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iPhone 5 Pictures Shorter Than 4S

B

bgro

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 6, 2010
1,143
697
South Florida
I'm not that well versed in how cameras work and I've been trying to read up on the subject but I'm a little confused about something.

I understand that both the iPhone 4S and 5 take pictures in a 4:3 aspect ratio so when holding both phones in landscape mode a picture will appear shorter on the 5 due to the 16:9 aspect ratio of the screen.

However, when holding the phone in portrait mode, why does the 5 take a picture that is shorter in length than the 4S? I've taken multiple photos with both phones of the same image and every single time it comes out shorter on the 5.

Can anyone explain this to me?
 
This confused me a little, too... I think the OP is asking why the picture doesn't consume the entire screen when reviewing the shot.
 
penajmz said:
Its not shorter, the screen is longer on the 5.... Do the math.
Click to expand...

It's not that the screen is longer on the 5. If you have a 4 or 4S take a picture with it and then take the same pic with the 5. Hold the phones so the top of the pictures align with one another and you will see that the actual size of the picture is shorter on the 5.

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iHawaii said:
This confused me a little, too... I think the OP is asking why the picture doesn't consume the entire screen when reviewing the shot.
Click to expand...

This part I understand, but again, take the same pic with the 5 and a 4/4S/3GS and align the tops of the pcitures and you will see what I mean

It seems like if I took a picture on the 5 it would not even take up the whole screen on a 4/4S

**Edit**
In fact I just tested this. Took a pic on the 5 on sent it to my 4S. The 4S shows a longer picture even when the top of the pictures are aligned with each other. It seems that the 4S is stretchng out the picture length wise and the photo on the 5 looks slightly wider (not actual width size but a wider focal point). maybe this has to do with the lens on the 5 having a wider focal length?
 
Last edited:
bgro said:
It's not that the screen is longer on the 5. If you have a 4 or 4S take a picture with it and then take the same pic with the 5. Hold the phones so the top of the pictures align with one another and you will see that the actual size of the picture is shorter on the 5.

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This part I understand, but again, take the same pic with the 5 and a 4/4S/3GS and align the tops of the pcitures and you will see what I mean

It seems like if I took a picture on the 5 it would not even take up the whole screen on a 4/4S
Click to expand...

I just took simultaneous pictures with my 4S and 5... and you're right... the 4S pic is bigger... the 5 picture wouldn't fill up the 4s screen. Weird.
 
iHawaii said:
I just took simultaneous pictures with my 4S and 5... and you're right... the 4S pic is bigger... the 5 picture wouldn't fill up the 4s screen. Weird.
Click to expand...

PictureGate?

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iHawaii said:
I just took simultaneous pictures with my 4S and 5... and you're right... the 4S pic is bigger... the 5 picture wouldn't fill up the 4s screen. Weird.
Click to expand...

Read my edit also. Send the pic you took on the 5 to your 4S. You will see that the picture does in fact fill up the screen on the 4S but it looks zoomed in and when comparing the pics you might see that the 5 has a wider shot.
 
Yep, it the 5 shot filled up the 4S screen... but it looked stretched.. when I took one with the 4S and sent it to the 5, lots of room on both ends. I guess the confusion is why the pics on the 5 don't take up the whole screen (taken by the 5 or the 4S). It's above my pay grade, but I am sure someone can weigh in... sounds like an aspect deal.. and intended.
 
My guess is that on the 4S the ratio of the picture wasn't quite the same as the screen's but close enough that the Photos app would zoom on the picture a little bit when displaying them so that there aren't tiny letterboxing black bars.

On the iPhone 5 the ratio is not close at all so they probably chose to display the picture with its actual ratio since letterboxing would have had to occur anyway.

I don't have any iPhone to test right now so this is just a theory though.
 
pgiguere1 said:
My guess is that on the 4S the ratio of the picture wasn't quite the same as the screen's but close enough that the Photos app would zoom on the picture a little bit when displaying them so that there aren't tiny letterboxing black bars.

On the iPhone 5 the ratio is not close at all so they probably chose to display the picture with its actual ratio since letterboxing would have had to occur anyway.

I don't have any iPhone to test right now so this is just a theory though.
Click to expand...

I think I understand this. Basically when taking a pic with 5 the aspect ratio of the picture is more closely aligned with the screen ratio of the 4S so a picture taken on a 5 will display full screen in portrait mode on a 4S (slightly zoomed in to fit).

But when viewing a pic taken with a 5 on a 5, the aspect ratio of the pic is not close enough to the aspect ratio of the screen so the software does not fill the screen with the pic it chooses to leave it at it's native aspect ratio.

I was more curious about this then Trying to make it into an issue. Thanks for the info and help.
 
The iPhone 4S screen is 3:2 but the pics are 4:3. They made the 4:3 pics take up the entire screen on the 4s so that's why it looks bigger. I don't like this either but I'm not sure if I want to crop all my photos to 16:9. If you click edit and go to crop and then click constrain and you can select 16:9. Once you crop the photo then it will take up the whole screen on the 5. Seems like a lot of work but it does look better when checking out pics on the 5.
 
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