SL2 - S Conversion from Color to B&W?

[Studiopfp]

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I recently purchased an SL2-S to take to Europe for a month, as I planned to shoot a lot at night in Paris.  I was concerned that my M246 (monochrome) only has usable ISO up to 10,000 and also that I would miss focus often at night in low light wide open.   I was very happy with the EVF on the SL2-S and image stabilization it terms of the results from my shooting on the trip.  

However, since I'm a B&W guy, I have run into trouble converting the DNG files to B&W.  My process was just to immediately go to the DEVELOP module in LRC and convert to B&W. I then tried to work with the image in PhotoShop and Nik Silver Effects.  The resulting images (particularly skin tones, or in the image below, the croissant) that I printed (Canon PRO - 1000) on Moab Exhibition Lustre are very thin and lacking in tonality.  I showed the prints to a guy who used to work for Leica and he told me that I was throwing out much of the color data when I converted directly to B&W in LRC. But I really didn't follow what he was explaining.  I'm a film guy and use the monochrome Leica, so this issue of how to convert from color RAW files to B&W is a new subject for me.  

Can anyone suggest a good link, resource, etc... on this process?  

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[250swb]

Open the colour file in Silver EFEX and not convert it to B&W in Lightroom is probably what he means, you then have the full range of adjustments available such as the B&W colour filters (yellow, orange, red etc.). You can also add tints, warm or cool.  Always keep the file as an RGB TIFF file even after conversion to B&W. Think of it this way, as a film guy you know you can use say a yellow filter to alter the tonal balance of the B&W film, but you can only do that because the world in front of you is colour. So putting the image into Silver Efex it also has to be colour or the software has far less to work with.

Edited December 15, 2022 by 250swb

[paulinmaryland]

250swb

I see, that makes sense.. I think that's the essence of what he was explaining to me, except he said to FIRST do anything needs to improve the COLOR image in LRC (exposure, white balance, etc..). Then as you say, work with the color channels in Silver Effects.  Although I might do some re-touching in Photoshop first (I prefer to dodge and burn in PS, rather than the control points in SE). 

Thank you! 

[250swb]

There are two ways of looking at it. I think if you want to save shadows and highlights it is best to do this in ACR first, but if this isn't necessary generally a slightly soft photograph is best to load into Silver Efex because it keeps all your options on the table. My workflow goes back and forth, I start out in Silver Efex, do the basic 'global' adjustments, and then go back to Photoshop for detail dodging and burning, I then go back into Silver Efex for the final work such as toning etc.

[wda]

I would experiment in LR, after creating a virtual image, by watching the effects of adjusting each colour slder in HSL panel, and see what settings give you the most satisfying monochrome image.

[LocalHero1953]

My quick approach in Lightroom is to change the 'Treatment' to B&W, then open the 'B&W' panel, which is only revealed when you select the B&W treatment. That displays the input colour sliders. If you hit the 'Auto' button it will adjust the colours to maximise contrast in the B&W image (which you can also play with yourself). I will also adjust the sliders in the Basic panel, and set a Tone Curve - usually more contrasty for B&W than colour.

As I wrote, that is my quick approach with lots of images. If I'm paying close attention to one image I will use SilverEfex as mentioned above. 

Edited December 15, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[marchyman]

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6 hours ago, paulinmaryland said:

except he said to FIRST do anything needs to improve the COLOR image in LRC (exposure, white balance, etc..).

That was advice I read somewhere on the internet years ago.   First edit the color image.   Then convert to B&W.  Then use the color sliders in the B&W panel for further tweaks.  Masking and tweaking settings can be done both before and after converting to B&W.

[paulinmaryland]

Thank you all... Have tried the various approaches suggested and can see that I have much more control over the resulting B&W image as a result.