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In the blender manual the options for camera data node are explained like this:

View Vector

A Camera space vector from the camera to the shading point.

View Z Depth

How far away each pixel is from the camera

View Distance

Distance from the camera to the shading point

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So, what is the shading point? How is each of these options different form the other, and in which cases should one be used instead of the other?

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Shading Point

is the nearest point of intersection of the camera ray with a visible object, which the render engine is currently calculating the color for (these calculations are referred to as shading)

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The real View Vector

it is a vector (or a ray) in the camera space, starting from the center of the camera (or the view) and reaching the shading point

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View Vector

it is a normalized view vector (magnitude = 1 or unit vector) in the camera space, starting from the center of the camera (or the view) and pointing at the shading point (it doesn't necessarily reach it )

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View Z Depth

  • it is the Z component of the view vector (the non normalized)
  • it is the shortest distance from the shading point to the camera's XY plane (the is not normalized Z-depth, it is not from 0 to 1)

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View Distance

it is the magnitude of the non normalized view vector, or simply the distance from the shading point to the camera's center

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where to use each one: well you know enough now to decide where to use them!

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