Aspect ratio: Hey all, I enjoy reading the post every day. I have a question about aspect ratio, I am buying a Nikon d810 and I was watching a video on the 810. In this video the...

richmondmlr

Hey all,
I enjoy reading the post every day. I have a question about aspect ratio, I am buying a Nikon d810 and I was watching a video on the 810. In this video the statement was make that most photography studios shoot in the aspect ratio of 5:4. So my question is has anyone used this ratio and if so what size prints have you printed? What ratio do you use and why?

Thank you.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

richmondmlr wrote:

Hey all,
I enjoy reading the post every day. I have a question about aspect ratio, I am buying a Nikon d810 and I was watching a video on the 810. In this video the statement was make that most photography studios shoot in the aspect ratio of 5:4. So my question is has anyone used this ratio and if so what size prints have you printed? What ratio do you use and why?

Thank you.

The maximum pixel resolution of the D810 comes from the native sensor 3:2 aspect - 36MP (7360 × 4912 pixels)

If you change the camera to capture in 5:4, you get a bit less into your files: 30MP (6144 × 4912 pixels)

You'd have to judge from your own needs if you want / should have the camera perform the 5:4 crop to all files coming out of the camera instead of making that decision yourself (as the human) on your computer later. The 5:4 aspect is used for prints like 30x24-inches.

BebuLamar

8x10 is a popular 5:4 aspect ratio print.

richmondmlr

That’s what I was thinking as well, why would I want to shoot and crop every photo in the camera.

Thanks

rustfarmer

Not sure how 8x10 can be considered 5x4? Perhaps you mean 10x8?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

richmondmlr wrote:

That’s what I was thinking as well, why would I want to shoot and crop every photo in the camera.

Thanks

The camera does it automatically. 30MP is a huge file in the scheme of things, but you can crop to any size / aspect later from the original 3:2. If you have trouble seeing / composing to a 5:4 framing, that might be a reason to have the camera force that perspective.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

rustfarmer wrote:

Not sure how 8x10 can be considered 5x4? Perhaps you mean 10x8?

One of the many confusions about aspect ratio is they are conventionally written with the larger number on the left and a colon separating. But print sizes are described with the smaller number on the left and an x.

So a 5:4 aspect (as the OP wrote) will print an 8x10 photo with no cropping needed.

3:2 prints 4x6, 8x12 etc.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

My primary camera is 3:2 aspect ratio.
I use all the pixels and print 8x12s.
If I need an 8x10, 5x7, 11x14, ... I crop.
(Sometimes I shoot a skosh wider for cropping. It depends how I feel.)

No matter what aspect ration you shoot, some size will require cropping, stretching, or scrunching.

richmondmlr

Thanks everyone, as always so much knowledge and in-site. This group is the best.

zug55 Loc: Naivasha, Kenya, and Austin, Texas

A lot of it is a matter of preference. I love to shoot in 3:2 horizontally--this is my default setting. Vertical shots I usually crop to close to a 5:4 ratio. Perhaps this is why people doing studio work set it at 5:4--it looks better for portraits for instance.

richmondmlr

Thanks this is very helpful

BebuLamar

rustfarmer wrote:

Not sure how 8x10 can be considered 5x4? Perhaps you mean 10x8?

If you are so picky then a 5x4 image is always in landscape orientation?

bleirer

I'll keep it 3:2 in camera, but have a little cropping routine in Photoshop where I'll fiddle with 3:2 then 3:4 then 4:5 then 5:5. Just to see if it gives me any ideas. There is a checkbox in Photoshop and I'm sure most software that preserves the pixels that would be discarded by cropping, so it is changeable at any time.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

richmondmlr wrote:

Hey all,
I enjoy reading the post every day. I have a question about aspect ratio, I am buying a Nikon d810 and I was watching a video on the 810. In this video the statement was make that most photography studios shoot in the aspect ratio of 5:4. So my question is has anyone used this ratio and if so what size prints have you printed? What ratio do you use and why?

Thank you.

Many studios print 8x10 portraits.

I let the image content dictate what the aspect ratio is for my images. I cut my own mats and use a simple metal frame system that you can get in increments of 1 inch,

BebuLamar

richmondmlr wrote:

That’s what I was thinking as well, why would I want to shoot and crop every photo in the camera.

Thanks

I would never crop in camera (even if I do I think you still have the full image if you shoot RAW). However, depending on the image I may crop it to a different ratio.