In a [previous post], I talked about aspect ratios. These have a big impact on how you compose scenes and how you print your photos, so it’s been interesting. Of course, you aren’t bound by these conventions – you can always cut your own unique sizes and crop your photos how you like, but it’s useful to know conventions before you break them.
| Size | Metric | Aspect Ratio |
| 135 format film | 24 x 36mm | 1.5 |
| Half frame 135 format film | 18 x 24mm | 1.33~ |
| 6×4.5 film | 56 x 45mm * | 1.33~ |
| 6×6 film | 56 x 60mm * | 1 |
| 6×7 film | 56 x 70mm * | 1.16 |
| 6×8 film | 56 x 80mm * | 1.33 |
| 6×9 film | 56 x 90mm * | 1.5 |
| 4×5″ film | 101.6 x 127mm | 1.25 |
| 5×7″ film | 127 x 178mm | 1.4 |
| 8×10″ film | 203 x 254mm | 1.25 |
| 4 x 6″ paper | 10 x 15cm | 1.5 |
| 5 x 7″ paper | 12.7 x 17.8cm | 1.4 |
| 8 x 10″ paper | 20.3 x 25.4cm | 1.25 |
| Golden Ratio | 1.61803 |
*Well, roll film formats are open to interpretation, apparently. While ideally they should be the size their names suggest in cm, for example 6×6 should be 6x6cm, of course. Of course? No. It’s usually 56mm from one edge of the film to the other, and the “length” (along the roll of the film) of the image size varies from camera to camera. Usually it’s roughly right, but don’t be surprised to see something like 56x83mm for 6×9. These are negligible variations, but it means what is seen as a standard is far from it.
Photography isn’t really an exact science.
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