Aspect Ratio - related to sensor size?

jimkh · Jan 11, 2017

At a recent Photo Club meeting the claim was made that everyone should use 4-3 aspect ratio because it was superior for large enlargements. I thought 4-3 was native to Micro 4-3rds cameras but that they allowed other ratios. My Sony A-6500 only offers 3-2 and 16-9 for movies so I thought it was proper for ASP-C sensors and probably full frame ones. My Sony RX100mIII however offers several Aspect ratios just to confuse me more .

Opinions? Facts?

Howard102273 · Jan 11, 2017

in your favorite photo editor, you can crop to whatever ratio

missingendpoint · Jan 11, 2017

The aspect ratio of an aps-c sensor is 3:2

Use of any other aspect ratio uses less than the full sensor.

LinusP · Jan 11, 2017

I usually find 4:3 the most 'natural' aspect ratio for printed images, and most standard frame sizes are around this aspect ratio (that may be what the person at your photo club meant).

The 'native' aspect ratio of point-and-shoot and Micro Four Thirds cameras is indeed 4:3, while full-frame and APS-C cameras have sensors in the 3:2 ratio. It is absolutely possible to produce just about any aspect ratio, but this is done by cropping ('throwing out' certain pixels). Your a6500 will only output 3:2 or crop to 16:9 in-camera, but you could use any photo editing tool to crop to other aspect ratios.

The tricky part can be framing up pictures that you intend for aspect ratios other than the ones offered in-camera.

Hope this helps.

jimkh · Jan 11, 2017

Thank you guys for pretty much confirming what I thought. Is 3-2 also "native " to Full Frame cameras?

QuietOC · Jan 11, 2017

jimkh said:
Thank you guys for pretty much confirming what I thought. Is 3-2 also "native " to Full Frame cameras?

Yes, the vast majority of 135 film cameras used that ratio. There were cameras that shot other aspect ratios on 135 film.

APS-C is just one of the standard size and aspect ratios used by APS film cameras. Support for multiple aspect ratios was one of the main features of the APS film system.

uhligfd · Jan 11, 2017

jimkh said:
At a recent Photo Club meeting the claim was made that everyone should use 4-3 aspect ratio because it was superior for large enlargements. I thought 4-3 was native to Micro 4-3rds cameras but that they allowed other ratios. My Sony A-6500 only offers 3-2 and 16-9 for movies so I thought it was proper for ASP-C sensors and probably full frame ones. My Sony RX100mIII however offers several Aspect ratios just to confuse me more .

Opinions? Facts?

--
Jim

Nope, image aspect ratio is not related to sensor size at all.

It is related to the sensor's aspect ratio; in fact it is exactly that of the sensor.

Now with 1:1 = factor 1 aspect ratio, cameras you would only look at the center of a lens, and better quality might occur. ... Clearly 4 : 3 = 1.33 is nearer to 1 than 3:2 = 1.5 is.

But all of this is nonsense since lenses are designed for their respected aspect ratio use anyway.

So: Avoid that Photo Club and its 'sages' for your own sanity, please.

Howard102273 · Jan 11, 2017

I think when the OP was asking whether the aspect ratio is related to the sensor at all, he was referring to the aspect ratio of the images OOTB (out of the box) from the camera.

In all cases, cameras produce images with the same aspect ratio as its sensor. For Full Frame and APS-C, this is 3:2; for M43 this is 4:3.

Some cameras will off additional aspect ratios OOTB, but these are merely in-camera cropping, e.g. 16:9, what not.

But you can also crop the hell out of any image to produce any aspect ratio you want, 1:1, 100:1, whatever. It's really just cropping.

val1 · Jan 11, 2017

4:3 is easier to design a good small lens.

T. L. Rutter · Jan 11, 2017

jimkh said:
At a recent Photo Club meeting the claim was made that everyone should use 4-3 aspect ratio because it was superior for large enlargements. I thought 4-3 was native to Micro 4-3rds cameras but that they allowed other ratios. My Sony A-6500 only offers 3-2 and 16-9 for movies so I thought it was proper for ASP-C sensors and probably full frame ones. My Sony RX100mIII however offers several Aspect ratios just to confuse me more .

Opinions? Facts?

jimkh · Jan 12, 2017

Thanks again to all who replied and basically confirmed my impression. One more question - I know that M43 cameras include a variety of aspect ratios. I know that my Sony ASP-cs do not. What about Canon and Nikon ASP-cs and Full Frames? Do they include 4-3 or just 3-2?

NewestGuy · Jan 12, 2017

jimkh said:
Thanks again to all who replied and basically confirmed my impression. One more question - I know that M43 cameras include a variety of aspect ratios. I know that my Sony ASP-cs do not. What about Canon and Nikon ASP-cs and Full Frames? Do they include 4-3 or just 3-2?

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Aspect Ratio - related to sensor size?

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