So, I kept hearing about how great the dedicated monochrome cameras were at making wonderful black and white image files so I got out an exacto knife and some sandpaper and shredded off the CFA layer from my camera's sensor. That wasn't enough so I used some acetone to strip off the AA filter as well. Now we were playing with direct pixels. That wasn't enough so I spent $12K to have someone re-write all the code in the camera and toss out anything that had to do with color post processing. Then I went for a walk. Look. The camera now does "art monochrome." Too bad I can't switch back to color....
Question? Do you think I might have voided the warranty???
Okay. So I'm just having joke. I didn't do any of those insane things to my SL2 camera sensor. I just set the Jpeg parameters to Monochrome HC (high contrast) and walked around shooting photographs of the buildings and sky. Seem okay to me. I guess I could goose up the contrast a bit more and pretend I bought a dedicated monochrome camera but what's the point?
14 comments:
After reading this, I just had to go and check, so I got out my M10 Monochrom, slapped on my “king of bokeh” Leica lens, went outside and…I just can’t seem to get it to shoot any color photographs!
Kirk my friend, how do you ever expect to become an artist if you continue to cling so stubbornly to practicality or, worse yet, empirical evidence? The fact that the tones on display are so pleasurable to the eye is merely a distraction.
I'm sorry. I don't know what the fuck you are trying to say. Try again.
I listened to Mike on this, and sent a lumix s5 to his guy to convert to mono. I have been really pleased. The excessive contrast you mention is not in evidence at all. Very sharp and a lovely tonal range. How different from converting from a color file, I could not say. With a little TT Artisans 50 mm on it, it feels like an old SLR.
Just to show that I listen to you too, I bought a lovely SL2 and do love it. I have an S1R that weighs abut the same, but the Leica is so balanced.
Thanks for the info James. It's all fun. I'm actually in the market for a monochrome camera for a personal project. Trying to decide between a Q2 monochrom or one of the M240M versions. Thanks for letting me know about the S5 option. I still have one of those hanging around --- I'll continue to look. I do love the SL2 cameras. They work well for me. Thanks again.
Saaaay. Are you using an orange filter to get those skies? Or am I outing myself as a hopeless old geezer who still shoots about 15 rolls of 120 400TX per year.
Never mind. If your first instinct is to respond to an attempt at humor with churlish profanity then perhaps I've caught you on a bad day. It would be best for all concerned if I go away and leave you alone. Nice B&W tones, though. And I mean that sincerely.
Not churlish. Just a straightforward profanity. Not a bad day but would it kill you to toss a name on your comment? That way I don't have to wonder if a random person on the web is taking a shot or if one of my usual readers is just messing with me in a friendly and non-combative way. Plus, you forgot to include the "smile" emoji which might have cued me that your initial post was tongue in cheek. Just sayin. Aren't you happy we don't moderate comments too much?
Hi Bill, Ah, the skies! Sadly, unlike the Fuji cameras there is no in camera option to add color filters to the black and white setting on an SL2. I wish. And I'm not sure how the camera would work if I used an orange filter over the lens. What I am doing is shooting in the SL2's monochrome high contrast setting and then, if I want more sky drama I use Lightroom's nifty "select sky" tool which then allows me to add contrast, clarity and exposure compensation to just the sky areas. I try not to be too heavy handed with the settings but as I am sometimes disposed to hyperbole I think the tendency filters down to how dramatic I make the sky adjustments. You have not been outed. Or, if you have it's as a technically wise film practitioner. Thanks!
Thinking about your interest in Q2M vs M246, you might consider the menus and control interface, as well as the batteries. The M246 will share batteries and have the same control interface as your other RF Leica bodies (M240, I believe). The Q2M will share batteries, as well as menu structure with the SL2. Both produce wonderful files, with the Q2M being capable of another stop or two of iso. An M10M replaced my M246. Also as I’m a bit older than you, my preference is actually the live view camera over the RF, as it’s easier for me to focus, whether auto (which, of course the M camera lacks) or manually (think B screen on Nikon F or F2).
Kirk, now you've got me wondering if I should try mounting an orange filter on the lens while my Sony is set to B&W jpg. I'll let you know what happens.
Kirk
Yes! You should try using an orange filter on a camera set for B&W JPG. The results will be interesting at the very least. Also, try to make a B&W from the raw file. It will be VERY orange, but can be a different/better start for B&W. I tried this with an R60 (red) filter and thought it was a worthy experiment; a red/blue swap in PhotoShop is also worth a try on a filtered file.
Concerning setting an in camera orange filter to the JPG file, your S5 and G9 cameras will do this. Well the G9 will, and the S5 should; it has been a while since I used an S5.
PaulB
I have been quite happy with converting color images to monochrome, or setting the in-camera color to monochrome. I don’t quite get the fixation some have for monochrome-only cameras.
I like the photos in this post.
Hi Kirk. Just curious - do you ever go to the Develop tab in Lightroom, and click HDR? Your thoughts on that with B&W?
(If I recall, you use Lightroom, but not sure on your computer hardware though)
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