Deliberate1 Posted November 7, 2015 Share #1 Posted November 7, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) At the risk of sucking yet more air out of this forum as I wait for the delivery of my S 006, I am very interested to hear from those of you who convert your S files to b&w. I will use often us this as an option to salvage an M9 image that has good composition but has strained IQ - usually because I pushed the sensor low light limits and there is ugly shadow noise. Assuming that I will face similar issue with the S, I am interested to know whether any of you S owners also push the low light envelope by converting marginal color images to b&w. Samples, particularly of light-challenged images would be much appreciated. Thanks David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 7, 2015 Posted November 7, 2015 Hi Deliberate1, Take a look here Black and white file conversions. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
mjrp Posted November 8, 2015 Share #2 Posted November 8, 2015 Morning The S is a very nice b&w camera, easy to get deep, rich files. I shot the recording of an album here in Sweden for an excellent artist, very poor conditions though in a dark studio with no ambient light and for most of the time just a desk lamp for light. They actually wanted gritty black and white shots so ended up adding quite a bit of grain to this to get what they wanted. The jpeg doesn't do much justice to the full size image which is now printed on the studio wall but will give you an idea. This at ISO400 and pushed a couple of stops in post. Another in a practice room just experimenting with pushing files, around 4 stops under exposed at ISO 200 to see what would happen in post, distant window and a desk lamp for light, noisy in colour pushed that much but not bad in b&w with grain added to rough it up a little. I find noise to not be too bad but can get banding if pushed too far, the 007 is a different beast though, I'd have shot these at ISO800 easily but would have had to add a lot of grain to get the look they wanted. Mat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deliberate1 Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted November 8, 2015 Mat, thanks for your effort. Those are some lovely images and exactly what I was looking for. The top one, with the two profiles is beautifully executed and shows off the bokeh and three dimensional strengths of the sensor/lens combination. What lens did you use, and at what f stop, if you remember. And were these tripod shots or hand held? I am guessing hand-held with a longer lens. Frankly, I chuckled to my self to think that, if shot with the 007, you would have been obliged to add noise to meet the client's expectation. From what I see, I think the 006 will be a terrific low light b&w rig. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjrp Posted November 8, 2015 Share #4 Posted November 8, 2015 Hi David Both shots wide open with the 100 f2 handheld, I actually added quite a lot of grain to both these shots, the 007 is just so much cleaner at higher ISO's. Enjoy the camera when you get it. Mat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deliberate1 Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share #5 Posted November 8, 2015 Mat, thanks again. As I have been thinking about the mirror slap issue, and its effect on images, I thought about a technique which may not work in every situation, especially if dynamic, but may help with static subjects. Could you compose and focus handheld, and then lock up the mirror and then shoot. I realize that you will lose visual contact while the mirror is locked up. And that is why this technique might not work with a moving subject. But if it is static, and if the camera remains trained, you could eliminate the shutter vibration from mirror movement. I used this technique all of the time with my Rollei 6008, on a tripod but never thought of it, until now, doing that handheld. Would this work with the S? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjrp Posted November 8, 2015 Share #6 Posted November 8, 2015 Personally I have never once seen a frame from either the 006 or 007 that has suffered with any form of vibration from the mirror mechanism, it's pretty well dampened on the 006 and even better on the 007. I wouldn't worry about it, I know the minimum shutter speed I can hand hold at and then underexpose if I need slower and am at my ISO limit. From practical experience it's just not an issue for me. Mat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
topoxforddoc Posted November 8, 2015 Share #7 Posted November 8, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Ok, here are a couple of concert shots taken from back stage at the Lunar Festival, UK, at about 10pm. It's dark outside in the audience,and the stage wasn't greatly lit either for Public Service Broadcasting, who were on stage at that point. Hand held S(006) 120 CS at ISO 800 - first one is a straight mono conversions in LR 5.5 and the second is in LR5.5 & SFx Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/252738-black-and-white-file-conversions/?do=findComment&comment=2923980'>More sharing options...
Deliberate1 Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted November 8, 2015 Charlie, appreciate those handsome images. Impressive for hand held at high ISO (for an S). If I may ask, how was the quality of the color files? David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
topoxforddoc Posted November 8, 2015 Share #9 Posted November 8, 2015 Hi David, Here are the LR jpeg conversions of the straight DNG S(006) files for these two images. Being stage lighting, you get all sorts of colour lights Not the most promising starting material. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/252738-black-and-white-file-conversions/?do=findComment&comment=2924033'>More sharing options...
