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04-22-2009, 09:29 AM   #1
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K10d/gx10 b&w

Hi

Is it possible to capture photographs in black and white with a K10D/GX10?

If so where's the settings as I can't find them

Cheers

Simon

04-22-2009, 09:37 AM   #2
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It as option you have after taking the picture. You press the fn button while you are viewing the picture.

You will do better by processing the image using photo editing sofware though where you have more control over removing colour and adjusting contrast.
04-22-2009, 10:57 AM   #3
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So would a red filter still be effective for B&W photography using post processing rather than shooting in B&W?
04-22-2009, 11:16 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by rqy99g Quote
Hi

Is it possible to capture photographs in black and white with a K10D/GX10?

If so where's the settings as I can't find them

Cheers

Simon
There are several ways that you can convert your color photo to black & white in the K10. As was stated before using the function button and then use the left arrow key on the four way controller to select the "Filter" function. There you can by using the rear e-dial choose either a straight unfiltered conversion to black & white or by rotating the e-dial choose a "red" "green" or "blue" filter in the conversion to b/w. All positions will give you a b/w picture, but by using one of the above filters it's equivalent to using one of that color filter on the lens while taking a b/w photo. Hope this explanation is clear.
Jim

04-22-2009, 12:11 PM   #5
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Thanks guy's

It looks like you may have saved me some money as well!
04-22-2009, 02:16 PM   #6
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shoot RAW and do your B&W in photoshop or lightroom. It'll give you far bigger controll!

BR
04-22-2009, 05:34 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by rqy99g Quote
So would a red filter still be effective for B&W photography using post processing rather than shooting in B&W?
A red filter would heighten contrast on a FILM camera shooting B&W film.
Use it on digital and you just get a red coloured image.

You can use the filter effects on the camera to convert an image to b&w but this can only be done if the image is shot on jpeg, not RAW.

As everyone here has stated, convert your usual image (be it RAW or jpeg) while post processing. Simply better control.

04-24-2009, 11:23 AM   #8
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Red filter on dslr

On B & W film, a red filter works by suppressing the blue light coming through the lens, but not the other colors. That is why it makes clouds really pop out. The blue sky is significantly underexposed, compared to the clouds. This makes the sky much darker.

Wouldn't the same thing be true in digital? I know that in PS, I can desaturate the image, removing all the color. But in addition to that, I want to reduce the brightness of the pixels that were originally blue, without changing the brightness of the other pixels. I'm unclear how to easily do that in PS (I use Elements 6).

I've often thought it would be much easier, if I could just use a red filter, like on a film camera, to underexpose the blue in the scene.
04-24-2009, 12:30 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by noblepa Quote
On B & W film, a red filter works by suppressing the blue light coming through the lens, but not the other colors. That is why it makes clouds really pop out. The blue sky is significantly underexposed, compared to the clouds. This makes the sky much darker.

Wouldn't the same thing be true in digital? I know that in PS, I can desaturate the image, removing all the color. But in addition to that, I want to reduce the brightness of the pixels that were originally blue, without changing the brightness of the other pixels. I'm unclear how to easily do that in PS (I use Elements 6).

I've often thought it would be much easier, if I could just use a red filter, like on a film camera, to underexpose the blue in the scene.
This only works if you shoot in JPEG and manually set white balance to Daylight. Then, when you convert to B&W (either in-camera or post process) you should get the same effect as with film. You might be able to get a similar result with a RAW file but you'll have to select Daylight WB in post-process. Of course if you shoot RAW you can just tweak the individual color channels later to achieve the same effect without the red filter.
04-25-2009, 11:03 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by noblepa Quote
On B & W film, a red filter works by suppressing the blue light coming through the lens, but not the other colors. That is why it makes clouds really pop out. The blue sky is significantly underexposed, compared to the clouds. This makes the sky much darker.

Wouldn't the same thing be true in digital? I know that in PS, I can desaturate the image, removing all the color. But in addition to that, I want to reduce the brightness of the pixels that were originally blue, without changing the brightness of the other pixels. I'm unclear how to easily do that in PS (I use Elements 6).
Not sure about PSE 6, but most programs would allow several different ways of doing that, with lots more control over the results than a simple filter would provide.

One way would be to first alter the white balance of the shot (RAW), or similarly alter the color for JPEG. For instance, using a WB slider, use it to make the picture redder. Or with RGB controls, decrease the blue slider, increase the red. You get to control exactly how much redder you make the picture before desaturating it. The effect is the same as using a red filter.

Some programs provide something called a "channel mixer" which does a similar thing in principle, but lets you see the results in B&W the whole time. That's probably the most common way these days of doing what you describe. You can tell it to use only the red channel, or just the red and green channels in whatever ratio you want, or just enough blue to keep the sky from going completely black - whatever you want.

I've read that the most recent version of Photoshop (not sure about Elements) provides more controls still.

QuoteQuote:
I've often thought it would be much easier, if I could just use a red filter, like on a film camera, to underexpose the blue in the scene.
You certainly *can* do this, but you lose the fine degree of control you can get by doing this in PP, so most people don't.
04-30-2009, 08:49 AM   #11
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Not sure about the K10; on the K20 it's easy to select various digital B&W filters for JPEGs but I don't know if they actually give the same result as would the specified filter on Panchromatic film. The K20's digital 'IR' filter certainly doesn't.

As for physical filters on digicams: The only effective ones for a K10/K20 would be UV/Skylight (for lens protection), Neutral Density and Graduated ND and Polarizing (all for brightness or glare control), and IR Pass (for InfraRed work). And maybe some of those 'funny' filters for prismatic or starburst effects, eh? Other filters (including the B&W assortment) are useful (or necessary) on Sony NightShot PNS cams in daylight, and on Fuji and Sigma forensic cams. But those aren't really relevant here.

What it boils down to is, colored filters (including the B&W sets) and file selection are used to manage light temperature and/or spectral sensitivity in film cams. In digicams, those functions are handled with White Balance and digital filtering and/or RAW/shoop processing. So leave those physical filters with the Spotmatic.
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