I’m talking photo and screen ratios today… and well, it’s not technically classed as ‘widescreen’ - but, in my mind it is! Since forever it would appear, when I started taking digital photos, I kept to the standard size of photos which came with the camera… this being the ratio of 4:3. You may have heard 4:3 be refered to a few places else where, and the reason for that is, 4:3 is the standard size of ‘old’ televisions and computer monitors (the square ones, as oppossed to 16:9 widescreen).

 
A ’standard’ 4:3 digital photo.

 Anyway, since Myles purchased his new Canon EOS a few months back, we noticed it took photos at a different size than normal, making the photos more wide. Not much came of this until the other day when I was exploring my camera options and found I too could take photos at this size. At a ratio of 3:2, the photos are wider than a standard photo from a digital camera, which are apparently at 4:3 so they look better on computer screens.

The 3:2 option on the other hand is supposedly for print (with photo paper being 6:4), and being the same ratio as ‘old’ 35mm film cameras, as well as being a tad more professional, as it is what the pros use! It also makes the photos look better (for me personally atleast) as I have a widescreen laptop, and it makes the photo appear less ‘boxy’ if you will.

Well, anyways, from now on expect wider photos from me, like the one below;

A 3:2 digital photo of the same view as above

Diagram showing size differences