Monday, May 28, 2012

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Aspect Ratios

One of the features that appealed to me about the Olympus OM-D E-M5 was its ability to shoot in various aspect ratios. I know you can use cropping as part of post processing to do the same thing but that does not allow you to see the results immediately in camera. The E-M5 supports 5 different aspect ratios: 4:3 (default), 16:9, 3:2, 1:1, and 3:4. One feature I really like is if you are shooting in RAW format, which is what I use, the camera actually creates two images. The RAW file shot in the default aspect ratio and a JPG with the selected aspect ratio applied. The best part is the camera automatically creates the JPG file for you, you don't have to set the camera in RAW/JPG mode. Depending on which aspect ratio you the images will be sized as follows:
4:3 - 4608x3456
16:9 - 4608x2592
3:2 - 4608X3072
1:1 - 3456x3456
3:4 - 2592x3456

Below are samples of each aspect ratio. These were shot with my E-M5, mounted on a tripod, using the M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 II R lens (what is it with Olympus and these crazy long names for everything!). You can click on each image to view a larger version of it. The aspect ratio used is shown below each photo.


4:3 Aspect Ratio


16:9 Aspect Ratio


3:2 Aspect Ratio


1:1 Aspect Ratio


3:4 Aspect Ratio

So does one aspect ratio look better to you than others? Although I normally shoot in the default aspect ratio of 4:3 I really like the square look of the 1:1 aspect ratio.

2 comments:

  1. So does the camera actually do this as a post process after you've taken the image, or can you actually see what you're taking an image of in the aspect ratio of your choice in the live view or electronic viewfinder before clicking away a shot?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your question. You can see how the image will look in the viewfinder before taking the photo.

      Delete