Aspect ratio

betterphotos

When I transfer the contents of my SD card from my D3200, onto my computer (Mac) and stream through to AppleTV I have black edges on the TV screen. I've tried changing the TV screen settings but to no avail. Currently I am post editing every shot using "Photos for Mac" and changing the aspect ratio either to 16:9 for landscape or 4:3 for portrait. It's extremely time consuming. Is there a setting on the 3200 which I've overlooked or is there a method I should use to avoid post editing? I'd really appreciate any assistance as I've tried numerous websites for solutions as well as other avid photographers. Thankyou in advance. Regards Paul.

bruto

The aspect ratio of DX cameras like the D3200 mimics that of full frame 35 mm, which is 6:4, wider than 4:3. I don't think there's any good way to get around this at the shooting level, except by either cropping your photos to 4:3 or by distorting them to gain height. You can change aspect ratio of individual images in the camera using the "trim" option in the playback menu, but as far as I know you cannot do this in batches.

There is a freeware program, "Faststone Image Viewer," which has a batch function, and if you dig into it it appears you can batch crop with it.

I haven't done this, though I do use Faststone for some other things, but if you really must crop this might be a good way of doing it. Cropping to 4:3 without individual input to the files will result in an even amount being removed from the left and right of the photo.

Here's a web page with instructions on how to do it:

http://www.imagingtips.com/faststone/batch/0100batch.shtml

With this said, my own preference, I think, would be to keep the aspect ratio as it is, and settle for the black edges on the screen. Any other solution will result either in cropping or distortion, and while either of these might be acceptable most of the time, you're likely occasionally to get something you don't like.