[elicius]

Hello Everyone,

I know that kind of camera would be a niche.

But a Monochrome camera (without bayer filter) would really fit a lot of the features and image of Pentax cameras such as the Astrotrace function just to name one.

I really love taking Monochrome pics and a pure monochrome camera would improve the image quality of such image by a lot. I know that leica has such a camera but it is not an SLR and I would like to stick with pentax.

What do you guys think?

[Adam]

That would definitely be a super-niche product, but I'd say that Pentax's pixel shift feature addresses the image quality concern quite nicely. Plus, monochrome sensors have issues with highlights that color sensors do not, so the potential image quality gain could be debated.

[Kunzite]

Too niche. I doubt anyone but Leica could get away with it.
But, if Pentax could make it work - maybe a KP Monochrome Edition? - I can't have anything against it.

[Kevin B123]

How many buyers would there be for your used mono Pentax?, Niche of the niche situation. I can't see how such a camera would excel given the images we see in the monochrome thread. Perhaps such a camera can but I would not buy it.

[D1N0]

Just scratch of the Bayer filter array yourself Scratching the Color Filter Array Layer Off a DSLR Sensor for Sharper B&W Photos

[Na Horuk]

I don't need it. Seems to be too niche. These days, you have 36MP FF sensor with Pixel shift, or 24MP APSC sensor with Pixel shift, which already give you stunning detail. Just slap on a good lens, take raw photos, convert to BW and it will look good already. I use 16MP camera and am satisfied with my BW conversions

I don't understand why software couldn't do what OP is asking, though. Doesn't the raw data contain the info for each colour pixel of the Bayer filter, which then gets interpolated into an image? Why not just take the reading of each colour pixel by itself and convert each one to BW. Or is the raw data that is recorded already an interpolation of the three channels? I don't see why raw software couldn't get 3x more "detail" from a given raw image when converting to BW

[beachgardener]

yes most definitely would like one, along with a dedicated black and white printer, with paper to suit

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Last edited by beachgardener; 07-18-2017 at 04:10 AM.

[ChristianRock]

Mike Johnston recently had an article about all the times that he had demanded that such-and-such company would make a camera with certain features and he said if they did he would buy it but then he never did...
I think most people are like that...

[elicius]

Just scratch of the Bayer filter array yourself Scratching the Color Filter Array Layer Off a DSLR Sensor for Sharper B&W Photos

@D1N0 That would be an option but you lose the micro-lenses and will definitively damage the sensor
@Na Horuk Well you have to interpolate because the pixels only measure the incoming light of one color, imagine you would photography something very blue then every fourth pixel would be bright the rest dark. And since you have to interpolate you lose clearness in the picture. This can be solved with pixel shift but that has the disadvantage that it has to take 4 pictures instead of one.
Another advantage is that you have a higher light sensitivity since you measure all the light on every pixel and not just one color.

[RobA_Oz]

Just scratch of the Bayer filter array yourself Scratching the Color Filter Array Layer Off a DSLR Sensor for Sharper B&W Photos

Wouldn't you also have to hack the firmware to bypass the demosaicing process, to obtain the best results?

On the poll, I think the respondents to the third option are actually answering a slightly different question, namely that they can't see a need for it. Perhaps the right people to ask aren't on this Forum.

The Pentax production line, being a comparatively low volume one, may be better placed to produce a small variant body like this than a larger one. Changing the firmware to eliminate demosaicing and removing the Bayer layer would be the major changes, with small items like badging and the instruction manual as well. There'd be a premium to pay, obviously, but it wouldn't be the first time such things were produced for specialist markets, mainly scientific, military or police.

[Pande]

[/COLOR]

Hello Everyone,

I know that kind of camera would be a niche.

But a Monochrome camera (without bayer filter) would really fit a lot of the features and image of Pentax cameras such as the Astrotrace function just to name one.

I really love taking Monochrome pics and a pure monochrome camera would improve the image quality of such image by a lot. I know that leica has such a camera but it is not an SLR and I would like to stick with pentax.

What do you guys think?

Would spare me for some work when i return rom the streets...so yes:-)

[elicius]

Wouldn't you also have to hack the firmware to bypass the demosaicing process, to obtain the best results?

On the poll, I think the respondents to the third option are actually answering a slightly different question, namely that they can't see a need for it. Perhaps the right people to ask aren't on this Forum.

The Pentax production line, being a comparatively low volume one, may be better placed to produce a small variant body like this than a larger one. Changing the firmware to eliminate demosaicing and removing the Bayer layer would be the major changes, with small items like badging and the instruction manual as well. There'd be a premium to pay, obviously, but it wouldn't be the first time such things were produced for specialist markets, mainly scientific, military or police.

If you use the raw files it should work.

Well does anyone know how to contact the production line?

I would be willing to pay such a premium since I am considering to by a leica one day, the main obstacle being objectives not being compatible.

[ThorSanchez]

Hello Everyone,

I know that kind of camera would be a niche.

But a Monochrome camera (without bayer filter) would really fit a lot of the features and image of Pentax cameras such as the Astrotrace function just to name one.

I really love taking Monochrome pics and a pure monochrome camera would improve the image quality of such image by a lot. I know that leica has such a camera but it is not an SLR and I would like to stick with pentax.

What do you guys think?

There's always some kind of market for The Ultra True Believers. There are $1000 bottles of wine that you need years of training as a sommelier to distinguish from the $50 bottle at your local store. There are $200k Aston Martins that most buyers will never approach a tiny fraction of their capabilities without risking arrest. There are $20k speakers that you can place in your isolated sound chamber that in theory will outperform a consumer-grade $2k stereo setup.


So I'd assume there is some market for a monochrome-only $3000 DSLR that, in the right hands, might take B&W pictures 5% better than a K-3II. I don't know that it would be worthwhile for Pentax to pursue the tens of people who'd be interested in such a thing.

[timw4mail]

There's always some kind of market for The Ultra True Believers. There are $1000 bottles of wine that you need years of training as a sommelier to distinguish from the $50 bottle at your local store. There are $200k Aston Martins that most buyers will never approach a tiny fraction of their capabilities without risking arrest. There are $20k speakers that you can place in your isolated sound chamber that in theory will outperform a consumer-grade $2k stereo setup.


So I'd assume there is some market for a monochrome-only $3000 DSLR that, in the right hands, might take B&W pictures 5% better than a K-3II. I don't know that it would be worthwhile for Pentax to pursue the tens of people who'd be interested in such a thing.

There's already medium-format backs (in monochrome), why not 35mm format?

[ThorSanchez]

There's already medium-format backs (in monochrome), why not 35mm format?

How many of those sell? At what price? How many people would benefit from the small, arguable difference in quality between a K-1 and a monochrome K-1? I don't pretend to be an industry expert, but I have a hard time seeing Pentax selling more than a few hundred monochrome K-1 equivalents.


But then again I don't see how a monochrome Leica makes any sense, either. How much does one of those cost? And how much of that is the Leica mystique that charms otherwise reasonable people into buying rebadged Panasonics at two or three times the cost?