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Aspect Ratio

bluehole

Active member
I have been fooling around with a new camera, a Canon Power Shot ELPH1300HS. Yeah, I know, it is only a point and shoot, but with my skills, this is plenty challenging. Maybe I will get a "Big Boy" camera in the future.

My camera offers four different aspect ratios, 16:9 (1920 X 1080), 3:2 (1600 X 1064), 4:3 (1600 X 1200) and 1:1 (1200 X 1200). After taking a few pictures I can see the difference. The 16:9 presents a wider, more rectangular picture. Working my way through the ratios the image becomes more square. The 1:1 is square.

The camera came set on 4:3. Is that a pretty standard ratio? What do most folks here use? Are certain ratios better for certain shots? Hope I am not starting an oil thread. Just curious as to what most folks here use.

Thanks.
 
4:3 is fairly standard. Ultimately the ratio affects cropping, so the which is better is really determined by how you want your image cropped and what the intended output is. If the intended output is e-mail, social media etc. the ratio is not terribly important, except to crop the image the way you want it. On the other hand, if you want to make a print and want it to be a specific size, then ratio becomes more important. So you will want to match the ratio to the intended print size.
 
Most P&S are 4:3. 35 mm (and most DSLR) are 3:2 which makes a great 4x6 picture. :D

Not that 8x10 and 5x7, the other common print sizes, have to be crops of either sensor size.
 
Thanks. Sounds like the pre-set ratio is fine. I may fool around a bit with 3:2 also. I appreciate your help.
 
basically the camera sensor that captures the picture is a fixed size. A 4:3 ratio essentially uses it all. Switching ratios just "pre-crops" the picture for you. it doesn't make the image wider, it just doesn't save the upper and lower strips of data from the sensor. I'd just capture as much as the camera can and crop later on the computer. That leaves you more flexibility in the final image. You can still turn them into a 16:9 or 3:2 that way.
 
WoodButcher, that is a good point. I did not think about the fact 4:3 gves me more options. Apprciate the point.
 
Thanks, WoodBiutcher!

I didn't know that. Resetting my RED camera!

Thanks!

Voni
sMiling
 
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