Aspect ratios

A very big question! To be specific about my answer, I really need to know the camera model you have. And Here's why and how it all works:

Aspect Ratio (AR) really just means the shape of the photo. Please remember its NOTHING to do with SIZE, but SHAPE. When saying 4:3 for example, that means that for every 4 units of LENGTH the photo has, there will be 3 units of HEIGHT. That could be in inches or feet or whatever, size is not important. So when you set your camera to this mode, you'll get what most people consider to be a very 'boxy' or more square shaped photo. Please note that the Height of a 4:3 photo is always 75%!o(MISSING)f the Length of the photo.

Still with me?! :D

3:2 is considered the "professional industry standard" for picture taking. I recommend you use this setting! Please note that the Height of a 3:2 photo is always 66%!o(MISSING)f the Length of the photo. Which means the photo is longer and you'll generally fit more into the shot width-ways. It's also very important to mention that the 3 by 2 (3:2) AR is identical in Shape to a standard 6inch x 4inch print. So if you plan to print mainly 6x4s when you return home, this AR is ideal.

Now the 16:9 AR mainly came about with the advent of Movies and Cinema and really is only useful for taking video. In a camera that takes primarily Photos (not so much for video), you will actually LOSE Megapixel Quality by using this setting! Please note that the Height of a 16:9 photo is always 56%!o(MISSING)f the Length of the photo. A very long photo indeed! You WILL have a lot of trouble getting these photos printed when you get home because the only thing that supports this AR is a good WideScreen TV.

Heres a summary:

The average Compact Digital Camera has an AR of 4:3
(acceptable, but not as good as 3:2)

The average Digital SLR Camera or Enthusiast Compact Camera has an AR of 3:2
(ideal for printing but not limited to: 6x4, 8x12, 12x18 photos)

16:9 ratio is okay for movies, but horrible for Photos, good if you only want to see your photos on a wide TV
(don't use this mode!)

This is a basic outline of the technology without getting too "techno" on you! If you'd like to know more, or if I haven't explained it well, please reply and I'll do my best to help out.

Jarrad

Reply to this

Good comprehensive reply Jarrad!

I'd choose the ratio that gives you the most pixels; and then you can always crop photos to what ever ratio you like - afterwards.

Probably the 3:2 ratio is the native format - the one with the largest numbers one each dimension.

Additional advice - choose the largest size, and highest quality when taking photos - you can always reduce the information afterwards by shrinking or lessening the quality - but you can never regain it. Reply to this

thanks for the great explanation! Reply to this

The photo industry is a bit stubborn, and I think they'll stick with the 3:2 ratio and 6x4 printing labs. There is a lot of expensive hardware out there that would cost a lot of $ to upgrade if there was a shift to 16:9 as a standard ratio.

I think there is a general consensus that 3:2 is the "ideal" ratio for standard prints anyway. The difficulty with using a wider ratio like 16:9 is that even though the piece of paper or screen is wider than 3:2, the average Lens, say 28mm or 35mm, would have to become wider to use 16:9 effectively. Shooting in 16:9 with a non-wide-angle-Lens basically means that you are losing a lot of valuable vertical picture space. And whats above and below in a photo is just as important as whats to either side IMHO.

Jarrad Reply to this