Comments on: In Camera Black and Whites? Seriously?

By: David Jamieson

David Jamieson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:58:16 +0000

Hi Natalie. I use a panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 camera and since early in the piece have always shot in camera BW in RAW formatt. I agree with everything you say about it as I find that it makes me work harder
(I’m an old wet darkroom splasher). I also,and don’t ask me why, get “cleaner” images to work with and spend much less time in PP than when I shot for conversion.
Subjective is the Key word here,so basically I say “Whatever floats your boat” but I’d recommend that anyone serious about mono imaging give it a go.
Love your site and the chatty way you present your various views.Best always…..David.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:28:06 +0000

When i shot in raw and go to my files i have to change to black & white then it becomes stored in fine.Why wont it just take it in black and white.
Sorry if its a silly question just starting out.
thanks Paul

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:25:10 +0000

I agree that shooting in Black and White (Monochrome setting) in camera is a great visualization aid and adds something to the process of trying to capture good black and white images. It DOES definitely make you work harder. Personally I like to shoot in Raw so that then, even though the camera was in Monochrome setting, when I download the images (to Aperture) I still have them in full colour so that I can do my own conversions through SilverFX pro (or not in many cases!).

By: ice dragon

ice dragon — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:22:28 +0000

cool pictures! using black and white enchance de pictures!

By: the other Adam

the other Adam — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:22:10 +0000

With digital I still shoot colour and convert, and not just because my D70 only does it that way… the channel mixer is cheaper than a new set of red and yellow filters for my digital lenses, and without them the pictures wouldn’t be very good. While I agree that you think differently, if I’m going to go “shooting in black and white”, I’d rather shoot film.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:45:21 +0000

All the arguments in favor of color raw images and b&w processing are valid, but the creative aspect of this technique is just as valid.

I shoot b&w in-camera when using Live View, as it forces me to compose my shot better. If I could force my viewfinder to be b&w I would do it because it would help me. Should you do that? Only you can answer that question.

By: Lara Farhadi

Lara Farhadi — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:18:00 +0000

I just converted to digital a year ago (with a Canon 40D), and I’ve been loving shooting BW with it. I just think differently when I’m shooting BW – it’s about the light and the contrast, and the shadows. In color things read differently. There is a different challenge, and a different approach. A good color photo isn’t necessarily a good BW one, while a good BW could make a great color shot, but that’s a different story.

By: Héctor

Héctor — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:57:29 +0000

what if you can have the advantages of shooting in colour and watching your photos in B&W in your LCD? let me tell you something…

one day I was shooting some pics in RAW with my Olympus E510 and set it to B&W. When I loaded my pics into Photoshop Lightroom I realized that they were in colour!

i don’t know how many cameras have this behavior, and really haven’t tried this again or tried opening the pics with other software, but here is the point: you can shoot in b&w in raw, see all your pics in the lcd in b&w, convert them to b&w jpg in camera, process them in your computer both in colour or b&w…

maybe all the cameras do this, but since I don’t know it I wanted to share this experience with you :)

By: A-K

A-K — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:56:44 +0000

I prefer this technique too… probably because I don’t have photoshop and prefer not to rely on Picasa… :)

By: vanilla

vanilla — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:34:37 +0000

I’ve only started shooting with DSLR so I’m “sucking in” all the info like a sponge. I was also told to shoot everything in colour and then process it in pc if I want BW images. But even the person who told me that was surprised when I showed him the BW pix in the camera. There is something about them…Even when I tried to process colour image and compared the result with the one taken as BW, they were never the same…so, I would say it depends on the shot you want to take and on the effect you want to make…