Which aspect ratio do you prefer

[Stephen]

Most Compact cameras use a 4:3 aspect ratio, whilst APS C sensors as found in Canons, Nikons etc use 3:2. Olympus and some Panasonics use the four thirds sensors and have a 4:3 aspect ratio. However on some of these cameras it is now possible to choose which ratio you prefer to use.

My brother for example who uses a Lumix TZ5 has announced he is now going to be shooting 16:9 for his photography. He plans on buying the new Apple 27" widescreen iMac and 16:9 is its screen ratio.

I was out for an hour yesterday with the E-P1 a four thirds camera, yet I have set it at a 3:2 ratio, simply because its the one I prefer, having used it for years. I'm not saying 3:2 is better, its simply what I feel most comfortable with.

So what do people here prefer, or do they have any opinions on what they think is the best format?

[mike_j]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

On my Panasonic G1 I tend to shoot 4:3 and crop as required. Very often the result is 3:2 or thereabouts but at least shooting full frame gives you most opportunities for selective cropping. No doubt this is a poor second to meticulous in camera shot planning and framing.

[Ian]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

Most Compact cameras use a 4:3 aspect ratio, whilst APS C sensors as found in Canons, Nikons etc use 3:2. Olympus and some Panasonics use the four thirds sensors and have a 4:3 aspect ratio. However on some of these cameras it is now possible to choose which ratio you prefer to use.

My brother for example who uses a Lumix TZ5 has announced he is now going to be shooting 16:9 for his photography. He plans on buying the new Apple 27" widescreen iMac and 16:9 is its screen ratio.

I was out for an hour yesterday with the E-P1 a four thirds camera, yet I have set it at a 3:2 ratio, simply because its the one I prefer, having used it for years. I'm not saying 3:2 is better, its simply what I feel most comfortable with.

So what do people here prefer, or do they have any opinions on what they think is the best format?

I like 4:3 - it's very flexible. You don't need to go into portrait mode as often as 3:2. I usually crop down to what I feel is best in post processing, the final format can vary a lot.

On the E-P1, even with the format set to 3:2 or even 16:9, the RAW file will have the full 4:3 frame recorded. JPEGs will be cropped, however. If yo use the Olympus RAW software the format you opted will be a default for the RAW conversion.

Ian

[Stephen]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

I like 4:3 - it's very flexible. You don't need to go into portrait mode as often as 3:2. I usually crop down to what I feel is best in post processing, the final format can vary a lot.

On the E-P1, even with the format set to 3:2 or even 16:9, the RAW file will have the full 4:3 frame recorded. JPEGs will be cropped, however. If yo use the Olympus RAW software the format you opted will be a default for the RAW conversion.

Ian

In actual fact the .Orf files imported into LR2 retain the chosen format. The 4:3 format gives 3024x4032 whilst the 3:2 format gives 2688x4032

[Stephen]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

Here's a shot taken yesterday using the 3:2 format in the E-P1. Shot in Raw and processed in Lightroom2, no further cropping has been done.

[Bob Ross]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

Hi Stephen,
Good subject. I saw this thread the other day and wanted to get back to it.
For years I have generally shot for a particular print size.....8X10, 5X7 or 11X14. so it didn't make much difference what format I was using. Digital brought in more flexibilty because of electronic display. The one format in film that gave me the most flexibility was the square format and I have to admit that I am still fond of it.
I remember a heated & interesting thread on another forum where a Pro had a sample from a new to Nikon body of a group with lots of space around the group. The amatuers jumped the framing and it was explained to them that commercial photographers frame to the likely print sizes that would be ordered and they needed the space. I always got that out of squares.
Printing whole squares is fun, but framing the square prints isn't.
Bob

[Graham_of_Rainham]

[Stephen]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

Interesting comments Bob and Graham, thanks for your input. For your information, the E-P1 actually has a 6:6 format

[Patrick]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

Interesting comments Bob and Graham, thanks for your input. For your information, the E-P1 actually has a 6:6 format

I used to enjoy the flexibility of the square format in my Medium Format days.

