Q with profile monochrome in DNG not shown in Lightroom

[lucat]

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Hello. I have a question. I know that DNG files are the real negative files, not final files. I have Mac LR Classic 10.2 with Camera RAW 13.2. Mac OS is 10.14.6 and Leica Q firmware is the last one.

The question is: I shot in DNG only. I shot with the in camera profile Monochrome (I see all in BW in the mirror and in the screen). When I import the file in LR, I see the +- symbol on the right corner of the image (for LR the symbol is: the image contain a develop regulation) BUT the image is in color.

I also modify the import method in LR saying Camera setting (in LR Preferences) and adding the Q with serial number in the list. 

But still nothing, no way to import the file in BW with the Leica inc camera settings.

Any suggestion please?

Many thanks for your help.

Ciao.

[jaapv]

Correct. The B&W setting of the camera is JPG. A DNG file will always contain the full data, including colour, as it is not an image file.

[lucat]

Many thanks for your reply. So you speak about the colors included in the DNG file, and there is no way to get the BW created inside the Q? The only thing is to shot all the time in colors and then convert in LR? Correct? Thanks.

[marchyman]

If you want the B&W image from the Q you will need to save both jpg and dng files and import both into lightroom.   The other choice is as you wrote,  process the dng to generate a B&W image inside of lightroom.  That is what the camera is doing when you set it to B&W.  It takes the color image and processes it into a B&W jpg.  Some can do a "better" (meaning they like the results better) job inside Lightroom or other editor.  Others thing the camera version is just fine.  Which one are you?

[jaapv]

6 hours ago, lucat said:

Many thanks for your reply. So you speak about the colors included in the DNG file, and there is no way to get the BW created inside the Q? The only thing is to shot all the time in colors and then convert in LR? Correct? Thanks.

Use the DNG+JPG  setting to create in-camera B&W JPGs. The JPGs can  be imported into LR. It is, however, preferable to do the conversion in post-processing.

[RoySmith]

Another option would be to use a Lightroom Import Preset when importing your DNGs. My Lightroom Classic 10.2 has 10 B&W profiles to choose from.

[lucat]

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Many thanks for all the reply. I notice as all of all you suggest to forget the BW inside the Q, use the color all the time and then convert with LR. I tested also the DNG+JPG but the DNG is still in color (obviously the JPG is in BW). I know that LR has many B&W profiles, but I prefer to import the RAW (I use also Canon digital from almost 20 years) and the DNG as they are from the cameras and then apply the profiles. I hoped that there could be an easy way to get the DNG in BW directly from Leica (imported in LR) without shooting in colors and then convert it. Thanks again. 

[jaapv]

Just buy a Q Monochrom...

Seriously: Use profiles to get started if you need but do develop your own workflow for best results. 

[marchyman]

8 hours ago, lucat said:

 I hoped that there could be an easy way to get the DNG in BW directly from Leica (imported in LR) without shooting in colors and then convert it. Thanks again. 

A  DNG file stores raw data and metadata from the camera.  Q raw data is a Bayer array -- cells of brighness values captured after passing though a Bayer filter with it's red, green, and blue filters.   There is no such thing as B&W raw data on cameras with a Bayer filter, only cells of brightness that must be be demosaiced to generate either a color or a B&W image.

The camera could, if it had enough processing power,  create a linear DNG containing only the B&W data.   The file would be a DNG, but not the raw data from the camera.  Information would be lost.

[lucat]

Many thanks for all the technical reply I received. So my way is to go on to shot in color in DNG and then after the import in LR convert it and fix it in BW. I read there is no way to get the camera profile for Leica Q, example Canon has the camera profile for 1D X and 5DmkIV to use in LR shooting in RAW obviously). Many thanks for the help.