In camera format options

Steve

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In the latest Calumet Focus, there is an advertorial for the D800 in which the pro using it says:

'the final thing which does put the D800 above most others is the brilliant flexibility I get from the various format options: FX, DX, 5/4 and 1.2x crop'

Personally, I have never used different format options in camera. Think I would just crop in photoshop rather than do this in camera.

Is this really a 'brilliant flexibility' or an advertising exaggeration by a 'Nikon Ambassador'?
 
Yeah, I've read that sort of stuff and, in my ignorance, put it down to features for features sake. Marketing.

I could well be wrong though, so I'm interested in responses to this.
 
It's not really the same thing but I'd like a DSLR which could be switched between 3:2 and 1:1, even if it was just the image in the viewfinder and you had to crop it later.
 
I have my D800E set up so that pressing the Preview button and turning the main command dial I can change from FF to 1.5 or 1.2 crop quickly (so far I have excluded the 5/4 option).
I like the ability to frame my shots in camera according to the selected format.
 
If it's anything like the way Canon do it with their crop options I'd say it was a bit of 'advertising exaggeration by a 'Nikon Ambassador'?'

You still have to crop the RAW, but it is handy to view the framed composition on the screen.
 
Fx is obvious and Dx is for use either with Dx lenses or to get the extra apparent reach that smaller sensors give (and maybe to help upgraders feel at home?). 5:4 is to suit sheet film users and also sizes up neatly to 10x8". IIRC, 1.2x crop was Canon's earlier larger sensor so I'm guessing that's to keep system swappers happy?

FWIW, my Fujis have even more options - 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 1:1. No option for 4:5 or (one that I would like, purely to fill the pages I usually print!) the A series (1:root2) though.

Not sure how 3 different 3:2 crop sizes adds to flexibility - the only benefit I can possibly see is to help users who are familiar with the angles of view they're used to from given focal lengths! Maybe Dougie could explain to us why he has those options set on the buttons?
 
Thanks for the replies....so there is some use to the option, but maybe a whiff of exaggeration in how brilliant it is.
 
The LX5 had some interesting format options, IIRC it kept MP count roughly equal across the various formats, using taller or wider part of the sensor as required, but not using the whole sensor in any format.
 
Nod said:
Fx is obvious and Dx is for use either with Dx lenses or to get the extra apparent reach that smaller sensors give (and maybe to help upgraders feel at home?). 5:4 is to suit sheet film users and also sizes up neatly to 10x8". IIRC, 1.2x crop was Canon's earlier larger sensor so I'm guessing that's to keep system swappers happy?

FWIW, my Fujis have even more options - 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 and 1:1. No option for 4:5 or (one that I would like, purely to fill the pages I usually print!) the A series (1:root2) though.

Not sure how 3 different 3:2 crop sizes adds to flexibility - the only benefit I can possibly see is to help users who are familiar with the angles of view they're used to from given focal lengths! Maybe Dougie could explain to us why he has those options set on the buttons?
Click to expand...

On switching to the 1.5 or 1.2 "crop" a rectangular border appears within the viewfinder showing the exact field of view that the attached lens is providing. I find that useful. Having the options set with button/command dial is simply to avoid delving into menus thereby enabling a rapid comparrison between the various "crops"
I previously had a full frame camera and a D300 that I used for telephoto work because of the extra "reach" (I realise that crop and reach are not precise terms). Now I have the flexibility of a DX sensor and a full frame sensor plus a couple of other settings all in the one camera.
Whilst the same result can be achieved by shooting everything on FF setting and cropping at the processing stage my personal preference is to get the picture as near the finished article as I can in camera.
 
Thanks for the explaination Dougie. Out of interest, are the crop borders blacked out or translucent? If translucent, I can see that they could also be useful for predicting the moment when a subject is about to come into shot.
 
You get a feint line showing the frame edge, not a solid darkened border.

I've never thought of that as an advantage, but maybe Nod you have the answer to wtf Nikon were thinking :D

The D800 behaves differently to the way that DX mode works on the D3 etc, where you get a darkened frame edge
 
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Thanks for that info. TBH, I've never used Dx mode on my D700 (which probably behaves like a D3) - all my lenses are Fx since the only Dx lens I ever had went with the D200 to help finance the D700.
 
Nod said:
Thanks for the explaination Dougie. Out of interest, are the crop borders blacked out or translucent? If translucent, I can see that they could also be useful for predicting the moment when a subject is about to come into shot.
Click to expand...

Not blanked out, but just a thin lined rectangle within the full frame so you can see exactly what a FF shot would produce compared to whatever crop is selected.

The 1.5 crop produces 15 MP images and the 1.2 crop, 25 MP images.
 
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arclight said:
Not blanked out, but just a thin lined rectangle within the full frame so you can see exactly what a FF shot would produce compared to whatever crop is selected.

The 1.5 crop produces 15 MP images and the 1.2 crop, 25 MP images.
Click to expand...

So on a Nikon, is the RAW actually 'cropped' to the format option that you have chosen?
 
yes what you see (outlined feintly) is what you get....
 
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