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bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
2,452
431
Canada
So I have an iPhone 5S currently. I did have an iPhone 6 briefly before exchanging it for the 5S. I've also had a 4S and 3G. I've noticed that in landscape the iPhone still takes square 4x3 pictures. Why does it not do why widescreen (16x10 or 16x9) photos and is there a way to change it?
 

yaboyac29

macrumors 6502a
Sep 24, 2014
651
468
because photos were never wide screen. the sensor in the camera takes photos at 4:3

and no you can not change it.
 

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
2,452
431
Canada
because photos were never wide screen. the sensor in the camera takes photos at 4:3

and no you can not change it.

Seems pretty outdated seeing as just about everyone by now has widescreen TVs and computer monitors. If I were to crop it afterwards it would remove part of the image which is what I don't want. Just make the camera sensor wider left to right and it would resolve the issue. Besides the camera already records video in 16:9 widescreen. I figured Apple being a "progressive" company would understand something like that.
 

TL24

macrumors 65816
Oct 20, 2011
1,402
1,262
I'm on the same boat, I hate the fact that I'm limited to a 4:3 shot on my 6 Plus.... Give me 16:9 all day and not this 4:3 crap
 

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
2,452
431
Canada
I'm on the same boat, I hate the fact that I'm limited to a 4:3 shot on my 6 Plus.... Give me 16:9 all day and not this 4:3 crap

Exactly. You can change it after taking a pic. But the change means cropping the image which means you lose parts of the picture on the top and bottom.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,256
8,955
Seems pretty outdated seeing as just about everyone by now has widescreen TVs and computer monitors.

What does that have to do with anything? Are you suggesting that cameras need to be made to match displays? I don't think anyone makes a wide aspect camera sensor. Photos have never been widescreen. Frame the photo you want and crop the unwanted parts out, just like someone with a wide format sensor would do to get portrait photos.

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Exactly. You can change it after taking a pic. But the change means cropping the image which means you lose parts of the picture on the top and bottom.

You don't lose parts of the picture, because you frame the shot to put what you want in the middle. Someone with a wide sensor would have to crop left and right to get portrait. What's the difference?
 

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
2,452
431
Canada
What does that have to do with anything? Are you suggesting that cameras need to be made to match displays? I don't think anyone makes a wide aspect camera sensor. Photos have never been widescreen. Frame the photo you want and crop the unwanted parts out, just like someone with a wide format sensor would do to get portrait photos.

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You don't lose parts of the picture, because you frame the shot to put what you want in the middle. Someone with a wide sensor would have to crop left and right to get portrait. What's the difference?

First I never print or frame photos. I'm not a "millennial" but I'm not old either so I don't have pictures in frames all over my house of people or places.

Second yes you do lose parts of the picture. If you go into your camera roll and edit any picture in terms of aspect ratio you will lose parts of the photo going from 4:3 to 16:9. I just tried it on my phone.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,256
8,955
If you go into your camera roll and edit any picture in terms of aspect ratio you will lose parts of the photo going from 4:3 to 16:9. I just tried it on my phone.

I'm simply suggesting you don't put anything important in those areas of the photo. Nothing there...nothing lost after cropping.
 

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
2,452
431
Canada
I'm simply suggesting you don't put anything important in those areas of the photo. Nothing there...nothing lost after cropping.

In any event one should be able to change the aspect ratio prior to taking the picture. It would be nice to take 16:9 or 16:10 photos and not have to crop afterwards.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,256
8,955
In any event one should be able to change the aspect ratio prior to taking the picture. It would be nice to take 16:9 or 16:10 photos and not have to crop afterwards.

I get what you're saying, but think. How could you possibly change the aspect ratio prior to shooting? The sensor is a physical device. It can't be changed on the fly, so you're either taking pixels out before saving the shot or after. Perhaps there is a camera app that displays various framing guides. That might help.
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,638
4,036
New Zealand
because photos were never wide screen. the sensor in the camera takes photos at 4:3

Weren't photos traditionally 3:2 in the film days? Obviously different cameras do things differently, but as far as I can recall 3:2 was a fairly "standard" ratio and is wider than 4:3.
 

Small White Car

macrumors G4
Aug 29, 2006
10,966
1,463
Washington DC
I'm sure you can find an app that does this. Here's one now.

But for the record, that's just cropping the photo which you've already frowned upon. Unfortunately that's the only option physics will allow, so you may be kind of stuck.
 

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
2,452
431
Canada
I get what you're saying, but think. How could you possibly change the aspect ratio prior to shooting? The sensor is a physical device. It can't be changed on the fly, so you're either taking pixels out before saving the shot or after. Perhaps there is a camera app that displays various framing guides. That might help.

