I just got an iPhone 11 Pro Max with iOS13 and am curious which aspect-ratio I should be using?
What do you shoot with?
Why?
What do you shoot with?
Why?
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Which Aspect-Ratio do you prefer on the iPhone?
- Thread starter Ambrosia7177
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You should be using the aspect ratio that you like the best or that suits the goal of your image - experiment. There are no hard and fast rules. The sensor on the iPhone natively behaves as 4:3. I believe with this aspect ratio functionality (I don't yet have the 11), when you choose 16:9 or 1:1 you can get back to the full sized 4:3. In other words, the other ratios are crops off of 4:3. 16:9 is good for having your images fill the screen on most modern HD/UHD/etc televisions or monitors, 1:1 is great if you like square images or you post to instagram.
They are convenience crops, essentially.
They are convenience crops, essentially.
I’ve always shot at 4:3, as that’s what all my cameras I have owned default to. One ratio to rule them all!
I’d made the assumption we were talking stills in this particular forum, so my bad. I thought the physical sensor was actually 4:3 and thought video was cropped anyway from full 4:3 sensor resolution to 16:9. I believe that at least used to be true, but I’m only a very part time user of the iPhone camera and almost no video, so not an expert on it.
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I was asking when in Camera.app > Photo
I don't think there are any options to change the aspect ratio in Camera.app > Video
If that is the case, then unless you need a visual guide, it's probably best to shoot in 4:3 right?
I mean are you losing quality/pixels if you choose 16:9 or 1:1?
For most of my life - which spans many decades - cameras and phots where a 3:2 ration (think 35mm).
Why did Apple decide to go with a fomat that is more square and closer to what a medium format would shoot?
So what size is the physical sensor in my iPhone 11 Pro Max?
And how does that relate to when I shoot photos versus video?
My OP was asking about the menu choices when I am in Camera.app > Photo but I would like to make sure that I understand how my iPhone works for both photos and video and the best choceis to make where I can change the settings, if that makes sense?!
Yes, the sensor in the phones is a 4:3 sensor (like most non-SLR digital cameras)
I'm with you there but that's the 35mm format. Market forces (or more likely, manufacturing yields) made the 4:3 sensor ratio more prevalent in the digital realm.
With regards to what ratio you should be shooting photos with....it doesn't matter. Each photo is captured at 4:3 resolution and then what you see in the Photos app is the "crop" of the image selected. For 4:3 you see the whole enchilda, for 16:9 the top and bottom are shaved off. But here's the kicker if it's not clear, you aren't limited to ratio selected when shooting, you can always change after the fact. Take a 16:9 photo, then edit in the Photos app, edit the aspect ratio to "Original" or "4:3" (since they are one and the same on this phone) and voila...additional pixels appear on the top and bottom of your 16:9 shot. So if you always want to see all of the 4032x3024 pixels that you captured, set the default ratio to 4:3, then edit any specific shots as desired.
Video is slighty different from what I understand. You always will get a cropped capture of the 4:3 sensor sampled to the resolution of the format you choose (4k, 1080p, 720p). Choose the resolution based on your needs. 4K is nice but lots of space and if you don't have a 4k monitor/TV if might be of little use. Only ever gonna post small videos to the web, 720 might be the best choice. YMMV.
Okay..
Bummer.
I assume this only applies if you edit photos using Photos.app?
Even if I choose to edit photos using another application (e.g. Photoshop), I assume that it's better to just shoot 4:3 and then manually crop down to what you want since that way you have the most data - and size - to work with, right?
Except shooting at 4K allows you to easily crop and zoom in a video and not lose quality.
Maybe there is a plant in the far right margin I don't want in my video, my understanding is that if I shoot 4K then I can crop and maybe even zoom in mor eon the subject and there won't be any loss of quality.
Then when done editin, you can indeed saves to a 1080 format for the web.
Maybe...or rather it may only apply to photos taken with the built in Camera app. It may depend on how other photo apps save an image to the library (e.g., Hallide doesn't seem to have a crop option so it only does 4:3 and other apps may bake in the selected ratio to the file)
That's my philosophy - give me the largest image to work with and I'll adjust as necessary.
Definitely. I only meant that video crop/resolution isn't adjustable after the fact like the photos - if you shoot at 720p there's no way to select "Original" and automagically get the 4k version. The video is how it is when you shoot it.
Probably because a large number of computer monitors had the 4:3 aspect ratio when Apple debuted the iPhone. This is the de facto computer display aspect ratio (think VGA graphics at 640x480 pixels) as well as the ancient NTSC aspect ratio.
CRTs have been 4:3 for decades.
3:2 is just one of many still photography aspect ratios. Others off the top of my head are 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7 (three medium format aspect ratios) and 4x5 and 8x10 (two large format aspect ratios).
If you look at film cinematography, there are many more aspect ratios.
In the end, it's really up to the photographer/videographer since you can crop/matte out unwanted parts of the image.
This is even more pronounced with paintings and drawings. If you want to paint an oval or circle ("tondo" in Italian), you are free to do so. For frescoes in buildings, the architectural elements often determine the picture shape.
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