[LittleSkink]

Just picked up a cheap K5ii and its a nice thing - and more different from my old K10 than I expected

Wondering which would be best suited to playing with B&W in digital? What experiences have folks had?

My thought is to explore moody, gritty, grainy.

My sense is the K5ii has more potential but the two camera have quite different sensors, ISO, dynamic range.

[kypfer]

It really does depend on what sort of results you're happy with.
The K-5ii is obviously the more flexible camera, with a much wider sensitivity range, and I'm not sure that the "CCD Magic" in your K10D will come across in monochrome.
If you're happy working in bright sunlight at f/8 and similar, either camera will be perfectly adequate, but if you're after the gritty grainy look, chasing black cats in coal cellars and similar, the K-5ii will win out virtually every time … wind up the ISO, close down the aperture, keep the shutter speed up and go for it.
The results may not be everyone's preference, but it's what you like that matters … and I like gritty grainy look with no shadow detail, just like the old days
That's not to say the K10D won't do "moody, gritty, grainy", but the K-5ii will allow you to do it in a much wider range of scenarios!
Enjoy

[leekil]

If you set it in monochrome mode, and crank up the ISO, the K-5 gives you pretty nice grainy photos.

[photoptimist]

Personally, I'd pick the K-5 because it seemed to have much less "digital" patterning in the noise than the K-10D. That is, the noise from the K5 might be much more film-like than that of the K10D. (A good quick test of the both cameras is a simple shot of the night sky at each camera's maximum ISO.)

The only challenge with the K5 is that its images are much less noisy. To get a moody, gritty, grainy look may be hard unless you can boost the ISO which might requiring shooting in poorly-lit conditions or adding an ND filter to your lenses. That said, the K-5 definitely has more potential due to it's better IQ and functionality.

Given that you have both cameras, you might try a couple of side-by-side test shots with both cameras and simple monochrome conversion. You might try creating moody, gritty, grainy look in a simple day-time scene, night scene, interior scene, etc. They don't have to be great images, just examples of the kinds of conditions and subjects you'd like to explore.

Three of the most wonderful features of digital (in comparison to film) is that experiments are: 1) almost cost-free; 2) they provide instant results; 3) EXIF automatically documents the settings. It's so easy to take shot, chimp it, adjust the settings, take another shot, etc.

Have fun and we hope you post your test results so we can all learn together!

[Wasp]

It is hard to say, but my vote goes for the K5 II with its more modern sensor and better performance at high ISO.

The K10D can deliver the goods within its limitations. Here is an example.



A more modern sensor comes into its own in low light. This was done with a Kx.



It seems that the more modern the sensor, the better. This was done with a Samsung NX1.

[Viking42]

I'll add some experience here, having owned both cameras and shot a bit of B&W with each. Personally I was never able to get pleasing tonal gradations from the K5ii, even with some top quality glass. Images always had an unnatural digital look to them. For context, I am a long time film shooter since about 1980, both medium format and 35mm, so that is my reference point. Comparing the K5ii to film was apples and oranges - the digital images just never looked "right" to me, primarily in those tonal gradations and the digital noise.

The K10D, on the other hand, shows some promise. Tonal gradations are wonderful, and at 400 iso the noise looks quite film-like to my eye. I didn't shoot much B&W with it before I sold it, but what I did do was very nice indeed.

Another suggestion if you're looking for gritty grainy effects, is to get a plugin for your photo editor that is designed for B&W. Try Silver EFX from DXO's Nik Collection: Nik Silver Efex - Master the art of black-and-white photography I have an older version and it works great. It has a ton of different black and white film simulations (Ilford, Kodak, Fuji), as well as push process effects, film grain sliders - you name it. This gives you a ton of flexibility. Just shoot in raw and play with different looks from the same file.

Hope this helps.

Cheer,
Svend