Which one do you use: 3:2 or 4:3?

[newPerspective]

I do know what Aspect Ratio is and understand the difference between 4:3 and 3:2. But I'm curious to know what most of you Gurus use. I got the impression that most use 4:3. Is it because pictures are mostly viewed (computer minotrs) and get stored away and a very small percentage get printed. And/Or is it because that the defualt setting the cameras get shipped with.

I typically take shoot pictures of my 2 young girls, View them on the computer, share them on Facebook with family and friends and then file them away into external media. Someday I'll find the time to sort thru the good one and finally print them. But in the mean time I so badly want to switch from 4:3 to 2:3. It somehow seems like its a less travelled path. I know I can keep switching between the 2 ratios based on what I'm shooting, but I feel I need to pick one of them to default to.

Please advice.

[sk66]

Gee, I really don't know....It's kind of irrelevant what the aspect ratio is my pictures are taken in because I crop to whatever size format that seems to fit the image to me.

[newPerspective]

It doesnt bother you that when you crop for printing that you lose part of your image - your original composition? When I take a shot, I give a lot of importance to composition. So I would hate to chop of those precious pixels which had a lot of thought put into it. A well balanced shot may end up imbalanced when cropped and printed.

[Spike]

I"m such a goof I didn't know I could switch.

My old P&S was 4-3..and my new DSLR is 3-2. I'm kind of liking the 3-2 better. It gives the photos a widescreen panavision-ish look when I shoot landscape... although portraits come out a bit taller than I like...so I suppose I could always crop off the ends then.

[candleman]

i've ben thinking about this allot latley.. i HATE having the edges of my pics cropped off by a machine.

I stil havn't figured it out.

EG. how can you print a 8x10 and the same pic in a different ratio.. because you're going to loose something.

i always fill the frame. so any crop that is made by machine is normally a screw-up

[yalborap]

Originally Posted by candleman

i've ben thinking about this allot latley.. i HATE having the edges of my pics cropped off by a machine.

I stil havn't figured it out.

EG. how can you print a 8x10 and the same pic in a different ratio.. because you're going to loose something.

i always fill the frame. so any crop that is made by machine is normally a screw-up

You crop it yourself, or you warp it.

Or you find a good lab that could get you custom prints bigger but at the same ratio.

[candleman]

hmm... i've considered both.. my problem is i'm thinking in terms of sales.
how do i sell different sizes of the same thing? bu tyet in commonly used sizes so framing is easy.
i guess custom sized (scaled) is the only way to go if a crop causes problems.

[Cuchulainn]

It depends on the site that you use I guess. I shoot my shots at the default 2:3 ratio as I often print 8X12 or 16X24. Sometimes with portraits I will crop down to 4:5 for 8X10 or 16X20 prints.

But if I post the photos in the native 2:3 ratio the buyer has the option to order prints in that ratio from 4X6 on up without cropping or order a print size they like.

If they order a print in a different ratio it warns the print will have to be cropped in checkout. The buyer then has the option to decide where they want to crop the image. That saves me from having to make that choice. Maybe to the buyer the photo has elements that are not as important to them as they are to me, so that is fine with me. It's their purchase, and not everyone shares my vision of the finished product.

I am not sure what the monitor ratios have to do with anything in the OP though. My camera has a 2:3 ratio, I sometimes use a 4:5 ratio for 8X10's or 16X20 for crops and my monitor is listed as a 16:10 aspect ratio. I guess I don't know enough about ratios to know why it is listed 16:10 and not 8:5 hehe.

Originally Posted by candleman

hmm... i've considered both.. my problem is i'm thinking in terms of sales.
how do i sell different sizes of the same thing? bu tyet in commonly used sizes so framing is easy.
i guess custom sized (scaled) is the only way to go if a crop causes problems.

[candleman]

hmm.. good reply, thanks Cuchulainn.

i think i see a way through now.
are you saying using the "SOOC" aspect ratio, advertise/sell the prints only within that ratio.
they can have it cropped their way if they want.
all i need to find out is what the standard sizes are within my camera ratio.

:? i guess this deserves a bit of research on my behalf.

[OsmosisStudios]

My SLR and P&S both shoot 3:2. I find that I prefer it for landscapes and portraits. I never really found myself using 4:3. None of my cameras ever shot in that ratio.

I find that, if Im cropping, I'll use standardized ratios, but generally I stick to the 3:2.

Remember, 3:2 is the same as 6:4 (a standard 4x6 print), but it is NOT the same as 16:9