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Forum: Pentax DSLR Discussion
02-07-2019, 01:02 AM
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The 3:2 and 4:3 ratios are very historical, they reflect the "half-plate" and "quarter-plate" sizes of glass plates and cut film from before the days of roll-film.
I seem to remember reading in a relatively old book that 35mm film was used in the first place simply because it was readily available from the cine industry and that the 24x36mm negative, 3:2 format, was chosen as the largest practical negative size on this film. One was expected to crop as required to fit the paper format that was being printed.
Half-frame 18x24mm, 4:3 format, had a small band of followers in the '60's, but that was really pushing the boundaries of the film resolution of the day.
The "Rapid" system from Agfa was mostly in 24x24mm format, but didn't quite catch on faced with "competition" from Kodak's "Instapac" (126 Instamatic).
So, yes, the 3:2 format could be considered a practical compromise :)
Basic crop markings in the dslr viewfinder could be easily implemented on the focussing screen ... I imagine something more sophisticated wouldn't be too difficult to do in an EVF or LiveView screen.
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