16:9 vs. 4:3 for photo format

[Aggie Diver]

What's best? I've traditionally shot 4:3, but the new camera I picked up supports 16:9. Hadn't really put too much thought into it before, but am curious to hear everyone's thoughts.

There may be some magic thread on this from the past, but I haven't had much luck with the search.

 

[conundrum]

4:3 for still picture and 16:9 for video shooting.

 

[plok]

Check how it is implemented in your camera. I believe in most cameras if you set 16:9, you are cropping the native 4:3 or 3:2 image. You are effectively loosing some top and bottom portions of your picture. Unless you are not planning to do any post-processing and completely satisfied with images getting out of your camera, you would better crop when editing pictures. That may yield better composition.

 

[M-diver]

I have this ratio on my Panasonic lumix lx5, I find it useful when I shoot wide angle as it helps to keep the hood out of the frame. The result image is very nice for wide angle shots. The censor of lx5 is oversized and hence it does not just crop the 4:3 image