Q2M - a monochrome or B&W camera?

[nwphil]

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I do understand the definition of both, but is indeed a B&W array sensor - therefore a b&w  camera  I would say ( yes able to capture grades of gray  ), or a monochrome sensor as it outputs raw images in sepia, blue and selenium?

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[T25UFO]

Does it output raw images in sepia, selenium, etc?  I thought these were only available in jpeg.  I must check my camera settings 🙂

[jaapv]

4 hours ago, nwphil said:

outputs raw images in sepia, blue and selenium?

It doesn't. A  B&W array does not exist. Tinting is accomplished by converting to RGB and shifting values.

[nwphil]

4 hours ago, T25UFO said:

Does it output raw images in sepia, selenium, etc?  I thought these were only available in jpeg.  I must check my camera settings 🙂

That is what is usual for a monochrome mode with a regular  digital camera, but my olympus Pen F does both, or so I think.  I can get a b&w FIM mode that comes only as jpeg, or a monochrome image in raw

I am now confused  by Jaap comment - I was under  the impression that the Q2M's sensor did not have rgb image sensors, but come to think about it, in basic terms m white us all the colors reflected and black all absorbed 

 

Edited October 28, 2021 by nwphil

[jaapv]

No it has not, correct. The conversion to RGB  for tinting can be done by your raw converter in your computer or during the jpg processing in the camera; the raw output of the camera has no colour information - obviously. 

[Stuart Richardson]

I think there is a misunderstanding of the technology. The sensor does not sense color at all, only luminance. Photons hit the sensor and transfer their energy to the sensor, which interprets that energy into luminance information. The color of the light is not important...its energy level is. All CMOS/CCD sensors measure light energy, not color. The color filter array on color sensors is what allows color information to be read. If you look up a bayer matrix it will give you the explanation better than I could, but color is basically derived from using color filters to "guess" at the actual color in a given area of an image. If you had a bayer array with 100 pixels, your color accuracy would be low, but with millions of pixels, the accuracy is very high in most case.

As for the Q camera, I think monochrome or B&W are both fine in practice. Monochrome sounds better and is more precise, especially in German. I do think monochrome is more appropriate though, as the color of the sensor is derived by the raw processor, not by the camera. I need not necessarily be black and white...that is just the default in our culture (human culture, in this case).

[marchyman]

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On 10/28/2021 at 8:09 AM, Stuart Richardson said:

The color filter array on color sensors is what allows color information to be read.

Minor nit:  The color filter array  allows the luminance from only the filtered color to be read by each cell in the sensor.  The sensor still isn't directly recording color.

[Stuart Richardson]

Thank you! I was trying to indicate that, but I guess it was not clear...