Why are people still using 4.3?

Iconic

I asked someone the same question the other day and the answer they gave me was that most people now look at their photos on computers, social media sites or print them so use 4:3

I view mine mostly via TV so much prefer 16:9.

Don't know if they still do it but Windows Media Centre always displayed 4:3 photos on a full tv screen so you didn't have to set the camera to 16:9

sillygoose

I hate 16:9's

Its a conspiracy to steal screen off us!!

Take a tablet, a 4:3 8" screen has an area of nearly 31" whilst an 16:9 8" screen has only 27.3" - both Tablets are 8" in the specs but they stole 3.5 inches off us!

Anything in 16:9 is like watching the world through your letterbox, its just not natural!

chrisbur

My camera is 3:2 never had one that was 4:3 or 16:9. As I use mine more often for verticle shots rather than horizontal 16:9 would look silly most of the time, and if looked at as a verticle picture on a 16:9 monitor it would only use about the middle quarter of the screen.

PasturesNew

My monitor is 1280x768 ... and my telly is an old portable.

I do get annoyed when some TV presenters are out of sight to the left or right....

Johnmcl7

Panasonic developed oversized sensors for their cameras which would allow you to shoot 16:9, 4:3 and 3:2 while maintaining focal length which I'm surprised other companies didn't also do. This meant if you shot 16:9 the picture was genuinely wider than shooting 3:2 or 4:3. Although most compacts are 4:3, most DSLRs and mirrorless cameras (bar Olympus and Panasonic) are 3:2 which isn't that far off 16:9.

Although at times I liked taking 16:9 shots, it's an awkward format to work with afterwards because of the loss of height. 4:3 is fairly square so it's quite flexible to process particularly if you're wanting to print as there isn't much available for 16:9 either in standard prints or if printing collages, calendars etc.

John

roddydogs

Dont think the MP argument really stacks up for the vast majority of Pics, as even a "Full HD" TV is only about 3MP, isnt it.?, Anyway nice to see some discussion, Ive just found that even indoor shots look better in W/S mode, and "Scene" type shots much better. The old pics look positively "old Fasioned" in 4.3, like watching an old CRT.
It dosent cost anything to try it!, Ill be sticking to W/s from now on.

Fifer

sillygoose wrote: »

Anything in 16:9 is like watching the world through your letterbox, its just not natural!

I'd suggest it's very natural. Humans are used to observing panorama and we do so by articulating our eyes and neck horizontally rather than vertically. Our eyes have evolved to have more horizontal than vertical flexibility as we are ground dwelling animals, as are most of our predators and food sources. Most danger and opportunity presents itself on the horizontal plane, but can appear from any direction on that plane.

John_Gray

Clearly you have never been attacked by a pterodactyl!

Fifer

John_Gray wrote: »

Clearly you have never been attacked by a pterodactyl!

I find they don't bother you as long as you don't look at them.

Johnmcl7

roddydogs wrote: »

Dont think the MP argument really stacks up for the vast majority of Pics, as even a "Full HD" TV is only about 3MP, isnt it.?, Anyway nice to see some discussion, Ive just found that even indoor shots look better in W/S mode, and "Scene" type shots much better. The old pics look positively "old Fasioned" in 4.3, like watching an old CRT.
It dosent cost anything to try it!, Ill be sticking to W/s from now on.

1080p is only around 2MP although the issue with a crop is maintaining the focal length - cropping a 4:3 shot down to 16:9 will make the shot slightly less wide compared to a native 16:9 shot.

Unless your camera has a native 16:9 sensor I don't think it's a good idea to shoot in a widescreen mode as all the camera is doing is cropping the top and bottom which is something you can do easily yourself afterwards. However if you let the camera crop to 16:9 you cannot add the top/bottom back afterwards if you need them. I do make widescreen versions of many of my photos as my digital photo frames are widescreen which is easily done through batch conversions but always prefer to have the original in highest quality possible so it's flexible for whatever I decide to do later with the photo.

John