S4 Camera 13M (4:3) vs 9.6 (16:9)

[djangodjango]

I am trying to figure out which megapixel setting is better. If you use the S4 out of the box, the camera will be set to 9.6M. So far, there is no difference between the two megapixel settings except the format and how it is displayed on you S4's screen. 13 megapixels has the same width as 9.6M, but a larger height. Because of the 4:3 ratio, 13M pics will have black borders on the right and left in landscape mode, which is not bothering me because pics have more information data. You can crop the picture anytime later, if you want to. So, I decided to go with the 13M setting. But I have the feeling that taking pictures is now bit slower when set to 13M, or is my mind tricking me? Has anybody made a pro and cons experience with the megapixel settings? Which setting are you using?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Omer San Gabriel]

13MP.

 

[jwn66]

4:3 for pics, 16:9 videos. And when you take videos, HORIZONTAL please, lol.

 

[SpookDroid]

I'd go for the 4:3 aspect ratio because it captures more of the image. This thing takes great pictures, but the area that is covered is dismal; you have to stand very far from a scene to get it all into the picture. 16:9 makes that even worse as it 'zooms in', and you'd have to stand even farther away.

BTW: The black bars are only for display, they are not saved into the picture.

 

[ztyankov]

What's the difference in picture size from 9.6 to 13 Mega Pixels? 9.6M looks good to me.

 

[SpookDroid]

About 3.4 MegaPixels hehehe (I'd say about 1MB ) I, too, don't use the full resolution as I think it's a waste of space for my purposes. When I want a picture that I'll print out in big scale, then I'll switch to 13MP.

 

[UseA Launcher]

But isn't landscaping and such photos better on 16:9??

GS4 Love

 

[Christian McCarthy]

The point here is at 13mp (4:3) you're getting the same width but less height then 9.6mp (16:9). So at first glance 9.6 will seem better because it better fits your S4's screen as it will your HDTV. The catch would be that you could still shoot your photos in the 13mp mode and get more scenery (like the sky and ground) and still later crop it to the exact same photo you would have got in the 9.6mp mode. You shoot your photos in 9.6mp originally and there is no adding what is cropped back. One more pro shooting 13mp photos is most printed photos are in the 4:3 ratio. The type that go in frames. If you had shot in 9.6mp originally not only would you be cropping scenery right off the bat from the top and the bottom of the photo, but if you wanted a print that'll fit a standard frame, you'd then have to crop even more of the photo on the sides to get it back to 4:3. The only cons would be that 13mp shooting is going to take up slightly more space per photo and not fit your phones screen fully unless cropped or zoomed in. The option is totally a matter of option but I would take the latter. We only live once and I don't want to miss a thing! Hope this helps all those trying to decide which mode they should use!