Originally posted by nosnoop And why 16:9 does not make sense? It is not wasting space at all. It is an INCREASE in space over APC-C! Shouldn't any increase in sensor size be welcome?
ummm... well, no. High School Geometry. Dimensionally, a square maximizes area in relation to the summed length of its perimeter. The more rectangular you get, the smaller the ratio between the area inside and the perimeter:
2x2 square area = 4 ; perimeter = 8
Lets keep the sum of the sides (perimeter) constant to figure area:
1x3 square area = 3; perimeter = 8
If you keep pixel density the same in the two wafers above, the rectangle yields less pixels.
What does this amount too? More wasted space of the projected image through the lens onto the sensor the more rectangular we get...
I often crop to 5x7 or 4x5. Looks like I may have to crop even more out of my captures more often in the future ... if there's anything behind all this.