[enyaw]

I have a question regarding b and w photo. I've set the camera to shoot in raw. picture control to monochrome. viewfinder will be in colour. The meat of the question comes in pp. When I go to edit will the image be b and w or colour. And when i start playing with contrast, saturation, smart lighting, exposure will the image revert back to colour? Willl be using dxo photolab on a mac


thank you,


seasons greetings to all

[Adam]

I have a question regarding b and w photo. I've set the camera to shoot in raw. picture control to monochrome. viewfinder will be in colour. The meat of the question comes in pp. When I go to edit will the image be b and w or colour. And when i start playing with contrast, saturation, smart lighting, exposure will the image revert back to colour? Willl be using dxo photolab on a mac


thank you,


seasons greetings to all

Raw files will always be in color. You will have to do the B&W conversion yourself (or apply the camera's profile/settings using the Pentax desktop software).

[enyaw]

thank you Adam, I didn't know pentax had editing software will look into that

[Adam]

thank you Adam, I didn't know pentax had editing software will look into that

Indeed, it basically allows you to apply the same adjustments that are in the camera, but retroactively. You can install it (digital camera utility) from the CD that came with your camera, or if you don't have it, there is a hack if you do a forum search.

Adam
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[philanker2012]

Or, shoot in Raw + jpeg with the in camera jpeg set to monochrome. You will then have two files, one the original Raw in colour the other being a mono jpeg. I find this method very effective with the Bold Monochrome setting in the KP. It also allows me in Live View to see in black and white.

[enyaw]

I'm trying to "see" the world in monochrome now. I just took 15 test shots around the area. It forces you to compose and look for contrast. Which will improve your technique/skills. I opened up the software and they are still in colour. On the software end I want to just convert them aka batch into "monochrome" then edit from there. That was/is the point of my inquiry.

thanks all. I'm beginning to see the lack of colour

[pschlute]

I opened up the software and they are still in colour. On the software end I want to just convert them aka batch into "monochrome" then edit from there

As has been said raw files will always display in colour by default. Have a look in your raw converter manual. It will explain how to batch convert, if it supports that process.

I would suggest however that batch converting will be a bit of a blunt tool. As you are well aware, tones and contrast are very important for b+w photography, it makes more sense to analyse each picture and adjust accordingly.

[enyaw]

I concur and more than enough to get started

thx, Season's greetings

---------- Post added 12-24-18 at 09:43 AM ----------

2 questions then, why do the monochrome conversion in the first place if we shoot raw? And why is it a JPEG? For the end product ? excuse my ignorance

[Adam]

2 questions then, why do the monochrome conversion in the first place if we shoot raw? And why is it a JPEG? For the end product ? excuse my ignorance

A raw file, by definition, contains the sensor data along with the settings configured/recommended by the camera. The sensor records color (R, G, and B pixels), so that's what gets put into the raw file.


Flattening this information into a single luminance value for each interpolated pixel would not only negatively impact the image quality, but this would also mean the file is no longer a raw file.

[runswithsizzers]

In other words, the RAW file itself cannot be edited - but it can be used as a basis for editing, and the resulting edits can be saved as some other kind of file: JPG, TIF, etc. You can shoot RAW+JPG and have the camera do the conversion from RAW to a b&w JPG - and/or - you can import the RAW file into your editing software and do the conversion from RAW to b&w yourself. Either way, the RAW file is unchanged, and the b&w edits apply only to a new file.

If you are happy with the b&w JPGs produced by your camera, that's great! And if your camera is set to take monochrome JPGs it offers the additional advantage of being able to preview/review in monochrome on the camera's LED screen. You can also edit the b&w JPG produced by the camera on your computer.

But you will have the potential for a lot more creative control over what the final monochrome looks like if you start with the RAW in your computer editing software and do the conversion there. This is especially true if you need to recover shadow or highlight detail from a high contrast scene. Of course, much depends on the capabilities of your editing software and your skill using the software.

[enyaw]

thank you all, maybe I have bitten off more than I can chew. I came up with this compromise. what if i find a setting I like for my/the monochrome images aka tweaking to my liking and just save it as a preset. And when an image comes along I just apply the preset to the said image? I think that would work because the common school of thought is to "look" at each individual image and apply the settings accordingly. Am I on to something