Aspect Ratio 5D and 35mm

[dwdallam]

I've read that the 5D, being a fuill frame sensor, is the same aspect ratio as 35mm film. If so, why are digital images with full frame cameras printed at 8x12 and not 8x10? How can they have the same aspect ratio and not the same print size?

Also, what's the best way to convert the "digital" 8x12 size to the traditional 8x10 size? I did a shoot for a gal who needs them for advertising, and teh agency said they "hate 8x12s" and need 8x10s, since their filing system is still operating from with 8x10 prints.

[bertiep]

35mm film cameras never printed a full image at 8x10" The sides always had to be cropped (in landscape format) The 8x10" paper size dates back to large format cameras and sheet film although 6x7 roll film frames were a fairly close match. The worst match of all was the 6x6 beloved of the Hasselblads and Rolleis although photographers such as Charlie Waite in the UK regularly printed square output. Full frame digital is also a bit of a mismatch for computer monitors although it is slightly better suited to the WXGA format of recent laptops (notebooks)

Hope these observations help to answer the question.

Bob P

[dwdallam]

35mm film cameras never printed a full image at 8x10" The sides always had to be cropped (in landscape format) The 8x10" paper size dates back to large format cameras and sheet film although 6x7 roll film frames were a fairly close match. The worst match of all was the 6x6 beloved of the Hasselblads and Rolleis although photographers such as Charlie Waite in the UK regularly printed square output. Full frame digital is also a bit of a mismatch for computer monitors although it is slightly better suited to the WXGA format of recent laptops (notebooks)

Hope these observations help to answer the question.

Bob P
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Indeed. I figured that out by reading more. The paper size is what is different now-a-days, as you can get 8x12 paper. It's 4:3 not 3:2, so I assume I can simply use the 4:3 ratio for selections in CS3 and can see right away what the crop is going to look like, and then resize the short side to 8" and the long side will be 10. I wish these agencies would get with the 21st century, really.

[mahleu]

I always found it strange how manufacturers have chosen certain ratios. What I find more strange is that some people feel that they have to keep these ratios.

[dwdallam]

I always found it strange how manufacturers have chosen certain ratios. What I find more strange is that some people feel that they have to keep these ratios.
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I've often thought that too Mah. Who thinks these things up? I try to maintain the aspect ratio of 3:2 simply because it makes things look nice when displayed side by side. However, there are certain images that look nicer when cropped to a different ratio. For landscape, the 3:2 ratio is nice, except when you shoot vertically. Then it can be a problem. But for sure, cropping should be a matter of aesthetics and symmetry, and never an arbitrary ratio.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Indeed. I figured that out by reading more. The paper size is what is different now-a-days, as you can get 8x12 paper. It's 4:3 not 3:2, so I assume I can simply use the 4:3 ratio for selections in CS3 and can see right away what the crop is going to look like, and then resize the short side to 8" and the long side will be 10. I wish these agencies would get with the 21st century, really.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=149515\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Check your arithmetic, DW. 8x12 paper has a 2:3 ratio (3:2 turned the other way), and 8x10 paper has a 4:5 ratio. Neither of them is 4:3, which would be 9x12 or  approximately 8x10.67.

So if your agency wants 8x10s, use a 4:5 crop ratio. Of course, if you put a one-inch border all around an 8x10, so the image area is only 6x8, then that ratio is 3:4.

Eric

[Jonathan Wienke]

I've read that the 5D, being a fuill frame sensor, is the same aspect ratio as 35mm film. If so, why are digital images with full frame cameras printed at 8x12 and not 8x10? How can they have the same aspect ratio and not the same print size?

Also, what's the best way to convert the "digital" 8x12 size to the traditional 8x10 size? I did a shoot for a gal who needs them for advertising, and teh agency said they "hate 8x12s" and need 8x10s, since their filing system is still operating from with 8x10 prints.

Look up the operation of the Crop tool in Photoshop's Help. It's trivial to crop to any desired aspect ratio.

Any agency that demands a particular aspect ratio for image files to accommodate its filing system is truly stupid. Best aspect ratio/crop is determined by image content and placement of the image in a brochure or advertisement, NOT by the filing system of the agency. They're dinosaurs and doing a disservice to the photographer and client with such foolishness.

[Misirlou]

I once got pretty angry when I took some of my square format negatives (from Hasselblads and Rolleis) to be printed at a commercial lab in the DC area. The clerk said "How do you want them cropped." I said I didn't want them cropped at all, and to just print them square. He refused. I told him I didn't mind paying for a full sheet of paper, even if I had to trim off the blank space myself. But the guy just flat refused. I thought he didn't understand what I wanted, but he said it was a limitation of their automated printing machine.

Most annoying.

[dwdallam]

Check your arithmetic, DW. 8x12 paper has a 2:3 ratio (3:2 turned the other way), and 8x10 paper has a 4:5 ratio. Neither of them is 4:3, which would be 9x12 or  approximately 8x10.67.

So if your agency wants 8x10s, use a 4:5 crop ratio. Of course, if you put a one-inch border all around an 8x10, so the image area is only 6x8, then that ratio is 3:4.

Eric
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Indeed, right you are.

[dwdallam]

Look up the operation of the Crop tool in Photoshop's Help. It's trivial to crop to any desired aspect ratio.

Any agency that demands a particular aspect ratio for image files to accommodate its filing system is truly stupid. Best aspect ratio/crop is determined by image content and placement of the image in a brochure or advertisement, NOT by the filing system of the agency. They're dinosaurs and doing a disservice to the photographer and client with such foolishness.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=149572\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I know how to use the crop tool and aspect ratio. They have all their files in 8x10s I guess. And these images are only for them to see who they want to hire, , and is not a fine art or otherwise crop worthy image. It's mainly just a few head shots and 3/4 shots,  with lighting that shows what the model really looks like, very little makeup, done.