Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Yes. My Panasonic FZ18 had the 16:9 option. Even though I crop all my (good) pics to 16:9, I found it was best to capture the full sensor data and crop and resize later to whatever aspect ratio I want. While all my pictures get cropped for TV display, occasionally I crop for printing, and various size prints. Always seems best to have the full size your camera can do on hand.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Then one can crop any way one wishes.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I suppose I’m a Luddite - 3:2 is embedded in my brain from my film days (except when I’ve got a TLR in hand, then it’s 1:1).

Stan

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

You are not alone. I work within the native aspect ratio also for making a shot.
However, I may crop differently (additionally) in post.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

As several have explained in this thread, there are excellent reasons to shoot with all the camera's pixels, but only if you think (or decide from the replies here) that you might be limiting your options.

After many years of using a camera's native 3:2, I bought a camera that was native 4:3. I changed the setting to 3:2 - and never missed the few pixels I was discarding - because I very much enjoyed composing through the viewfinder as I had learned to do with film. "Check the edges of the frame!" an instructor in b&w film photography always preached

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

For landscapes.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

No matter which one I shoot, I usually wind up cropping somewhere along the line- common sizes: 4x6; 5x7; 8x10; 11x14; ... all different aspect ratios.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Having been accepted to shot "chromes" for Stock Boston beginning on March 1, 1978 virtually ALL cropping was to be done in camera... My "chromes" were sent out to clients "as is" for their review.

That said I printed B&W's from my portraiture to match the photographic paper I was using... thus 8x10 was the Lion's share of my deliverables at that juncture... And yes I printed Cibachrome process (positive-to-positive) for my Kodachromes again tethered to available Ilford and Ciba-Geigy media... 8x10 & 11x14.

To this very day I strongly favor cropping in camera... My 12.3mp D300 and D700 are a viable match for current technologies up to 16x20 when "cropped" in camera... The only exception is work for my League Soccer client(s) which I have found the 36mp (Nikon D810) to have advantages since shooting action sports is vastly different than studio portraiture (two entirely different paradigms).

Best advise to the OP?
Do what ever it takes to meet and/or hopefully exceed your clients expectations.
Experience is a brutal teacher...

Hope this helps especially since this can also be dependent on your kit!
I shoot (and love) the Nikon D700 yet it would be virtually useless for shooting chromes for a stock agency since the view finder only shows 97% of what the sensor records. The good news is it's nice to have a little "extra" in the actual frame rather than the other way around

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

I always shoot in a 3:2 ratio which is the same ratio as my full-frame sensors. I just hate to waste perfectly good pixels.
I also shoot (frame) a little "wide" and "high" to accommodate any future cropping which I might require in the future.
When I shoot a little "wide" and "high" to provide template material for cropping to almost any future ratio I wish, whether to frame a large pic or send special sized copies to "Auntie" for her (? X ?") scrapbook ).
The real best advice I can offer, which I learned here on UHH, is to NEVER Destroy the original file!
Why? Well because your skills in Post Processing will improve, programs will improve, and your vision of what a good pic should look like will change.
Sometimes I will crop one pic several different ways to "release" more than one pic from a scene.
Also, once you have cataract surgery, seemingly everything mentioned above will change, grin.
Smile,
JimmyT Sends

PS: Here is some more of the why - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(image)#:~:text=In%20still%20camera%20photography%2C%20the,medium%20format%20and%20large%20format.

photoman43

Good advice ! I always capture full frame and crop to a different format when needed. 16:9 is one of them. Many image processing programs let you choose the crop ratio from a list so you can quickly se which ratio works best for a particular image.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I do it in crop. Just shoot wide enough to capture everything and more so that you can crop. Why take a picture that is already cropped when it may actually look better in 4:3 or some other ratio. Get all you can out of the camera and don't throw away pixels until you have it on your computer and decide then what looks best.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

My Lumix GH4 camera has a 4:3 aspect ratio. I always record full frame images when making stills, unless copying 3:2 negatives and slides or 6x4 inch prints.

I generally record all video in 16:9, UNLESS going for a retro TV or "American Society of Cinematographers" open gate film effect, where I might record at DV resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio.

I detest vertical cell phone videos, so I record every video horizontally. Vertical video is just laziness.

At some point, I'll get a Lumix GH6 and experiment with so-called "open gate" or full 4/3 sensor area recording, which provides a 4:3 high resolution 5.7K video image that can be cropped in post-production to fit a different ratio such as 16:9.

I use the crop presets feature in Lightroom Classic to crop my still images for intended end usage. If a square is important, 1:1 it is. If the best crop is a vertical composition, but the still will be used in a horizontal 16:9 video, I crop vertically and pad the canvas to horizontal, using Photoshop to add a gray or black border.

I learned in journalism classes in high school to include what is necessary, and exclude what is distracting from my prints. I also learned to give editors and page designers choices, whether I'm editing, or someone else is. So the exact crop or aspect ratio can depend on many factors. I don't particularly care what it is, so long as it serves the purpose and the image stands as a whole, "functioning" story.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Since the sensor has a 3:2 aspect ratio, any other ratio will be a crop. So I use 3:2 and when appropriate, crop in post.