How can I shoot my short film in a different aspect ratio?

Shooting different aspect ratio from native?

• If the camera sensors native aspect ratio is 4:3 and I shoot in 3:2 or 16:9, how does this affect the image other than altering the dimensions. Does changing the aspect ratio not make full use of the sensor or degrade the image in any way? Any disadvantages of doing this?

• Answer:

  You are correct, it is not making full use of the sensor. It will not in the purest sense "degrade" the photo, but you will, however, not be shooting at the camera's full potential. In other words, if the camera has 10 magapixels at it's full native ratio and you set it to 4:3, you may indeed only be achieving 8 mp, possibly even less. I agree, it is always best to keep your camera at it's largest size, highest quality, native ratio. You can always reduce any of these parameters in software with no quality loss, but you cannot go the other way around and try to make a small file larger without problems. steve