Why shot B&W.... ?????

[Bill Huber]

I here people talk about this camera or that camera that will not do B&W.
My E-10 or my E1 will not do B&W, but I really don't care.

I don't understand, in this day and age why you would shoot in B&W with a digital camera. With all the editing tools we have out there why would anyone take the chance of missing a great color shot to take it in B&W only.

You can always shot in color and change it to B&W........

Is there really any reason to have B&W as a selection on a digital camera?

[LoungeLizard]

Originally Posted by Bill Huber

Is there really any reason to have B&W as a selection on a digital camera?

Only reason I can think of is for those who shoot JUST in JPEG and don't want to do any post processing. I agree, shoot with as much information as you can and then modify it as you want to.

That's one of the other reasons the only filter I still use is a polarizer. I've thought about the other Cokin filters I have, but every time I do, I say - nope, what if I want to do something else!

[Sideline]

This is purely speculation on my part...

I would think that by having a B&W option on digital cameras, the appeal of a 35mm camera might work for those who shoot medium format cameras. Even though I love my digital, i dont honestly think it can accurately represent the shades of gray that come from a medium format camera. If you can capture those grays at the time of shot, any post processing will greatly enhance a already great photo.

Again... not sure if I am accurate with this... but just my thoughts.

[pwell]

From what the camera jockeys at Wolf Camera tell me, the Canon 20D's B&W in-camera function noticeably enhances the dynamic range versus just post-processing into B&W. Not sure how the technology works but it's one of the features of the 20D that intrique me to the point of wanting one badly.

[Craig Wilkins]

With a digitil no IDEA with film for creating custom tones etc in the darkroom I could see .

[kwhite]

Originally Posted by Bill Huber

I here people talk about this camera or that camera that will not do B&W.
My E-10 or my E1 will not do B&W, but I really don't care.

I don't understand, in this day and age why you would shoot in B&W with a digital camera. With all the editing tools we have out there why would anyone take the chance of missing a great color shot to take it in B&W only.

You can always shot in color and change it to B&W........

Is there really any reason to have B&W as a selection on a digital camera?

There is a very good reason for this. Most people who own digital cameras are not very saavy about post processing, or choose not to post process at all. For those people in-camera BW makes perfect sense. In-camera BW processing buys you ease of use and predictability at the expense flexability.

As to the comment that the Canon 20D can do better in-camera BW than you can do in post processing, I disagree. The camera is using the same raw bits and manipulating them with software in the same way someone could do outside the camera. Post processing techniques such as mask based local contrast enhancement, dodging, burning and BW specific filters can far surpass in-camera BW processing. In my opinion.

[Bill Huber]

Originally Posted by pwell

From what the camera jockeys at Wolf Camera tell me, the Canon 20D's B&W in-camera function noticeably enhances the dynamic range versus just post-processing into B&W. Not sure how the technology works but it's one of the features of the 20D that intrique me to the point of wanting one badly.

That may be, bet there is no way a camera can do better then a person. The camera does the same thing to every shot. When a person does a conversion they will do something a little different to every shot to get the best out of each image. IMHO

[Bill Huber]

Originally Posted by kwhite

There is a very good reason for this. Most people who own digital cameras are not very saavy about post processing, or choose not to post process at all. For those people in-camera BW makes perfect sense. In-camera BW processing buys you ease of use and predictability at the expense flexability.

As to the comment that the Canon 20D can do better in-camera BW than you can do in post processing, I disagree. The camera is using the same raw bits and manipulating them with software in the same way someone could do outside the camera. Post processing techniques such as mask based local contrast enhancement, dodging, burning and BW specific filters can far surpass in-camera BW processing. In my opinion.

I should have read your reply first, it would have saved me some typing... :lol: :lol:

I agree with the in camera B&W on the 20D