What is the camera focal length and field of view?

Each StereoLabs camera has unique optical characteristics. All cameras are factory-calibrated; the ZED SDK automatically retrieves the calibration the first time the camera is opened by a StereoLabs application (tool, sample, etc.), downloading it from the StereoLabs servers or, for cameras produced after May 2026 (except the ZED Mini), reading it from the camera EEPROM with ZED SDK v5.3 or newer.

You can retrieve the parameters of your camera by using the ZED API with:

• Stereo cameras (ZED 2i, ZED Mini, ZED X, ZED X Mini, ZED X Nano, and the legacy ZED and ZED 2): getCameraInformation().camera_configuration.calibration_parameters.left_cam

• Monocular cameras (ZED X One family, using the sl::CameraOne class): getCameraInformation().camera_configuration.calibration_parameters

Check the API documentation and the Camera Calibration documentation for more information.

Calibration files are stored in the following folders and named after each camera serial number:

• On Windows: C:\ProgramData\Stereolabs\settings

• On Linux: /usr/local/zed/settings/

Camera models

• Stereo cameras (USB 3): ZED 2i, ZED Mini; legacy ZED and ZED 2

• Stereo cameras (GMSL2): ZED X, ZED X Mini, ZED X Nano

• Monocular cameras (GMSL2): ZED X One GS, ZED X One S, ZED X One 4K

• Monocular camera module (MIPI CSI-2): ZED X One Core, connected through a ZED Link MIPI capture card

You can find all the available models in the StereoLabs Store, and all the datasheets on the Datasheets page.

Lens specifications

The following values come from the official product datasheets. The field of view is the maximum field of view of the lens.

The ZED X One GS, ZED X One S, ZED X One 4K, and ZED X One Core are also available without lens, for use with custom optics.

Image resolution

Pixel size

Focal length in pixels

The focal length in mm reported in the datasheets is the nominal optical value of the lens. The ZED SDK provides rectified images: lens distortion is removed and the image is reprojected with a pinhole model, so the focal length in pixels of the rectified images comes from the calibration of each unit and does not exactly match the value focal_mm / pixel_size. For the same reason, the field of view of the rectified images is slightly different from the maximum field of view of the lens reported in the datasheets.

The following tables report typical values for the rectified images. The exact values depend on the factory calibration of each unit; always use the values provided at runtime by the ZED SDK.

Stereo cameras, USB 3

Stereo cameras, GMSL2

Monocular cameras

Notes:

• Fisheye lens (1.38 mm): the Fisheye option of the ZED X One S and ZED X One Core uses a fisheye projection model (f-theta); the pinhole focal length and the rectilinear field of view formula below do not apply. Use the calibration parameters provided at runtime by the ZED SDK.

• ZED X One 4K in SVGA mode: use the calibration parameters provided at runtime by the ZED SDK.

• Cameras without lens or with custom optics: the focal length depends on the lens installed; calibrate the camera as described in How do I recalibrate my ZED stereo camera?

Field of view of the rectified images

The field of view of the rectified images can be computed with the following formula:

fov = 2 * arctan(pixelNumber / (2 * focal_px)) * (180 / pi)

where pixelNumber is the image width (horizontal FOV) or height (vertical FOV) in pixels. You can find a detailed explanation of this formula on Wikipedia.

The following tables report the typical horizontal (H) and vertical (V) fields of view of the rectified images, written as H x V.

Stereo cameras, USB 3

Stereo cameras, GMSL2

Monocular cameras

Note: in HD1080 mode, the GMSL2 and MIPI cameras crop the sensor area, so the vertical field of view is smaller than in HD1200 mode. The ZED X One 4K crops the central part of the 4K sensor in HD1080 mode, so its field of view is much narrower than in HD4K mode.