All these ratio's offered in digital cameras except the genuine native one are simply in-camera crops, might as well chose your own during processing stage.

I must admit to liking the standard ratio of my Canon 40D.

Patrick

[Stephen]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

I used to enjoy the flexibility of the square format in my Medium Format days.

All these ratio's offered in digital cameras except the genuine native one are simply in-camera crops, might as well chose your own during processing stage.

I must admit to liking the standard ratio of my Canon 40D.

Patrick

Haha, yes I totally agree with you on both counts Patrick. My 1DMkIIN only has a 3:2 ratio, perhaps being a Pro camera has something to do with it. The only reason I changed to 3:2 on the E-P1 was because I'm used to it and I don't lose a significant amount of pixels. If I was to choose 16:9 or 6:6 then there would be a too much lost IMO

[Ian]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

I used to enjoy the flexibility of the square format in my Medium Format days.

All these ratio's offered in digital cameras except the genuine native one are simply in-camera crops, might as well chose your own during processing stage.

I must admit to liking the standard ratio of my Canon 40D.

Patrick

There is an exception, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 employs a slightly over-size sensor, so most of the variable aspect ratio frame formats you can select actually employ the same diagonal dimension.

Ian

[yoshi]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

The one format in film that gave me the most flexibility was the square format and I have to admit that I am still fond of it.

..............................

Printing whole squares is fun, but framing the square prints isn't.
Bob

Hi Bob, Leica seems to be listening to you. The new firmware ver.2.20 for D-LUX4 now has a square format 1:1.
yoshi

[yoshi]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

Most Compact cameras use a 4:3 aspect ratio, whilst APS C sensors as found in Canons, Nikons etc use 3:2. Olympus and some Panasonics use the four thirds sensors and have a 4:3 aspect ratio. However on some of these cameras it is now possible to choose which ratio you prefer to use.

My brother for example who uses a Lumix TZ5 has announced he is now going to be shooting 16:9 for his photography. He plans on buying the new Apple 27" widescreen iMac and 16:9 is its screen ratio.

I was out for an hour yesterday with the E-P1 a four thirds camera, yet I have set it at a 3:2 ratio, simply because its the one I prefer, having used it for years. I'm not saying 3:2 is better, its simply what I feel most comfortable with.

So what do people here prefer, or do they have any opinions on what they think is the best format?

Hi Stephen, when I was younger, I preferred vertical framing to horizontal framing much more than I do now. I thought, then, that vertical framing could show more precisely some of my feelings I had those days. Yes, I wanted to show something like instability. so vertical framing with a sort of reversed triangle composition was my favorites. Even people around me who had little interests in photography easily found my tendencies. Instability was one of my concerns and a hidden motif those days.

From this view point, the more rectangular an aspect ratio is (like 3:2 or 16:9 versus 4:3), the more I might have used it in vertical position when choice of aspect ratio had been easily possible those days.

Now I use more horizontal framing with triangle composition ( such as mountains). Maybe I'm getting a little bit older? Or I have become a good citizen who loves social stability.

BTW I have a slight hesitation to call the vertical framing "portrait" mode. It's not limited to it

yoshi

[Bob Ross]

Re: Which aspect ratio do you prefer

Hi Bob, Leica seems to be listening to you. The new firmware ver.2.20 for D-LUX4 now has a square format 1:1.
yoshi

Hi Yoshi, and seasons greetings to you and yours. I think that Leica may be playing catch up with Panasonic on the D-Lux, but it gives hope that they will do that for my M8......NOT! The M8, of course, is dedicated to Stephen's preference and in keeping with their own tradition.
The 6X6 in-camera crop could also be handy for the mFT format when using the larger FT lenses, which dwarf the bodies. Over on Ian's My Four Thirds forum, Ian modeled using the E-P2 with a 14-35 f/2.0 lens in "box camera" hold while having the articulated EVF in the look down position.
On the practical side and in answer to "what to do with my pictures?", I have been printing on both sides of Letter/A4 landsape oriented pages that I put aside and bind at the end of the year. The square aspect ratio seems to be showing up more often in this activity.
Bob