16:9 digital camera

[DennisT]

I am using the G3. To play the pictures on 16:9 wide screen TV, I need to crop each picture to the 16:9 ratio. Since the original pictures were taken under 4:3, I found that the crop procedure would put me in the position to cut off those area that should not be cut off. Is there a digital camera allowing me to take 16:9 picture by what-you-see-is-what-you-get on the LCD? I hope I can stick on Canon's.

[jwcdds]

Only ones I can think of are DSLR's, which give you a 3:2 ratio (closer to your 16:9 but not perfect).

[Raj]

some sony digitals offer 3:2 ( my P100 does, may be some high end will do too)

[Mr. Messenger]

I believe that the Leica Digilux 2, and it's Panasonic sibling are able to shoot 16/9 as a menu option. It's been awhile scince I've looked at these, so I could be wrong.

[lefturn99]

My recomendation is that you think about the cropping as you frame the picture. With the regular size picture you have the luxury of cropping either the bottom or the top. With a dedicated 16/9 you would be restricted to what you shot.

It's hard for me to believe you would buy a camera only for TV viewing. You don't ever use the camera for anything else?

Of course, I had my own odd criteria for buying the G6, so......

[joeyjoeyjoey]

My recomendation is that you think about the cropping as you frame the picture.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[DennisT]

For the dedicated 16:9 picture, I believe I can crop it to 4:3; just like I can crop the 4:3 to 16:9. The decision of 4:3 or 16:9 depends on the application. I processed all the digital pictures on PC and played them on 16:9 HDTV. The HDTV is my final application. I don’t see anything else I can use the digital camera for.

It is very difficult to think about the 16:9 cropping precisely while doing the picture framing. Most time, I need to cut off either the feet or head when I do the 16:9 cropping later.

If the physical size of CCD in the camera is 4:3 or 3:2, the 16:9 menu option, like the Leica has, will block some of the top and bottom area of CCD. It is kind of waste.

[DennisT]

If the camera can give user the option of showing two horizontal lines for the 16:9 area on LCD, it will be good enogh for me. When I frame the picture, I will know exactly what will happen when I crop the picture to 16:9 later. Is it a dream for me?

[lefturn99]

If the camera can give user the option of showing two horizontal lines for the 16:9 area on LCD, it will be good enogh for me. When I frame the picture, I will know exactly what will happen when I crop the picture to 16:9 later. Is it a dream for me?

Masking tape on the top and bottom of the LCD. I'm sorry, I don't mean to trivialize your needs. But even if you had a dedicated camera, you would either be chopping off heads or feet. That's the nature of the format. The only way to prevent that is to zoom out or back up and then the people are tiny.

I did see that Sony or Panasonic has come out with a 16:9 video camera. $15,000 or so.

[DennisT]

Hi lefturn99,

I found the new Fuji FINEPIX F810 had the widescreen (16:9) mode and standard mode options in either still camera or movie recording. However, it is a point-and-shoot camera.

I have seen the notebook screen has been moved from the regular to the widescreen swiftly. The desktop LCD is also moving toward the widescreen. Canon has put the widescreen as a standard in its new ZR series camcorder. All these changes were pulled by the HDTV format demand. In the near future, in consumer market, most TV/monitor displays will be in 16:9 format. The digital camera and camcorder must move to fit this format demand.

One year ago, my AGP video card did not support the 1280x720 format for widescreen. One year later, I don’t see any video card does not support 1280x720.

I hope Canon will make the widescreen option in its consumer camera soon.

[lefturn99]

If there is a demand, it will happen. And I have to admit, panoramas are very popular. It just seems to me that there are a limited number of subjects that will look better in wide format.