Aspect Ratio of Pictures Won't Change

[JosephineM]

Hi there,

I've got a Canon Rebel SL1. It's my first proper camera, and I got it second hand from a friend. 

I've gone into the menu settings to change the aspect ratio of the pictures (to 4:3), but no matter what I change it to, it always takes pictures in a ratio of 3:2. I've looked all over for a solution, but haven't had any luck, so I thought I would try this forum.

Is there something I'm missing? 

Thanks in advanced!

[kvbarkley]

Are you shooting in RAW?

[JosephineM]

I'm not shooting in RAW. I'm using the 'S1' setting. 

[kvbarkley]

And what shooting mode?

[JosephineM]

I'm shooting in "P" mode. I have a friend who does photography, and she said it's the best one for me to learn in, but I still need to get around to figuring out what everything means.

I got the camera two weeks ago (or so), and have only started using it in the last 3 days. It's -40C outside, so I haven't tried it anywhere fun, but my main intention for getting it, and learning, is to professionally photograph my artwork for selling. 

[kvbarkley]

Also, see the star next to the heading in the manual? That means you have to be in one of the advanced modes, PAS or M.

[BurnUnit]

KV's got you on the right track here. And he types faster than me, too . . .

If you haven't already, download a copy of the SL1 user manual and spend some "quality time" with it. I think you'll find the camera is capable of doing maybe 10 times as much as you're expecting. Especially if this your first proper camera.

http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/5/0300010915/01/eos-rebelsl1-100d-im-en.pdf

Read the manual a section at a time till you start to get a feel for the camera's controls. If you try to learn it all in one sitting you'll likely feel a bit overwhelmed.

At a glance it looks like different camera settings (shooting mode, saving RAW images, using Live View, etc.) may have some effect on the available aspect ratios.

[JosephineM]

Thank you! I'm going to download this to my phone for the long work commutes I'll be back to starting next week. 

[kvbarkley]

It should be working. What is the image size you do get? Try setting it to L and see if that helps.

[JosephineM]

I went through each of the picture size settings. If I take a picture through the viewfinder, they come out at 3:2, no matter what size I've selected in the settings. If I take a picture through the video screen, the pictures are whatever size I have selected in the menu. I can switch back and forth, from picture to picture, and this is always the result. Absolutely baffling.