16:9 vs. 4:3?

[AirSlab]

Hi guys. I'm not really well-versed in photography at all, so i was wondering, what are the advantages of shooting photos in 16:9 vs. 4:3, and vice-versa?

I've read that 4:3 is best for some reason but I kinda like how 16:9 fills up the phone screen.

Thoughts?

 

[dannejanne]

4:3 will give you more pixels vertically. However it is an older format and todays standard really is 16:9.

4:3 does not look good on our phones or TV's. I rather lose some pixels and make the photos fill the whole screen.

You don't see any new TV's, computer screens or phones being sold with 4:3 right? So why take photos in that format (unless you want to acheive a certain effect).

 

[Deutscher2]

You don't see any new TV's, computer screens or phones being sold with 4:3 right?

No, wrong.
The iPad has 4:3.

 

[xandros9]

4:3 larger photos
16:9 better aspect ratio for more things.

 

[Lam Nguyen Hoang]

N?n d?ng 16.9 cho chụp ảnh phong cảnh
Gửi từ Lumia 1520 v? số lỗi của t?i.

 

[Laura Knotek]

4:3 if you plan to print your photos.

 

[dannejanne]

No, wrong.
The iPad has 4:3.

Ok then. You get my point though. Name 10 popular products with 4:3 instead then.

 

[BatteryLife]

I prefer 4:3. Whether or not it fits the screen doesn't concern me at all. 16:9 just looks too stretched IMO

 

[psiu_glen]

It depends on the actual resolution, but for example, on the Icon/930/1520 you get 16mp for 16:9, 19mp for 4:3.

I will always take more data available -- I am usually cropping a bit anyway, so I want to have everything available in the first place.

Then again, I also wanted my widescreen movies on the old 4:3 TV's, as well.

 

[gerzhwin]

With 4:3 you are more flexible with cropping, especially to square. It fits better into frames, because 16:9 is more a display screen format. Also it's better for brochures and stuff.

 

[Shlomi Borovitz]

4:3 gives you more pixels...
You can always crop the picture later

This also an argument against using digital zoom... don't! you can always crop the picture later, and magnifying the cropped picture (what digital zoom actually does) would not restore quality.. It would degrade it.

 

[scandiskwindows9x]

in the Lumia 820 at 4:3 aspect ratio get 8mpx and in 16:9 get 7 mpx

 

[BatteryLife]

4:3 gives you more pixels...
You can always crop the picture later

This also an argument against using digital zoom... don't! you can always crop the picture later, and magnifying the cropped picture (what digital zoom actually does) would not restore quality.. It would degrade it.

Technically digital zoom gives better quality (slightly) if you are going to be reframing it anyway as you do not need to compress the JPG again, though it no doubt gives more flexibility without it. Also, digital zoom helps you visualize the shot.

 

[Shlomi Borovitz]

Technically digital zoom gives better quality (slightly) if you are going to be reframing it anyway as you do not need to compress the JPG again, though it no doubt gives more flexibility without it. Also, digital zoom helps you visualize the shot.

Agreed upon recompressing the image (although, with some limitations, it is possible to crop the picture without losing more information, I cannot be sure that the program would use such methods). As a side note, you can choose to save the image to DNG, which would consume much more space, but is lossless, and actually provides many more options for farther editing.

About visualizing it, I would argue that usually it is easier to choose the frame while cropping, thus easier to visualize the result, than with digital zoom... At least, that is with my experience.

 

[BatteryLife]

IMO there are things we can't change with "Reframing" in Nokia Camera, like PoV, camera angle, camera height, and object distance. For me, it would be easier to "see" the final product or to control the PoV when the digital zoom is there. Also, digital zoom aids in choosing the manual focus.

But all these is straying out of topic.

To OP: Just confirmed on my Lumia 520, the 16:9 is essentially a cropped 4:3.

 

[Rodrigo Mendes]

4:3 always. Better for all situations, even for landscape since the gain with 16:9 at sides it's too low and the lost with top and bottom it's HUGE.