DNG + JPEG ~ use in lightroom

[iLikeLeica]

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Hello All - i have been trying to get my head around 2 Q's...

 

* why would i use DNG + JPEG in my M8 (preview of B&W)

* how to treat them in Lightroom 3 (no idea so far)

 

context: i have a strong preference for B&W so the preview in M8 comes in handy. but i can not find a good way to capitalize on having these available when loading my series into Lightroom.

 

any suggestions/thoughts?

 

thanks

[ptarmigan]

I use raw+jpeg so I can view the B&W previews which I use rather than the in-camera histogram.

 

You can ask LR to import the jpegs and raws as one file or separately which I do and then just delete them. I have no use for them other than in camera previews. Once the raw file is imported you'll find a B&W conversion 20x better than the jpeg produced in camera.

[gpleica]

I find the black and white jpeg previews plus histogram image viewing option to be the ideal "previsualization" tool on the S2. And on my M9, the screen is a bit too small for both, so I choose just to see the image. Then when importing into LR, I import both and keep the black and white previews so I can always see what the image looks like in black and white before choosing whether or not to spend any time on a specific shot in LR's Develop mode. In a way, the previews serve as the contact sheets and work prints I used to make in the darkroom to see my images and help me edit down to the few killer pictures for which I would want to invest the time to make final exhibition prints.

 

It's strange in a way, but the color DNG files' images that come up in LR are always a surprise to me because up and to that point, I have only thought of, visualized, and previewed the image on the camera in black and white. I've been shooting black and white so long, nearly 40 years, that I don't think in color too much when it comes to photography. So the color images in LR are useless to me except in the fact that they hold the potential, with all that data, to make superb black and white prints.

 

By the way, if you are only interested in black and white, i highly recommend Jon Cone's ink sets. He has given people like me the absolute finest sets of black and white inks, 7 shades of grey, for Epson printers, and the results rival silver prints. And the prints are archival since they are carbon based inks. No fading.

 

Geoffrey Peckham

Milford, PA

[gjames9142]

By the way, if you are only interested in black and white, i highly recommend Jon Cone's ink sets. He has given people like me the absolute finest sets of black and white inks, 7 shades of grey, for Epson printers, and the results rival silver prints. And the prints are archival since they are carbon based inks. No fading.

 

Geoffrey, I don't share your absolute faith in permanence. On Hahnemuhle rag I have seen almost instant yellowing taking place at my framer's; and a stored large print seems to have a blue cast. It may have to do with the optical brightener. I notice that Cone's claims are not absolute either -- just the data from stress tests. But I agree that they are very good inks.