I read something stupid that Ken Rockwell said today. Ken Rockwell is one of those people who half the people on the internet think is a doofus; and the other half think he is a godsend (the people looking to buy their first dSLR). I think he just likes to read his own writing. He’s also the guy featured in this joke (among others):
Before Nikon or Canon releases a camera they go to Ken and they ask him to test them, the best cameras get a Nikon sticker and the less good get a Canon sticker
Anyways, he was saying that the 3×2 dimensions used by dSLRs is archaic and should be replaced with the 4:3 dimensions generally used in point & shoots (and LCD monitors). Sure it might make sense and be more convenient to use pictures as wallpaper; but there are enough drawbacks that you can’t really say it should be removed. Take for example, physical prints. Ever try and get your P&S pictures developed? If you took a picture a little too tight, the say bye bye to someone’s forehead. This is easy to fix, just properly crop all your photos (such a hassle); or take everything in 4×6 (easy!).
I guess you could argue that you get a bigger picture with 4:3; true, but then why don’t they just use a square? As a bonus, you never even have to turn your camera! What if you wanted to take something tall or something wide though? I guess you’re out of luck. You probably need something that has one side much longer than the other; maybe something in a 2:1 or 3:2 ratio. Hey, that’s like dSLR size!
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