M8 as a b&w shooter

[al_fa]

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Ken--

I have been an almost exclusively B&W shooter with Leicas for years, and have found the M8 to do everything I need it to. While it has not completely replaced film, for a project involving performance shots of the local jazz scene--itself having taken on a life of its own--it performs with my lenses up to a standard allowing low light, A2 prints. For conversions of raw files, I have found RawDeveloper is working well, and will do batch processing of raw files. Channel mixer in PS is my second choice. The JPEGS straight from the camera work almost as well as the DNG files, but I think DNG has allowed an extra small margin of quality and control. Attached are a couple of small JPEG files of shots from a recent concert. ISO 640 and 1250. The latter look a lot like pushed HP5 at 1600. I wouldn't hesitate about the M8, and am getting no banding since the camera [mine was from early Nov. '06--the first batch in the states] was updated at Solms, and no reliability problems.

 

 

--Norm

 

 

Hi norm_snyder,

I was admiring the absence of noise in the first pic you proposed (very nice by the way). Did it cost much post production? Could you explicitely write all the post processing steps (from the camera to what we see here) that brought you to the pic?

 

Thanks,

Alessandro

[norm_snyder]

Hello Alessandro--

 

The workflow consisted of converting to B&W from DNG in RawDeveloper, saving as a .tif file, converting to greyscale from the monochrome RGB files from Raw developer, and then post processing in PS. The only changes were levels changes that were done as adjustment layers, mainly to locally tame the highlights. Also, I tend to prefer to allow my backgrounds for this sort of material to go fairly dark, which is the way things appeared in the concert hall in which these were taken. There is detail in the shadows to be retrieved, if you want, this way, but I think this works better. Once the files have been post-processed, they are flattened, uprezed using Fred Miranda's SIPro to 300dpi at my typical 13x19 print size, and converted to 8 bit files [printing runs faster that way]. Sharpening is quite limited, about 100%x1x5 w/ USM on these.

 

Imants--thanks. I had done a lot of work with jazz musicians in the 60's and 70's, and this current project is fun, but taking on a life of its own.

 

Regards,

Norm

[Guest stnami]

Lars

-- we shake our heads and find them misguided

... there are no rules............. it's doing and being.. so not 'we' here

 

 

 

 

Norm do you use the Lab curves option, I find it quite usefull to have lab at the onset

[al_fa]

Hello Alessandro--

 

The workflow consisted of converting to B&W from DNG in RawDeveloper, saving as a .tif file, converting to greyscale from the monochrome RGB files from Raw developer, and then post processing in PS. The only changes were levels changes that were done as adjustment layers, mainly to locally tame the highlights. Also, I tend to prefer to allow my backgrounds for this sort of material to go fairly dark, which is the way things appeared in the concert hall in which these were taken. There is detail in the shadows to be retrieved, if you want, this way, but I think this works better. Once the files have been post-processed, they are flattened, uprezed using Fred Miranda's SIPro to 300dpi at my typical 13x19 print size, and converted to 8 bit files [printing runs faster that way]. Sharpening is quite limited, about 100%x1x5 w/ USM on these.

 

Imants--thanks. I had done a lot of work with jazz musicians in the 60's and 70's, and this current project is fun, but taking on a life of its own.

 

Regards,

Norm

 

 

Thanks Norm,

So the absence of that striped hateful digital noise in the background is probably imputable to the post-production (I imagine). Low level light conditions are usually very harsh on digital sensors and there's no reason the M8 should be much different from other top level srls.

 

Thanks again and nice shot

[norm_snyder]

Lars--No I haven't been using Lab curves. It might be something to consider.

 

Alessandro--While there is background noise from iso 1250 up, it is very manageable, and while some if thisis "tamed" in an adjustment layer, it is passable without this step, if exposures are careful. With ISO 640, this is less necessary. What is signficant, is that since my M8 came back from the "retrofit" from Solms, it has had no banding in any circumstance I have encountered.

 

Regards to all,

 

Norm

[wilfredo]

I'm also convinced that the M8 produces the best B&W images in the digital world. That's why I bought the camera. Does it mimick film? No it doesn't. Should it?????

 

I've said this repeatedly, there is digital, there is film, and there is the M8 signiture. The skin tones and texture you get from the M8 are unique, convincing, and as close to life as I have ever seen. The M8 image is in a class of its own. I'm no techo whiz but I know what I see. http://www.leica-camera-user.com/other/17224-grace-water.html

 

Cheers,

Wilfredo+

Benitez-Rivera Photography

[innerimager]

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I'm so taken with the B&W results with the M8 I'm inspired to dedicate myself to B&W this year and see if I can learn a thing or two. 2 from a shoot covering a chili contest to promote the cigar shop. 35 lux ASPH, ISO 640.....Peter

[Artichoke]

I have tried a number of PS BW conversion techniques, but the JFI lab profiles seem outstanding ...I only got the film emulation pack, but so far have been delighted, so much so that I might spring for the filter pack

I doubt these can be used together & I wonder if this is worth my while (though the profiles are quite modestly priced)

thanks for the tip ...I have been delighted with the results

[lars_bergquist]

Lars

... there are no rules............. it's doing and being.. so not 'we' here

--------------

 

The pictorialists were still messing around with their bromoil brushes while Adams and Weston and Stieglitz were returning to 'straight' photography. They are remembered because they advanced the medium and the art. The pictorialists are forgotten because they stuck in a one-way hole.

 

The old man from the Days of Edward Weston (no comparison, of course!)