Jump to content

B/W images


bouic49

Recommended Posts

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

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

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

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

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 by stnami
Link to post
Share on other sites

.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

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 5 years later...
  • 1 month later...

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/

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

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.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...