Taking B and W

[phovsho]

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I am about to take the plunge into (M8) digital photgraphy. I know very little about digital photography, so excuse me if this is a really stupid question, but...

 

I have heard that the M8 is particularly proficient at B and W (somethig to do about the absence of a IR filter). My question is, to get the best out of the M8 for B and W, is it recommended to shoot in colour on the camera and then convert in PS (or similar), or is it recommended to shoot B and W on the camera?

 

Best

 

M

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[chris_tribble]

Shoot RAW and convert in either C1 or Lightroom. B&W in camera are JPEG - excellent in their own right but only a very small part of the story.

 

The M8 is a GREAT B&W tool. You won't regret it.

[sean_reid]

One of the things thats interesting about the M8, for B&W work, is that it creates one kind of rendition without an IR-cut filter and another rendition with it. My own workflow is shoot in RAW and convert to B&W in C1 using the JFI profiles.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[stunsworth]

I love the M8 as a b&w camera. Personally I shoot RAW - which is colour of course - and use the Alien Skin Exposure plug-in most of the time to handle the b&w conversion.

[Photoskeptic]

I've shot it both ways and each is good, just in their own different way. The great thing for me is the Leica lens signature is retained in digital bw. Now, IMO, if for no other reason, this is cause to own an M8.

[jsjxyz]

I shot in JPG and in BW mostly.

 

Correct the curve and histogram mostly with iPhoto in Mac. For difficult picture I edited it in Photoshop CS2.

 

I am fine w/o RAW

 

JSJ

[norm_snyder]

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I can't recommend the M8 highly enough for black and white. I got my first M camera about 1969, and for years shot mainly black and white, ultimately HP5 or XP2, depending on the kind of results I wanted. I can get that look, if I want, or very close to it [paper surfaces being the biggest change from silver-based printing] with the M8 and some of the lenses I've loved using for years. I, too, use C1, but am also using Raw Developer for conversion--easy batch conversions. I agree with others that the JPEGs are very good, but for the last bit of dynamic range and least noise, the DNG raw files are definitely superior.

 

Norm

[JohanV]

I take the pictures in raw and find the new CS3 has a dramatically improved BW conversion.

[Stevez4]

I convert raw in and convert in lightroom on my Mac because C1 is so non intuitive. Unfortunitely I have not figured out how to import Jamie's excellent B/W profiles into Lightoom and Adobe isn't offering any help. Forum members who shoot only B/W and use Lightroom are a minority so there is little chance of ever getting profiles.

[valtof]

I convert raw in and convert in lightroom on my Mac because C1 is so non intuitive. Unfortunitely I have not figured out how to import Jamie's excellent B/W profiles into Lightoom and Adobe isn't offering any help. Forum members who shoot only B/W and use Lightroom are a minority so there is little chance of ever getting profiles.

 

Where can we find this "Jamie's excellent B/W profiles"?

Can it be used in C1?

Cheers

[mwilliamsphotography]

I am about to take the plunge into (M8) digital photgraphy. I know very little about digital photography, so excuse me if this is a really stupid question, but...

 

My question is, to get the best out of the M8 for B and W, is it recommended to shoot in colour on the camera and then convert in PS (or similar), or is it recommended to shoot B and W on the camera?

 

Best

 

M

 

It's best to set the M8 aside and pick up a M fillled with B&W film. But no one wants to fess up to that after dropping $5000. on a M8 : -)