Your Q Raw DNG black and white conversion workflow

[msbel]

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Wondering what the Q gang out there are using as your own b/w RAW conversion workflow on the Q.  Not jpeg monochrome settings.  Straight RAW DNG files from color to bw.  If you could share, would be great - custom profiles included.

 

I know a lot of this is personal taste, still, would be great to hear your "how" an "why"...

 

I do own a Q, and prefer not to spend a lot of time in post.  I find the RAW files incredible with really no need to do much in post other than a little boost or minus here and there while staying with color …bw another story.  Seems a little crunchy to me at first via LR conversion, through that may be bc I like more fine grain, less "massively treated" bw files.  

 

Guess I am more an Acros 100 lover (like the M246 comes close with digital), but that does not matter...

 

I am more curious as to your own.

 

MB

[marchyman]

Import image into lightroom.   Fix color temp if necessary.  Adjust exposure, highlights, shadows, white point and black point.   Maybe add a bit of an S curve and local adjustments as needed.

 

Only then click on the B&W button.

 

Final touch up with the clarity slider and maybe some additional local adjustments.

 

I never use pre-sets.  I've tried some in the past but always had to touch up the preset values.  If I have to do that anyway why use a preset in the first place?

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[soizic]

Fist work (in color) with CaptureOne, DNG only 

Conversion NB via SilverEfex

Sometimes some additional  adjustments with CaptureOne

Export in NB

[Iduna]

Michael,

 

RAW-DNGs are good coming out of the camera, but RAWs are always a bit dull and need treatment always to let things glow.

To get the most of it my workflow is as follows

 

Import into Lightroom

basic contrast work in presence but not more than 20 %, for portraits less, landscape can be more. This depends. Exposure correction where necessary, correction of higlights and darks. Eventually adaption of whitebalance or split toning

Then I transfer the files into Photoshop Elements for BW conversion. The filters I use can be openend in Lightroom as well, but loading takes longer than in PSE.

I use Silver Efex Pro and Topaz. Since Nik Filters are freeware now, I use Silver Efex most of the time and find it very easy and quick to create a matching look. 

[stevieboy]

Haven't done a lot of it yet, I tend to use the Q for color and I have an M Monochrom for b&w.  But I do look at the Q as a good option for night b&w because of its better ISO range than MM which is the original version, as well as the autofocus rather than zone focus when shooting quickly with large apertures.  And what I use is SilverEfex for converting and processing.  I use Aperture as my browser/editor.

 

i've said in other threads that I'm a big fan of the "Soft Contrast" slider is n SilverEfex.  But each image has its own requirements.

Edited May 14, 2016 by stevieboy

[marchyman]

I have and sometimes use Silver Efex, but found most of the time I can get good enough using lightroom alone.   That saves the 150 MByte tiff file that is generated every time I use the NIK plug-in and it allows me to re-tweak things in the future -- something I can't do using the NIK lightroom plug-ins.

[Belle123]

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Some good youtube tutorials, I like by Anthony Morganti, on b/w conversion using LR.  Takes awhile to watch his video but does a good job explaining.  Once you get the hang of it, goes quite quickly....at least the first initial steps.  When get to brushes stage, then can spend as much time as you like or not.  

[GiantTristan]

Leica Q -> LR - > DxO Pro (Raw Conversion, B/W conversion with one of the DxO presets, Geometric corrections, Prime NR) -> Tiff to LR (Cropping, final adjustments) -> Export  as JPEG.

[msbel]

Thanks everyone….