What's your favorite aspect ratio?

I have used the 35mm 3x2 aspect ratio without qualms since I started with it. It is what it is. I try to frame the image as well as I can and then take the picture. I have just recently gotten a 4x3 and like that aspect ration fine but have problems sending it out to Costco for printing as they are pretty much 3x2 in their printing setup. I did get some test poster prints at 20"x30" which required some minor cropping. They are here and I will check them out. My problem is what is within the perimeter way more than the perimeter itself. Most of my stuff will never see paper. As usual, YMMV.

The manufacturer is releasing a firmware update in "early 2023" and hopefully will include selectable aspect ratios.
 
I love being able to switch ratio. In old film times I was forced to take 3:2 because of the slide format.
Over the last years I've more and more come to decide according to the motif. The big advantage with both my Oly and Pana is that switching from one format to another is so easy. For the E-M5 this means two clicks on the backside of the camera, the LX100.2 has the wheel for changing on the lens (the best idea ever!).
My most used is 4:3, but often I switch to 3:2, 16:9 or 1:1 . And in PP I've sometimes had a better feeling with a 5:4 crop.
So for me image ratio has become as important as deciding on aperture, speed, and f-stop priority before taking the shot.
 
4:3 for me. 5:4 is also good, but I haven't shot it much, and not for many years.

1:1 is the most difficult for composition IMO. However, it is extremely satisfying when I get it right. I'm a great fan of Vivian Maier, who mostly used a 6x6 Rolleicord. Her photos vary from wonderful to sublime.

My two phone camera apps are set up to default to 1:1 and 4:3 respectively.

I should experiment more with 1:1 with one of my E-M1 bodies.
 
Throughout this year it happened several times to me that after taking a shot with 3:4 or 2:3 I felt not quite content with it and tried 1:1. And in most of these cases the squre format proved most convincing. I quite agree with you John, it's a format where composition is challenging. But it is always the motif that screams for 1:1 format.

How Vivian Maier handles 1:1 format is just stunning, no matter whether it's street photography, portraits or other topics. Some examples can be found here: https://www.artnet.com/artists/vivian-maier/
 
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I really don't understand why someone would set a camera to produce an image that's smaller than what the sensor can produce. I want everything. Everything. I'll worry about aspect ratio in post. At that point the aspect ratio is whatever the composition wants.
 
I really don't understand why someone would set a camera to produce an image that's smaller than what the sensor can produce. I want everything. Everything. I'll worry about aspect ratio in post. At that point the aspect ratio is whatever the composition wants.
For a long time this has been my way. Till I realized the cropping in PP often does not give the same result in composition as a pre-shutter-release decision. It's got to do with perspective. When you decide on one specific ratio you make sure that the perspective suits the composition (with walking instead of zooming, taking the shot from eye-level or higher / lower, etc). With cropping in PP you can't change these important parameters any more.
 
There is a lot of fuss associated with aspect ratios, sensor size and so on but we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Fuss around too long agonizing about the shot and it is gone. If it is edited in post no one but you will know what has been discarded. So have at it. :cool:
 
I'm very comfortable shooting in a 3:4 ratio. I'm not very comfortable shooting 2:3. I tried a "full frame" system (coming from many years of micro 4/3) for the first half of this year and usually shot with 3:4 in mind. I've gone back to a 3:4 sensor with the Fuji G system and couldn't be happier.* I print 8X10, 11X14 and 16X20 so everything is pretty close to 3:4.

And all sizes and ratios are subject to change to better serve the image.

*OK, maybe I could be happier, but I'm a pretty happy guy right now.
 
In Ancient Times I used to put very narrow strips of black tape on the focusing screens of my Nikons and Hassie. This cued the 8x10 format that, at the time, was beloved by wedding processors and was popular for standard-size photo frames. It was also workably close enough to the second place format, 5x7".
 
I am hoping that the X2D gets the Xpan format in the coming firmware release. But as I lay in bed this morning pondering the wisdom of getting out of bed it occurred to me that if there is a Xpan format it will not be by adding something but by taking something away. And I can do that in post, too.
 
The native crop in the gear I use regularly are 4:3, so I shot that for the most parts but very once in a while I try something in 1:1 or 16:9.

Mostly I crop in post, I tend to like that better than changing ratios in the field, but then again, sometimes I "see" the ratio of the finished photo, even when composing in 4:3. Not particularly fond of the 3:2.
 
I used to think 4/3 as I had a 645 before going digital but came to realise that I have printed acording to the final image. It was done in the darkroom also, though I think some of those may have been driven by the paper sizes also. Do wish I could find a gloss inkjet as good as Cibachrome though, loved that medium.
 
I am hoping that the X2D gets the Xpan format in the coming firmware release. But as I lay in bed this morning pondering the wisdom of getting out of bed it occurred to me that if there is a Xpan format it will not be by adding something but by taking something away. And I can do that in post, too.
I would have thought that camera would cover xpan format just fine by merely cropping in PP, such is the enormity of it's sensor?
 
I would have thought that camera would cover xpan format just fine by merely cropping in PP, such is the enormity of it's sensor?
Yes, I am sure it can. But I would like to see the image as it would be i the viewfinder when I am ready to push the button. Doing it in post allows me to move that "window" around which is nice. But being able to see the Xpan would be nice. Bitch, bitch, bitch, what I like to do.
 
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