In what aspect ratio are you shooting stills?

[Jacks Blacks]

Is it in 4:3 or 16:9... Well 16:9 look good for movies, in still is that a little too wide? I believe Lumia has got a true 16:9/4:3 sensor so its not just the cropping , you are actually seeing wide (more area). Well 16:9 is good for landscape , but for portrait the photo seems too narrow, so i switch to 4:3. But what confuses me is this : "By default, the 920's camera aspect ratio is set to 16:9 which stretches the image full screen."???
Its a true 16:9 sensor.... there is no streaching/cropping involved... in Nokia Lumia 920 Photo guide: How to make the most of your camera | Windows Phone Central , or is it stretched?

 

[Ignotum666]

16:9 is the best option, 4:3 is old aspect ratio. Compared to film (movies)

 

[Jacks Blacks]

but my confusion of lumia stretching for 16:9 according to wpcentral article bugs me...

 

[Chris_Kez]

I'm not sure why that article says it stretches the image. The camera's sensor seems to capture either aspect ratio without stretching or cropping the image itself. The image below shows the resolution associated with each aspect ratio, as well as the total resolution (which is where the 8.7 megapixel value comes from). There is also a link at bottom that will take to you a 2012 white paper in which Nokia details their recent iteration of "pureview" technology.

Now, regarding your original question- 16:9 vs. 4:3, the answer of course is it depends. At first I switched back on forth depending on whether I was shooting landscape style photos or portrait style photos. Eventually I just settled on 16:9 (or 9:16 for vertical portraits), and I either hold the phone in portrait mode or landscape mode. True, some of the portraits seem too tall but I didn't like having the blank space; I just preferred to have the image fill my screen. That said, if I know I'm going to print a portrait photo or view it on a widescreen desktop monitor, I will crop the image to 4:3 on the computer so it looks better. I just find that viewing a 9:16 image anywhere except my phone looks too weird. When it comes to video, I shoot almost everything in widescreen.


http://i.nokia.com/blob/view/-/1824212/data/2/-/Download-pureview-820.pdf

 

[johninsj]

but my confusion of lumia stretching for 16:9 according to wpcentral article bugs me...

It's just a different CROP of the sensor, no stretching needed. Use whichever you prefer.

 

[devize]

Get with the times and go with 16:9. Looks much better, especially when video recording.

 

[ttxzee]

16:9. the Pureview sensor is 16:9 native

 

[Jacks Blacks]

I understand 16:9 is the preferred format (for landscape) , but do you feels its too lean for portrait photos? Portrait will look good in 4:3. @devize for video obviously, but for stills.

 

[Squatting Hen]

For me:

All video is in 16:9
All still images are shot in 4:3

If I was just going to view the images on a TV or PC I would only shoot in 16:9. We print a lot of pictures, so shooting in 4:3 allows us to have more options. I wish we had a 3:2 option. I may switch to 16:9 in the near future. If you know exactly what you were going to do with the picture (view/print size) when you take it, it would be much eaiser to pick the aspect ratio.

This has always given me tired head, as there does not seem to be a perfect answer. I may have to do hands on reaserch again, but if I remember correctly, 4:3 had more post production options that would work than 16:9.

Good advice is to always leave a little room around your subjects when shooting.

 

[pezman726]

We print a lot of pictures, so shooting in 4:3 allows us to have more options. I wish we had a 3:2 option.

I'm in the same boat! One of those odd people that actually print out pictures. Having them in the right aspect ratio when going to the photo machine makes things go a lot smoother.

 

[vlad0]

It depends on what you are shooting, and your preferred composition.. I don't think one is necessarily better than the other. The fact that you have a choice is wonderful.. almost all other smartphones (expect 808/N8) just crop the top/bottom of the image for 16:9.

My suggestion would be if you are shooting vertical, stay with 4:3 .. a 16:9 vertical shots might come in handy, but it could look a little awkward.

 

[James8561]

4:3
highest res, full use of camera, traditional.

 

[Jacks Blacks]

So my choice of 16:9 for landscape , 4:3 for portrait is the best choice right?

 

[Squatting Hen]

So my choice of 16:9 for landscape , 4:3 for portrait is the best choice right?

For me, I would say yes. Really it all depends on what you want to do with the picture and how you plan on viewing it. Landscape we almost always do 16:9. Since we still like to print 4x6 and 5x7 photos we use 4:3 just about all of the time. If we didn't print any of them and just viewed them on a PC or TV, then I would shoot everything 16x9. I share photos with my parents through SkyDrive and they download and print a lot of them for display. Grandkid photos.

 

[Nabkawe5]

I'm glad someone brought this up , I have noticed that using 4:3 aspects in Night shots lets the OIS works better , I know it doesn't make lots of sense but I seem to always get better results using it.

 

[Jacks Blacks]

but the authenticity of the reference of stretching in the article Nokia Lumia 920 Photo guide: How to make the most of your camera | Windows Phone Central

 

[Chris_Kez]

Why not just take a bunch of comparison photos using 4:3 and 16:9 and see whether you get "stretching"?

 

[Dileu]

I find that stills in 16:9 seem a bit weird. 4:3 for me.