Originally posted by c.a.m Has anyone here found a similar benefit with a mirrorless camera -- working directly in a B&W scene?
I can do this in live view on my K-3 and also on my phone, though there is usually no advantage to doing so even when I know in advance that I will do a monochrome treatment in post. The two photos below are good examples...
On this one ^ ^ ^ I noted the high-valued yellows and golds in contrast against the blue sky before even setting up. The color version has so-so impact, but post processing to take advantage of those points of contrast and glow made for a rather more interesting monochrome image. Using a "canned" monochrome viewfinder treatment would have been detrimental to the process.*
The area in the Mt. St. Helens blast zone is famously lacking in color and also famously rich in texture and topography. On this day, storms were brewing over the main Cascade Range to the east and those bright clouds along with the summit shroud provided a happy accent against the debris plain. This one was easy to visualize as monochrome, mostly because that is the palette of the place.
I should probably mention that I have been doing monochrome photography since the late 1960s and the option of "seeing" in tonal values comes as second nature. I always do a mental evaluation of the range of light, even when the intent is a full color capture.
Steve
* While having this option for the Nikon EVF, might be of limited usefulness to a monochrome digital noob, I am surprised that an experienced pro would call this feature out.