Well then the physical camera sensors should be changed to a widescreen sensor. As I stated earlier it seems outdated to have "fullscreen" pictures in "widescreen" world.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,256
8,955
Well then the physical camera sensors should be changed to a widescreen sensor. As I stated earlier it seems outdated to have "fullscreen" pictures in "widescreen" world.

Yes, and all magazines, books, and newspapers should be printed in landscape. :confused:
 

thekb

macrumors 6502a
May 8, 2010
629
23
Photos have never been any one particular aspect ratio. They are 4x5, 4x3, 3x2, 5x7, square, 16x9, 2.35x1, etc, etc. There is no such thing as a one master ratio for photos.

Yes, there are cameras that take widescreen photos natively.
Yes, there are apps that will do it, it just takes a little longer to fire them up than the Camera app with a simple swipe up from the lock screen.

I do not understand why Apple who, of all companies, have stampeded toward convergence of all things in their universe, have not put a wide screen sensor in their phones yet, or at least allowed it easily through software. They advertise AirPlay like there's no tomorrow, but when you stream photos to your now ubiquitous 16x9 HD television, they don't fill up the screen. I'm a child of the 60's so I know the value of printed photos, but current amateur photographers seem to prefer viewing on TV's and computer screens more. And let's face it, that is much more convenient anyway.

I think this will be another one of those "innovations" that comes with iPhone 6s or 7 that we never knew we needed until it was provided to us from on high.

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I get what you're saying, but think. How could you possibly change the aspect ratio prior to shooting? The sensor is a physical device. It can't be changed on the fly, so you're either taking pixels out before saving the shot or after. Perhaps there is a camera app that displays various framing guides. That might help.


I think you should be able to set the aspect ratio prior to taking the photos. If you are taking photos and you know that the intent is to display them on a widescreen TV, wouldn't it be far simpler to set that in advance, rather than going back and manually cropping all 72 pictures you took that day and want to show your friends when you get home?
 

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
2,452
431
Canada
Yes, and all magazines, books, and newspapers should be printed in landscape. :confused:

Print is different than digital. And besides if you view a digital newspaper or book it's viewed in "widescreen" anyway with two pages side by side.

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I think you should be able to set the aspect ratio prior to taking the photos. If you are taking photos and you know that the intent is to display them on a widescreen TV, wouldn't it be far simpler to set that in advance, rather than going back and manually cropping all 72 pictures you took that day and want to show your friends when you get home?

Exactly. Makes more sense.
 

Small White Car

macrumors G4
Aug 29, 2006
10,966
1,463
Washington DC
I do not understand why Apple who, of all companies, have stampeded toward convergence of all things in their universe, have not put a wide screen sensor in their phones yet

If they're going to "converge" towards anything it'd be to the industry standard of 3:2

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/847545-REG/Canon_5260A002_EOS_5D_Mark_III.html

Just so we're clear here, when comparing to a DSLR the iPhone's current camera is short and squat. You really think that going too far the other way is the solution?

If it were to change at all I don't see why they wouldn't just go to 3:2 like nearly every other camera in existence.
 

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bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
2,452
431
Canada
If they're going to "converge" towards anything it'd be to the industry standard of 3:2

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/847545-REG/Canon_5260A002_EOS_5D_Mark_III.html

Just so we're clear here, when comparing to a DSLR the iPhone's current camera is short and squat. You really think that going too far the other way is the solution?

If it were to change at all I don't see why they wouldn't just go to 3:2 like nearly every other camera in existence.

You're showing pictures in portrait not landscape. I have no issue with portrait mode. I'm talking about landscape mode. When one turns the phone sideways the photos should become widescreen. Having to go one by one through most if not all your photos to crop them to 16:9 is tedious and time consuming. To simply be able to change the aspect ratio beforehand and then take all your photos in that aspect ratio would be much simpler and a time saver. Also 3:2 seems like 16:10 which would be fine with me as the rMBP is 16:10. Make sense to me.
 

thekb

macrumors 6502a
May 8, 2010
629
23
If they're going to "converge" towards anything it'd be to the industry standard of 3:2

Maybe you didn't follow what I mean by convergence? Every Apple device (except iPad, for now) is 16:9 or 16:10. Most every HD television in the world is 16:9. There is nothing magical about 3:2. The only standard sized photos that are 3:2 are normal 4 x 6 prints. You have to crop away data to print 8 x 10s or 5 x 7s (the other two most common ratios). Frankly, the "universal" ratio of all camera sensors should be 1:1. That would maximize the usage of light coming in through a round lens.

