Monday, October 7, 2024

The XPan Format, Images In '65:24' Aspect Ratio

Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM
Digital Moments: Emulating the panorama image frame of the Hasselblad XPan and Fuji XT-1 35mm film cameras with cropped-frame digital images.
<< Click on images for enlarged Lightbox display >>

The XPan format, images in the '65:24' aspect ratio is the format captured by the Hasselblad XPan, a dual-format auto-exposure 35mm film camera capable of capturing images both in the standard 23x36mm image, as well as in full panorama 24x65mm images. The camera was introduced in 1998, in collaboration with Fuji, which also introduced their own version of the camera, the Fujifilm XT-1.

Interestingly, the 65mm width of the image format is similar to that of a medium format image width, giving the notion that the XPan is also a medium format camera. The XPan was made available with three primes, 30mm, 45mm, and 90mm manual focus lenses.

Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM
Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM

The 'cropped-frame' method to emulate the panoramic image aspect is one time the selling point for 35mm film cameras, available in both compact AF and SLR cameras. The feature uses a pair of blinds, either fixed, or operable for dual-format cameras, that crop the 24x36mm picture frame of the camera to a horizontal 17x36mm, or the '2.7:1' image aspect ratio. The images are truncated at the top and bottom of the picture frame.

Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM
Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM

The image crop options are also available on selected models of current digital cameras, where the images are cropped electronically to 4:3 or 3:2, depending on the initial format of the camera's sensor, the TV-orientated 16:9, and the 1:1 square cuts.

Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM
Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM

Instagram influencers sometimes crop images to the 3:1 image aspect, before cropping it further to 3 square-cuts for a horizontal display on their image album. Shooting in the panorama or XPan mode, however, does call for a creative approach with both framing and visualizing options already in mind.

Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM
Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM

These images were initially captured on the 6MP CMOS Canon EOS 300D (EOS Digital Rebel in the US, EOS Kiss Digital in Japan), the first entry-level digital SLR camera that Canon introduced to the consumer market in 2003. The EOS 300D was also the first to be fitted with the EF-S lens mount system, a design specific for Canon's APS-C digital SLR camera series.

Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM
Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM

For the test, the 300D was mounted with a Canon EF-S 24mm 1:2.8 STM, and the images were later edited and cropped to the '65:24' image aspect ratio on the desktop editor. While Canon EOS cameras with EF-S lens mounts (APS-C sensors) can be used with both EF and EF-S lenses, full-frame Canon EOS cameras will not accept EF-S lenses.



Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories.
Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

No comments:

Post a Comment