Deliberate1 Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share #10 Posted November 8, 2015 Charlie, b&w for certain.... Still, these are much cleaner files than I could have achieved with my M9 at 800. There would have been much nastiness in the shadows. Curious if you had to intentionally underexpose to maintain a practical shutter speed, and then pull shadows up in LR, which is what I end up doing with the M9 in similar circumstances. Or I just leave it in my bag. Cheers, David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Printmaker Posted November 9, 2015 Share #11 Posted November 9, 2015 This is not exactly a M9 to S comparison because I used my Monochrom for the second image.The first is from my S2. In many ways I like the quality of S2 conversions better than the Monochrom files. Backstory: we had 12 hurricanes and tropical storms come within 200 miles of the island this year. A few came too close for comfort. I started shooting the big waves from the south point of the island in the spring and by September I had quite a collection. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/252738-black-and-white-file-conversions/?do=findComment&comment=2924161'>More sharing options...
Printmaker Posted November 9, 2015 Share #12 Posted November 9, 2015 Oh yeah, I used a 70 mm on the S2 and 50 Summicron on the Monochrom. A little close but I had my wife keep an eye out for the next wave coming. These waves were in the 25 to 30 foot range. The North Shore sees 40 to 60 footers some winters. These waves were in Poipu, Kauai. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus2000 Posted November 9, 2015 Share #13 Posted November 9, 2015 I find the S2 can produce decent results up to iso 1250 for some occasions at least. I think the S006 is a stop better.The first is an example from the S2 at iso 1250. I love the B/W conversions from the S2 by the way. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/252738-black-and-white-file-conversions/?do=findComment&comment=2924168'>More sharing options...
Daedalus2000 Posted November 9, 2015 Share #14 Posted November 9, 2015 And here is an extreme example of pushing a iso 1250 file, 3 stops in Lightroom (e.g equivalent to iso 10000). Please ignore the small depth of field, I was playing with a macro lens in the evening... Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/252738-black-and-white-file-conversions/?do=findComment&comment=2924169'>More sharing options...
Deliberate1 Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share #15 Posted November 9, 2015 Oh yeah, I used a 70 mm on the S2 and 50 Summicron on the Monochrom. A little close but I had my wife keep an eye out for the next wave coming. These waves were in the 25 to 30 foot range. The North Shore sees 40 to 60 footers some winters. These waves were in Poipu, Kauai. Ya, I was going to ask if you shot that with some 600mm bazooka, with a couple of magnifiers, just for safety's sake. I mean, how could you put your rig in jeopardy, like that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deliberate1 Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share #16 Posted November 9, 2015 And here is an extreme example of pushing a iso 1250 file, 3 stops in Lightroom (e.g equivalent to iso 10000). Please ignore the small depth of field, I was playing with a macro lens in the evening... Really impressive. Again, I guess I have underestimated the low light limits of the S. I From what I read, it seemed to me to be just a bigger M9 CCD sensor, but with similar shooting parameters. Not so. The images you folks have kindly posted show a remarkable DR and file resiliency that is in a different league than my M9 output. Daedalus2000, I am amazed by the integrity of the shadow areas in your first shot. No noise - even at 1250. And solid color fidelity at a ISO10000 equivalent. Remarkable. Many thanks. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Printmaker Posted November 9, 2015 Share #17 Posted November 9, 2015 Ya, I was going to ask if you shot that with some 600mm bazooka, with a couple of magnifiers, just for safety's sake. I mean, how could you put your rig in jeopardy, like that I decided to only use the 50 mm lens with the Monochrom. Sometimes it means that I'm standing in the surf. ie Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/252738-black-and-white-file-conversions/?do=findComment&comment=2924195'>More sharing options...
Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS Posted November 9, 2015 Share #18 Posted November 9, 2015 The S makes the Leica monochrom redundant S files converted to B&W will blow away the MM files [emoji3] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Printmaker Posted November 9, 2015 Share #19 Posted November 9, 2015 Neil is right. The S2 B&W conversions are richer and smoother than Monochrom files.Absolutely delightful to process and print. But redundant? No. Nothing shoots like a Monochrom. For example, you can shoot with both eyes open with M type cameras. Just another reason why you should consider keeping your M9 while still acquiring an S type. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manolo Laguillo Posted November 9, 2015 Share #20 Posted November 9, 2015 The S makes the Leica monochrom redundant S files converted to B&W will blow away the MM files [emoji3] mmmh, can´t exactly agree... the MM is smaller, lighter, quicker than the S... there are situations the MM can easily manage, and the S not... now I have the M246, which is much better (because of the shutter, high ISO, live view), and therefore even less redundant Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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