In this case its the highest res of the clips I’m using and its 16×9 whereas the others are 4×3. I’d rather end up with 16×9 at the highest resolution i have rather than dumb it down to the lower res 4×3 and lose the sides of my widescreen material or shrink it and put blanking top and bottom.
I just retired as a DOP in broadcast TV so I do understand the concept. We often shoot at a higher level than the final version requires because it allows some flexibility in post. An exception would be not to spend more on shooting than necessary if it wasn’t going to be used.