bouic49 Posted October 28, 2010 Share #1 Posted October 28, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) Just upgraded to an M9. What's the best way to shoot B/w images, in camera or in later using the Aperture or lightroom? bouic49 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 28, 2010 Posted October 28, 2010 Hi bouic49, Take a look here B/W images. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
alexmann Posted October 28, 2010 Share #2 Posted October 28, 2010 Probably better to capture in DNG ('compressed' as you lose so little detail and save a lot of memory space) and then develop in Lightroom or Silver Efex Pro IMHO. You have more control over the final image. The M9 b&w jpegs are fine but you should tweak the output to your style with the in-camera sharpness and contrast controls, and check the exposure on the histogram (can be a bit underexposed) Alex 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpleica Posted October 29, 2010 Share #3 Posted October 29, 2010 Definitely shoot in DNG and convert these data-rich files into B&W in post. The B&W jpegs are useful for previewing what the image will look like in B&W - so not entirely useless. But you'd be sacrificing a lot not to take advantage of the M9's image quality at the DNG level of output. The jury's still out in many of our opinions as to whether or not to shoot compressed or not. With memory so cheap, a good many of us only shoot on uncompressed as far as I can gather, with the idea that future technology may be able to make good use of the larger original file size. From what has been discussed on this forum in some great length early on with the M9's release last year, when you shoot above ISO 640 or so, that's where you see degradation of image quality if you shoot compressed. As of today, I've had my M9 for a year!!! 32,000 shots through it and NONE of my cat! Geoffrey Milford, PA 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viramati Posted October 29, 2010 Share #4 Posted October 29, 2010 for me DNG and The Power of Black and White Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwilliamsphotography Posted October 29, 2010 Share #5 Posted October 29, 2010 DNG. I've finally downloaded the trial version of Silver Effects Pro. Can't wait to try it in LR-3. -Marc Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecar Posted October 29, 2010 Share #6 Posted October 29, 2010 You may also want to try this: Alien Skin Software: Exposure Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted October 29, 2010 Share #7 Posted October 29, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) You may also want to try this: Alien Skin Software: Exposure I'm a long term Exposure user and am very happy with it. I also have some free Lightroom/Photoshop toning actions. I'll post a link when I get home. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stnami Posted October 29, 2010 Share #8 Posted October 29, 2010 (edited) I've finally downloaded the trial version of Silver Effects Pro. Can't wait to try it in LR-3. It works independently of LR-3 it saves a new psd in LR-3 and then saves the image changes by the Nik software. Edited October 29, 2010 by stnami Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted October 29, 2010 Share #9 Posted October 29, 2010 .dng and Silver Efex Pro run as a plugin for CS5 is the way I do it. There are a series of excellent little video's on the Nik Software web site that show how all the different features of Silver Efex work. The only thing I don't use much in Silver Efex is the 'control point' feature, prefering to do dodging and burning etc in CS5 which is closer to a traditional darkroom practice. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdb Posted October 29, 2010 Share #10 Posted October 29, 2010 I'm with Paul. I also use a fourth channel: lab mode, in addition to the rgb channels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bybrett Posted October 29, 2010 Share #11 Posted October 29, 2010 As of today, I've had my M9 for a year!!! 32,000 shots through it and NONE of my cat! Geoffrey Milford, PA I've only shot 20,000 images this year as I don't have a cat. All DNG and compressed for convenience. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pibitller Posted November 26, 2015 Share #12 Posted November 26, 2015 Example conversion from DNG M9 to DNG Monochrome; then processed with Lightroom. The recovery of shadows detail is spectacular. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Johnston Posted December 27, 2015 Share #13 Posted December 27, 2015 My usual practice is to shoot raw, DNG only, and convert to b&w in C-1 or PS, but recently I decided to include "jpeg fine" b&w in my set up. I was inspired to do so because of a series of images I was going after. I was excited by the out of camera jpegs which needed little tweaking. A few days later I decided to have a look at the DNG files and convert to b&w; to my surprise I found more detail especially in the higher values. I'm most pleased with C-1 (9) as my raw converter with additional adjustments in PS (CC2015). I posted some of the b&w images from my M9 and a few color images from another camera on my website for anyone who would like to have a look. http://www.arttaj.com/moving-waterorwater-water-everywhere/ 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanyasi Posted December 30, 2015 Share #14 Posted December 30, 2015 I recommend shooting RAW, and then converting using Silver Efex, which I think is a great program. Sometimes I do the conversion in Photoshop using a B&W adjustment layer. As is true with most photo editing software, with an given program, you can usually get to the same end result. It boils down to what system is easy for you to use. In my experience, you are usually better off starting with a "flat" file, and then making the adjustments in Silver Efex. Easier to preserve shadows detail. When the file is finished in Silver Efex, I often bring it back into Photoshop for some additional dodging and burning. I find that the Photoshop brushes are more flexible for that than the ones in Silver Efex. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted December 30, 2015 Share #15 Posted December 30, 2015 The OP posted over 5 years ago....hope he has figured it out by now. Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DandA Posted December 30, 2015 Share #16 Posted December 30, 2015 (edited) Remember it takes a lifetime to master B&W imagery, so by now he should have the fundementals down pat . Dave (D&A) Edited December 30, 2015 by DandA Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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