Crop = Crap.

Don't crop in PP. Crop in camera. Otherwise, you produce crap.

Complete horse**** statement as presented.
I dislike the 3:2 aspect ratio, so I crop a majority of my shots to 5:4, 3:4, 16:9 ...
I guess everything I shoot is crap then.

People should learn to frame their shots appropriately for the intended purpose with minimal pixel loss.
 
I dislike the 3:2 aspect ratio, so I crop a majority of my shots to 5:4, 3:4, 16:9 ...
I guess everything I shoot is crap then.

This is the fundamental problem I have. It comes down to a matter of creative vision; I simply do not find the native aspect ratio of my camera pleasing most of the time. For whatever reason, I have strong affinity for 5:4, so the vast majority of my “keeper” images are cropped to that ratio or its portrait counterpart.

I realize I can probably set the camera to shoot in that ratio (I haven’t even bothered to look), but I feel it would be silly to not use all of my sensor’s pixels to capture the original image. Not only that, but it seems almost masochistic to deprive myself of those extra pixels just for the sake of somebody’s arbitrary standards of what constitutes “honesty” in digital photography.

Note, I made a point of mentioning “digital”. I did this because I don’t understand why some people insist on perpetuating archaic film-era limitations when shooting digital, as in “you won’t catch me doing such-and-such because back in the days of film we couldn’t do this and that and blah blah blah.” Right.. and everybody knows that real men do their taxes using a slide rule and long division. Tools change and methods follow. I know cropping has always been possible, but in the digital realm it happens to be a simple and reversible 2-second operation, so if it makes for a stronger result, you can be darn sure it’s going to get done. If you’re hell-bent on upholding quaint dogmatic principles, then for crying out loud, put your money where your mouth is and just shoot film.
 
That is OK. We all have our likes and dislikes. HCB was the godfather of street work. Maybe you are a wizard as well as HCB, I don't know?

For me, I am on a much lower level. So, I crop 80% of my work or more. Not heavy crops, but yes sometimes heavy. If a crop has to be too much and the photo is bad quality from the crop, then it was not meant to be and trashed. That is my guideline for cropping...is it doable?

Ruining a photo due to dogmatic ego based determination is against my religion. I put image first, ego last. I try to be flexible. If people don't like my work becasue of cropping, no big deal. They will most likely not like the HDR as well. in the end we only have to please ourselves with our work. (Unless we are paid, then we must please the client.)

Using a rangefinder helps no end shooting on the street because you see more than just the frame


Yes! I wish there more some affordable rangefinder options. You shoot film, so M6 is a great bargain compared to the N240 or the M9. I love the Leica style. I use Fuji X, but it is only half ass. The AF is very poor for street. If Fuji had some real lenses that focused manual it would be nice. The Fuji focus by wire if just terrible. I can't believe how bad it is and how they approved it.


Can you turn off manual focus ? because i never focus when doing street photography thats why i can shoot quicker than a DSLR user, all i do is set camera to F8-F11 take a light reading (handheld meter) to get shutter speed and then set focus distance to 10feet so everything from 5 feet to infinity is in focus
 
cynicaster said:
I simply do not find the native aspect ratio of my camera pleasing most of the time. For whatever reason, I have strong affinity for 5:4, so the vast majority of my “keeper” images are cropped to that ratio or its portrait counterpart.

Exactly!!! I find the 3:2 ratio of d-slr cameras to be kind of a pain in the butt on a lot of scenes...not "tall enough" many times, or "too skinny" on the verticals...

I think the 4/3 cameras and the 6x7 cameras for example, are good examples of cameras that offer different aspect ratios that really tend to look quite good.

As to the 5:4 aspect ratio...the pro Nikon bodies offer that as one of the in-camera options, and it's pretty darned useful.
 
cynicaster said:
I simply do not find the native aspect ratio of my camera pleasing most of the time. For whatever reason, I have strong affinity for 5:4, so the vast majority of my “keeper” images are cropped to that ratio or its portrait counterpart.

Exactly!!! I find the 3:2 ratio of d-slr cameras to be kind of a pain in the butt on a lot of scenes...not "tall enough" many times, or "too skinny" on the verticals...

I think the 4/3 cameras and the 6x7 cameras for example, are good examples of cameras that offer different aspect ratios that really tend to look quite good.

As to the 5:4 aspect ratio...the pro Nikon bodies offer that as one of the in-camera options, and it's pretty darned useful.

Well, there's only one solution.......

..........carry one of every camera made. :mrgreen:
 
Okay...I need a new Olympus OM-D E whatever 5 4/3 aspect cam....and of course the spiffy new Voigtlander Bessa 667 folder that shoots 6x6 AND 6x7 aspect []Voigtlander Bessa 667 - Google Search

and a Speed Graphic for the BIG 4x5 sheets, and of course some kinda Medium Format Digital for 645 aspect...
 
Love the responses! I don't fully buy into my argument either, but I did post this to get people to think. Less cropping = more thinking upfront which likely produces better images.

Just my $0.02. YMMV.

Well less work in post is always the best approach. But cropping alone will not produce a crap image. This is especially true if you are cropping for a specific size and not just to eliminate unwanted elements. But you need to keep in mind that if you have a high MP camera then cropping can still produce excellent images even at a 100%.
 
68 posts and seven pages on whether or not cropping is a good thing? Really guys?
 
68 posts and seven pages on whether or not cropping is a good thing? Really guys?


OK, here's your answer:

Cropping MIGHT make an image worse.
 
For some folks, pressing the shutter release button makes a worse image. :p
 

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