Basically, the Four-Thirds sensor is designed to be halfway between an
8x10 crop and a 5x7 crop. It's MUCH easier as a portrait and wedding
photographer for me to get usable prints from either crop factor
without grief.
When using the longer 2x3 format of, say 35mm or APS, you are always
chopping off the ends of the picture. In the case of an 8x10, you are
chopping off a massive amount of the picture. With Four-Thirds,
getting and 8x10 or 5x7 is just a matter of trimming the edges (either
ends or side, depending on desired print ratio), with the 2x3 format,
you are always throwing away a lot of image.
Why this is significant for photographers like me, is that during the
shoot, we don't have to waste so much image during capture. I can
shoot MUCH tighter. Not only can I shoot much tighter, but I don't
have to always fear the 8x10 crop and lose people on the ends of a
group shot.
Think of it this way, when you crop a 2x3 image to square, you are
literally throwing away 1/3 of the image.
Where the 2x3 sensor does have a major advantage, though, is with
landscape photography where the trend is to go short and wide. In this
case, there is much more sensor width to work with and you usually
trim just the top and bottom of the image a little to make the print
work.
I'm a pretty big fan of the more squarish Four-Thirds format because
of the above advantages. Having the ability to rip through a portrait
shoot and not worry about the crops is a big time savings. I don't
have to do crop versions of the image for the customer to try to
figure out which one is needed to order from for their 5x7s or 8x10's.
Almost without exception, I just let the automated cropping take care
of the image for either format. When placing my on-line Millers order
for reprints, a mixture of print sizes and shapes from a single image
file is a no-brainer.
AG
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