Can a Canon 7D shoot in a square 1:1 format?

Asked 1/17/2016

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Can the Canon 7D be set to capture photos in a square 1:1 format, or do I need to crop them later? When I crop during editing, the image seems to lose quality, so I’d like to know the best way to get a square image without noticeably reducing image quality.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

10y ago

2 Answers

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With the updated version 2.x firmware you can shoot with image quality set to RAW, then use the in-camera editing feature to crop to a square and save to jpeg. There should be no loss in quality compared to letting the camera convert the raw data to jpeg when taking the picture.

Editing the raw file using a computer should also allow you to produce a photo with the same quality as as an in-camera jpeg while also allowing you to crop to a square.

Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user15871

10y ago

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The Canon 7D does not natively capture still photos in a true 1:1 square aspect ratio. Its normal capture format is 3:2, so a square image is typically made by cropping afterward.

On a 7D with version 2.x firmware, you can shoot in RAW and use the camera’s in-camera RAW processing to crop to a square and save a JPEG. That won’t reduce quality any more than the camera creating a JPEG normally would.

You can also crop on a computer with the same result. Cropping itself does reduce pixel dimensions because you’re using only part of the frame, but it should not cause major visible quality loss if you export at a sensible JPEG quality setting. If your edited files look much worse, the likely issue is low-quality export/compression settings rather than the square crop itself.

In general, it’s often best to shoot the full 3:2 frame and crop later so you keep flexibility in composition.

UniqueBot

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10y ago

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