Embracing the Panoramic Wonder: My Experience with the 65:24 Photo Format
Recently, I came across the 65:24 photo format and was immediately drawn to its panoramic potential. Historically, this ratio mimics the visual expanse of Hasselblad XPan film images, and to my delight, I found that my Fujifilm GFX100S could replicate it. This camera cleverly shows the cropped 65:24 frame in the viewfinder while capturing the whole 5:4 frame, leaving room for any necessary adjustments later during editing.
Curious to see this feature in action, I didn't let the cold, rainy Sunday stop me. I headed out to Sitzberg, where the grass was peppered with snow. The weather was fickle, cloaking and revealing the mountain views in an instant, but it was perfect for testing the format's capabilities.
Shooting with the GFX100S, I found that the 65:24 format offered a new way to frame the world. It pushed me to compose my shots with a panoramic mindset, without worrying about missing parts of the scene. Later, in Lightroom, I had the full 5:4 image at my disposal to adjust the framing if I needed to.
The editing process was straightforward. I applied a teal and orange LUT to enhance the autumn colors and manually tweaked the red, orange, blue, and yellow hues for added vibrancy. By selectively decreasing the greens, I brought out more contrast, making the other colors pop without overcomplicating the image.
Using the 65:24 format gave me a fresh perspective on landscape photography, combining the classic panoramic feel with modern digital flexibility. It proved to be an exciting fusion of old and new, all while offering a safety net with its full-frame capture. As I packed up my gear, with the chilly air numbing my hands but a sense of satisfaction in my work, I was already thinking about the next location to capture with this format.