There is nothing inherently superior about 3:2, it all depends on how you intend to show the photos. Apple wants you to use their devices synchronized across all platforms, so it makes sense that they will probably standardize on one aspect ratio eventually. HDTVs probably aren't going to change much. The iPhone 7s Plus will come out with the revolutionary new design that allows you to instantly share your photos on you new HDTV without black bars!! :)
 
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C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Maybe you didn't follow what I mean by convergence? Every Apple device (except iPad, for now) is 16:9 or 16:10. Most every HD television in the world is 16:9. There is nothing magical about 3:2. The only standard sized photos that are 3:2 are normal 4 x 6 prints. You have to crop away data to print 8 x 10s or 5 x 7s (the other two most common ratios).

There is nothing inherently superior about 3:2, it all depends on how you intend to show the photos. Apple wants you to use their devices synchronized across all platforms, so it makes sense that they will probably standardize on one aspect ratio eventually. HDTVs probably aren't going to change much. The iPhone 7s Plus will come out with the revolutionary new design that allows you to instantly share your photos on you new HDTV without black bars!! :)
And yet the photo standards (completely unrelated to Apple in any way) have been and are still different.
 

thekb

macrumors 6502a
May 8, 2010
629
23
And yet the photo standards (completely unrelated to Apple in any way) have been and are still different.

I am not sure I understand your comment. Are you saying that photo standards have not ever converged to one perfect ratio, so why should Apple do it?

Well, Apple does what they want! They don't think you need floppy drives, or CD drives and they change the status quo. That's their prerogative if the market will buy it. I'm not saying I think 16:9 is better for photos. On the contrary, 3:2 is far more pleasing to my eye because it is not as awkward in portrait mode. But there is value in maximizing the use of screen real estate on an HDTV when displaying photos. And the unwashed masses just wants to avoid black bars on their screens. I bet 80% of my friends photo collections exist purely on their iPhones and they never even back them up to a computer. They just want to show pictures on the phone screen (which is 16:9 BTW). What good does it do to insist on 3:2 ratio when most people view them on a 16:9 output device?
 

yjchua95

macrumors 604
Apr 23, 2011
6,725
233
GVA, KUL, MEL (current), ZQN
Well then the physical camera sensors should be changed to a widescreen sensor. As I stated earlier it seems outdated to have "fullscreen" pictures in "widescreen" world.

The widescreen world came to be because of HD video, which is shot in widescreen.

The stills industry is still 3:2. Just look at all the DSLRs sold. The aspect ratio of 35mm, APS-H, APS-C and micro 4/3 sensors are all 3:2. There is no reason for the photographic industry to change to accommodate the cinematography industry. Video is video, and photo is photo.

Besides, there is an artistic reason why an aspect ratio of 3:2 is used. 16:9 photos are horrible (and I'm speaking here as a photographer). Heard of the golden ratio? And also the rule of thirds?

I don't think you have any experience in the imagery industry to make an educated argument on this issue.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
I am not sure I understand your comment. Are you saying that photo standards have not ever converged to one perfect ratio, so why should Apple do it?

Well, Apple does what they want! They don't think you need floppy drives, or CD drives and they change the status quo. That's their prerogative if the market will buy it. I'm not saying I think 16:9 is better for photos. On the contrary, 3:2 is far more pleasing to my eye because it is not as awkward in portrait mode. But there is value in maximizing the use of screen real estate on an HDTV when displaying photos. And the unwashed masses just wants to avoid black bars on their screens. I bet 80% of my friends photo collections exist purely on their iPhones and they never even back them up to a computer. They just want to show pictures on the phone screen (which is 16:9 BTW). What good does it do to insist on 3:2 ratio when most people view them on a 16:9 output device?

Well, you don't see Apple go with 3:2 for video or something else and stick to what the industry does for video. Seems like the same approach is taken by Apple for still photography, taking what consumers and other cameras typically use or at least have been using which is 4:3 and perhaps they might go to 3:2 that is more of a standard, but less likely to go with something less usual. Sure they can go with something else, but seems like there's more there for them not to do it rather than to do it.
 

FieldingMellish

Suspended
Jun 20, 2010
2,440
3,108
I upload my DSLR and mirrorless pics and enjoy seeing them fill my iPhone 6 plus screen. It was one of the primary reasons I got the plus, to act as a micro iPad and display pics nicely in a pocket device.

Alas, what I shoot with the phone does not fill the screen, but I am less inclined to keep iPhone-taken photos on the device.
 
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