milliliters ≈ 4.227 cups (US)
• 1 gallon (US) = 3.785 liters = 16 cups (US)
• 1 fluid ounce (US) = 29.574 milliliters

Common weight conversions

• 1 pound = 453.592 grams = 16 ounces
• 1 ounce = 28.350 grams
• 1 kilogram = 1000 grams ≈ 2.205 pounds

International measurement differences

Countries do not all define the same units the same way.

• The Australian tablespoon is 20 milliliters (four teaspoons), larger than the US tablespoon.
• The metric cup used in Australia and New Zealand is exactly 250 milliliters, not 236.588 milliliters like the US cup.
• The Japanese cup is 200 milliliters.
• The US "legal" cup, used on nutrition labels, is 240 milliliters.
• The Imperial (UK) pint is 568 milliliters and holds 20 Imperial fluid ounces; the US pint is 473 milliliters and holds 16 US fluid ounces.

How to convert a recipe measurement

1. Decide whether you are converting weight or volume. Liquids such as water, milk, and oil are almost always measured by volume. Dry ingredients like flour and sugar can be measured either way, though weight is more accurate for baking.
2. Enter the value from the recipe. Write fractions as decimals — 2½ cups becomes 2.5.
3. Choose the unit you are converting from. The tool then lists that amount in every related unit at once.
4. Read off the target unit from the results.
5. For volume-to-weight conversions, apply an ingredient density figure by hand (see the table below), since the calculator does not do this step automatically.

Converting cups to grams for baking

Bakers often prefer grams to cups because a weight measurement does not change with how the ingredient is packed into the cup. A cup of flour scooped straight from the bag can weigh noticeably more than one spooned in gently and leveled off, because scooping compacts it.

Approximate weights for common baking ingredients, per US cup:

• All-purpose flour: 120–125 g
• Bread flour: 130 g
• Cake flour: 115 g
• Granulated sugar: 200 g
• Powdered sugar: 120 g
• Brown sugar, packed: 220 g
• Butter: 227 g
• Cocoa powder: 100 g

These are reference figures for manual use, not values the calculator produces automatically.

Camera Field of View Calculator

What is field of view?

Field of view (FOV) is the physical width, height, or diagonal size of the scene a camera captures at a given distance, measured in meters or feet. Angle of view (AOV) is the same idea expressed as an angle in degrees, independent of distance. A lens has one angle of view but a different field of view at every distance.

Camera field of view formula

The calculator finds the angle of view first, then converts it to a physical distance.

Angle of view:

AOV = 2 × arctan( d / (2 × f) )

Here d is a sensor dimension (width, height, or diagonal) in millimeters, and f is the focal length in millimeters.

Field of view:

FOV = 2 × D × tan(AOV / 2)

Here D is the distance from the camera to the subject, in the same units as the desired FOV output.

How to calculate field of view

1. Find the sensor dimensions. Common full-frame sensors measure 36 mm × 24 mm. APS-C sensors are around 22–24 mm × 15 mm, depending on the brand. Micro Four Thirds sensors measure 17.3 mm × 13 mm.
2. Read the focal length off the lens, in millimeters — for example 24 mm, 50 mm, or 200 mm.
3. Calculate the angle of view. For a 50 mm lens on a full-frame camera, using the sensor width of 36 mm: AOV = 2 × arctan(36 / (2 × 50)) = 2 × arctan(0.36) ≈ 39.6°.
4. Estimate the distance to the subject, in meters.
5. Calculate the field of view. At 10 meters: FOV = 2 × 10 × tan(19.8°) ≈ 7.2 meters. A 50 mm lens on a full-frame camera, aimed at a subject 10 meters away, captures a horizontal span of about 7.2 meters.

Common sensor sizes

Crop factor

Crop factor compares a sensor's size to a full-frame sensor. A camera with a 1.5× crop factor has a sensor 1.5 times smaller across than full frame, so it captures a narrower slice of the image a lens projects. A 50 mm lens on a 1.5×-crop camera frames a scene similarly to a 75 mm lens (50 × 1.5) on a full-frame camera. The lens itself has not changed — only the portion of its image circle that lands on the sensor.

To find the full-frame-equivalent field of view of a lens on a cropped-sensor camera, multiply its focal length by the crop factor. To find which physical lens to buy for a target field of view on a cropped-sensor camera, divide the desired full-frame focal length by the crop factor instead: a 100 mm full-frame field of view on a 1.5×-crop camera needs roughly a 100 ÷ 1.5 ≈ 67 mm lens.

When calculating field of view directly with the formula above, always use the camera's actual physical sensor width and the lens's actual physical focal length — the crop is already accounted for by the smaller sensor size. Do not also multiply the focal length by the crop factor, or the result will be wrong.

Worked examples

Portrait, full frame, 85 mm lens, 3 meters away Sensor width: 36 mm. AOV = 2 × arctan(36 / (2 × 85)) ≈ 23.9°. FOV = 2 × 3 × tan(11.95°) ≈ 1.27 meters. At 3 meters, the frame is about 1.27 meters wide — a head-and-shoulders portrait.

Wildlife, APS-C (Nikon/Sony), 400 mm lens, 30 meters away Sensor width: 23.5 mm (the camera's real sensor width, not adjusted for crop). AOV = 2 × arctan(23.5 / (2 × 400)) ≈ 3.4°. FOV = 2 × 30 × tan(1.7°) ≈ 1.76 meters. At 30 meters, the lens frames a span about 1.76 meters wide — tight enough to fill the frame with a mid-size animal from a safe distance.

Real estate interior, full frame, 16 mm lens, 4 meters away Sensor width: 36 mm. AOV = 2 × arctan(36 / (2 × 16)) ≈ 96.7°. FOV = 2 × 4 × tan(48.4°) = 9.0 meters. From 4 meters, an ultra-wide 16 mm lens captures a span 9 meters across, wide enough for most single rooms shot from a corner.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert cups to grams for flour? One cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 120–125 grams when spooned into the cup and leveled off. Scooping straight from the bag packs the flour tighter and can add 20–30 grams. The recipe unit converter does not know which ingredient is being measured, so this conversion has to be applied by hand using a density figure like this one.

What's the difference between a US cup and a metric cup? A US cup is 236.588 milliliters. A metric cup, used in Australia and New Zealand, is exactly 250 milliliters — about 5.6% larger. Most modern UK recipes use milliliters and grams instead of cups.

How many grams are in an ounce? One ounce equals 28.35 grams. This is a weight ounce, not a fluid ounce — fluid ounces measure volume (29.57 ml in the US) and are a different, unrelated unit despite the shared name.

How do I calculate field of view for my camera and lens? Find the sensor's width, height, or diagonal in millimeters and the lens's focal length in millimeters. Compute the angle of view with AOV = 2 × arctan(d / (2f)). Then, for a known subject distance D, compute the field of view with FOV = 2 × D × tan(AOV/2). The calculator on this page does both steps at once.

What is crop factor and how does it affect field of view? Crop factor describes how much smaller a sensor is than a full-frame sensor. An APS-C sensor has a crop factor near 1.5× (1.6× for Canon), so a 50 mm lens on APS-C frames a scene similarly to a 75 mm lens on full frame. The lens's focal length does not physically change — only the field of view captured by the smaller sensor does.

Does sensor size affect image quality, separately from field of view? Yes. Larger sensors generally collect more light per pixel, which improves low-light performance and dynamic range, and they produce a shallower depth of field at a given focal length and aperture. Smaller sensors trade some of this for a lighter, cheaper camera body and extra reach at the same focal length, since their narrower field of view acts like extra zoom.