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Q2M and the use of Silver Efex


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I love black and white photography, but getting there with a digital camera requires a decision. Every time. Regardless of the original intent.

In an attempt to eliminate the "Color or Black and White" decision I just got a beautiful new Q2M. I bought the Monochrom version not because of some potential tonal or file quality advantage, but rather to eliminate the fatigue and uncertainty of the constant "color or B&W?" decision. I like the similarity to loading a roll of Tri-X into the M6. It's like, "There, that's what you're shooting today, now go!" :)

Typically, when I decide to convert a color image to B&W, I use Silver Efex, bringing me to the second decision...which adjustments (presets) do I start with? I'm not an artist. I don't have a "vision" for my photographs, so I like to play with different conversions in Silver Efex. It's fun but exhausting. And I tend to go overboard with processing. Sometimes this is fine, but mostly it's just too much.

So, the Q2M eliminates the color-or-b&w decision. This is great. I've noticed (after only one day, admittedly) that with the Q2M I'm not tweaking the RAW files much, and I have not yet opened a file from the Monochrom with Silver Efex. A quick "auto" adjust in Capture One and maybe a dash of exposure/contrast tweaking and I like the results.

I guess if there's a question here it would be, do you find that your black-and-white post-processing has changed dramatically after getting the Q2M (beyond just doing the color-to-b&w conversions)? Do you still find yourself using Silver Efex? I will of course be playing with all of the options as I grow into the Q2M, but I'm curious how it's affected others.

 

Jack

 

Edited by jackbaty
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Hi Jack, just exchange "Q2M" by "M10M" and I could have posted this... ;-) Guess there are quite a few similarities between the Q and the M... I do nothing to my photos, I just take them as they come out of the camera. Though I also need to delete many of them, because I am a lousy photographer... Take care Hannes

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Hi Jack.  I have the M9 and M10 monochroms, but I think that my experience applies.  Since the RAW files are absolutely flat they do require some work (unless like kegon above you prefer that look).  All black and white films have a characteristic curve and the beauty of the monochrom is that you can create any curve you want.

I suspect that the Q2M is similar to the M10M in that those files have a ton of information in them.  I found that I needed to move the sliders or adjust the curve more to achieve the same effect I got with my M9M.  So be prepared to do some heavy lifting.  I was disappointed in the M10M at first because I couldn't get the files to look like I wanted them to look, until I realized that it was just going to take a little more work.

Assuming the exposure is good, I first set white and black points in Lightroom.  That gives me the entire curve to work with.  At that point I generally play with the other tools in LR, but it that doesn't produce a satisfactory result, I go back to the step after setting white and black points and send the file to Silver Effex.  

Once in SEFx, I may run it through a few favorite presets to see how different adjustments affect the image, or I might start from scratch with the tools on the right.  Even if I use a preset, I generally make fine adjustments, then decide if I want to do anything extra, like add sepia or a border.  I've found the border burn tool in SEFx to give me better results quickly than hand burning in LR or Photoshop.  However, I generally don't find the Control Point tool very useful because it is too nonspecific.

If I'm doing a project I generally will make a preset in either LR or SEFx, or both, for a baseline consistency in the images, and then make adjustments.

By the way, if I'm just playing around, I develop this in SEFx as an 8 bit JPEG.  If I'm trying to make something to display then I will make a 16 bit TIFF.

Once back in LR I make my final adjustments.  The whole process takes me maybe 10-15 minutes.  Longer, depending on the "significance" of the image.  I have spent hours on specific images, generally over time.  I think it's important to live with a print for a while, just like with darkroom prints.

It is easy to over-process, as you mention.  Then you get that HDR look that some people like.  Ashley Gilbertson is a well-known photojournalist for the NY Times who often goes for the HDR look.

That might be more than you were asking, but some forum members ask about processing from time to time.  This is just what works for me.  

The short answer to your question is yes, the newer sensors (Q2M, M10M) provide so much information that my methods have changed in that more work is involved. It may seem like too much work to some, but for me it is a great deal of fun.

 

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I got Silver Efex recently - actually after buying the Q2M, so still a lot of learning and experimenting going on

I have found this:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160316195954/http://blog.michaeltoye.com:80/2013/04/02/leica-monochrom-workflow

...and followed some of the steps mentioned. Got the presets saved as favorites, but sometimes they don't work as well, and they still need some tweak afterwards which can be done in other software.

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18 hours ago, Likaleica said:

The short answer to your question is yes, the newer sensors (Q2M, M10M) provide so much information that my methods have changed in that more work is involved. It may seem like too much work to some, but for me it is a great deal of fun.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. It's helpful to me to hear how other people work. I feel like I'll end up with some basic adjustments in Capture One for most images, with a few that I want to "play with" going through Silver Efex. Like you said, it can be a lot of fun. I'm happy with the Q2M's elimination of the whole "should I convert this to B&W and with what?" decision for nearly every image :).

 

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17 hours ago, nwphil said:

I got Silver Efex recently - actually after buying the Q2M, so still a lot of learning and experimenting going on

I have found this:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160316195954/http://blog.michaeltoye.com:80/2013/04/02/leica-monochrom-workflow

...and followed some of the steps mentioned. Got the presets saved as favorites, but sometimes they don't work as well, and they still need some tweak afterwards which can be done in other software.

Thanks for the link!

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vor 19 Stunden schrieb Likaleica:

I found that I needed to move the sliders or adjust the curve more to achieve the same effect I got with my M9M.

Hi @Likaleica, I have to admit, I only use Apple Photos and the Monochrome files are not really supported. Could you post a couple of examples? M9M vs M10M as well as before and after post processing? Would be much appreciated... Guess I will change my mind :-) 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm a M10M shooter and may soon add a Q2M, so I think I can share my workflow. 

The Monochrom's files are really flat straight out of the camera and to my eye have no punch or emotional impact.  I don't use SilverEfx for any of my monochrome files.  Instead, I developed a Lightroom CC Classic import preset for my M10M DNGs.  I'd say this took around a month or two working with the camera and figuring out how best to achieve the look I enjoy.  My import preset is only a baseline that gets me about 85% to a finished image and from there, it's up to me to shape it into the final photo I set out to make.

I don't believe C1 has the ability to apply presets per camera when importing files, but they have styles you can create and apply.  The beauty of these presets are that you don't have to constantly export your files to other programs, if you put in just a little work in your main photo app.

I hope this helps, even though I'm late to the party 😃

Edited by Anakronox
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  • 1 month later...

I've only been using SEFx to get split-toning as I am too dumb to figure out how to do it with Capture One. I find the files out of the camera just need a small amount of tweaking - one of the reasons I bought the Q2M is because the tones are so much better than manipulated colour files - there are a few folks who can do colour conversion really well, but I am used to the tones from film and I find the conversions often look highly unnatural. To answer your question - yes - my post processing has changed - much less work with the curves, much more back to what I used to do in the film darkroom, dodging and burning.

S.

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3 hours ago, stout_trapdoor9 said:

I've only been using SEFx to get split-toning as I am too dumb to figure out how to do it with Capture One. I find the files out of the camera just need a small amount of tweaking - one of the reasons I bought the Q2M is because the tones are so much better than manipulated colour files - there are a few folks who can do colour conversion really well, but I am used to the tones from film and I find the conversions often look highly unnatural. To answer your question - yes - my post processing has changed - much less work with the curves, much more back to what I used to do in the film darkroom, dodging and burning.

S.

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

OK I thought initially 'oh just another necro post' but you make the  most important distinction possible that the crude term 'B&W' does not mean greyscale and never should it. 

Edited by 250swb
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