While previsualization and intentional shooting are important, I didn't find it necessary to continue to mask the back of my camera with electricians tape after my original experiment. Rather, I now understand that I can shoot 3:2 knowing this extreme crop is available to me in post and shooting with it in mind. The guideline trick is helpful, but honestly, I know in my mind what letterbox looks like. I just imagine I'm Stanley Kubrick or something. I don't feel the need to get too hung up on the actually framing in camera. Just knowing I have the 65:24 option available is enough to mentally compose for that possibility. Yes, I wish there was a letterbox viewing option in camera, but hey, there are a number of things about my XT-50 which annoy me. No camera is perfect. Still, for me at least, it is the right camera for me at the moment. The larger sensor comes in handy in more ways than I could imagine, extreme crops being high on the list, and the camera has encouraged me to be more spontaneous in how I shoot.
One thing that did surprise me when masking the back of the camera for letterbox was the potential for vertical panoramas. I think these are less obvious without a dedicated pano viewfinder, yet they can be just as powerful or even more so, as they play havoc with our normal way of seeing the world.
Oh wow, I think I missed that article you wrote (or maybe that's where I got the grid idea from but I forgot reading it 🫣). The 40Mpx is plenty to crop from (but really even 24Mpx is enough depending on your end use).
The vertical (24:65) crop I have tried a bit, but found it quite a challenge as I don't have as many vertical photos to begin with. I'll try again when I'm out photographing having this crop in mind.
thanks for reminding me of this format. I had read about it a few months ago, and had been experiencing with it, then forgot agout it because I went on vacation where I intentionally chose the 4:3 format [and sticking to it since], but will revert back experiencing with this one again. And, I like your photos a lot!
I generally crop my photos to whatever I feel they need. This randomness is only an issue when I print and frame because I try to reuse my frames. Do you feel it's important to keep to the same aspect ratio?
Good question. I don't think it is important to keep to the same aspect ratio. Sometimes there are even multiple possibilities (or to put it in a different way: I have a hard time to choose what I think suits best :)
But I do typically just shoot in 3:2 (since I edit the raw files anyway, and the camera always records the full size frame) and keep an end-crop in mind when framing up the composition. At least I try to remember this, but often I edit my photos months after pressing the shutter, so I doubt if I remember it correctly ;-)
Physical framing can be an issue indeed, but I don't print that much. I guess you often have a uneven border if you try to squeeze a specific aspect ration in a standard frame?
Definitely worth giving a try, thanks for the breakdown!
You're welcome! Good thing is that digital cropping won't cost you anything 😉
I too love panoramas. I actually went through this same process earlier this year and wrote about it here. https://johncharlton.substack.com/p/nlt-walk-mccoll-nature-reserve
While previsualization and intentional shooting are important, I didn't find it necessary to continue to mask the back of my camera with electricians tape after my original experiment. Rather, I now understand that I can shoot 3:2 knowing this extreme crop is available to me in post and shooting with it in mind. The guideline trick is helpful, but honestly, I know in my mind what letterbox looks like. I just imagine I'm Stanley Kubrick or something. I don't feel the need to get too hung up on the actually framing in camera. Just knowing I have the 65:24 option available is enough to mentally compose for that possibility. Yes, I wish there was a letterbox viewing option in camera, but hey, there are a number of things about my XT-50 which annoy me. No camera is perfect. Still, for me at least, it is the right camera for me at the moment. The larger sensor comes in handy in more ways than I could imagine, extreme crops being high on the list, and the camera has encouraged me to be more spontaneous in how I shoot.
One thing that did surprise me when masking the back of the camera for letterbox was the potential for vertical panoramas. I think these are less obvious without a dedicated pano viewfinder, yet they can be just as powerful or even more so, as they play havoc with our normal way of seeing the world.
Oh wow, I think I missed that article you wrote (or maybe that's where I got the grid idea from but I forgot reading it 🫣). The 40Mpx is plenty to crop from (but really even 24Mpx is enough depending on your end use).
The vertical (24:65) crop I have tried a bit, but found it quite a challenge as I don't have as many vertical photos to begin with. I'll try again when I'm out photographing having this crop in mind.
Thanks so much for your insights. Appreciate it!
I love this, experimenting with cropping and aspect ratios! Something so small can make such a huge difference. Great post!
Thank you! It's indeed a 'simple' thing to do but can have a big impact on the (end-)result.
Love the Fuji workaround, definitely gonna try that out.
Let us know how it goes :)
Loving your shots in that crop size.
Thank you!
Hi Ronald,
thanks for reminding me of this format. I had read about it a few months ago, and had been experiencing with it, then forgot agout it because I went on vacation where I intentionally chose the 4:3 format [and sticking to it since], but will revert back experiencing with this one again. And, I like your photos a lot!
Thank you for your kind words! Do let us know how you get on, always curious to see what other people can come up with :)
I generally crop my photos to whatever I feel they need. This randomness is only an issue when I print and frame because I try to reuse my frames. Do you feel it's important to keep to the same aspect ratio?
Good question. I don't think it is important to keep to the same aspect ratio. Sometimes there are even multiple possibilities (or to put it in a different way: I have a hard time to choose what I think suits best :)
But I do typically just shoot in 3:2 (since I edit the raw files anyway, and the camera always records the full size frame) and keep an end-crop in mind when framing up the composition. At least I try to remember this, but often I edit my photos months after pressing the shutter, so I doubt if I remember it correctly ;-)
Physical framing can be an issue indeed, but I don't print that much. I guess you often have a uneven border if you try to squeeze a specific aspect ration in a standard frame?
The Xpan crop look really good!
I think so too! ;-) Thank you!