Is there ANY reason to shoot at B/W (Monochrome) mode ?

ok, the files will be smaller, but refering to quality only, is there

any reason at all to shoot at Black and White (or Monochrome) mode if

the camera has one available? Or it is always better to shoot maximum

detailed color and then use PhotoShop?

It's always better to shoot color. Using Photoshop, you can then simulate different color filters easily. Otherwise, you're stuck with the camera's way of desaturating the image.

 

Take a look at

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/talkshop/BW/monochrome.htm

for an example.

it is a matter of taste....one difference though that might be worth trying is to turn your camera to BW mode. You then see the image in black and white, something you cant do with a film SLR, at least I am not aware how you would do it. So for at least a somewhat better appreciation of how the shot will look in BW, you could employ this technique.

 

You might even take a shot for reference.

 

Then switch over and take the shot in colour. And process it to BW.

 

I find with my Coolpix 5700 set to BW and ISO 400 or 800 I personally like the result of shooting BW in the camera. But I may be nuts.

Shooting in color mode leaves all of your options open - the end

result may indeed communicate better in color. Also, there are

many ways of getting to B&W in photoshop - and only one in your

camera.<BR>

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To make a good B&W picture, you must think of it in B&W. If shooting it in this way helps you get a better image, then by all means do it. I really wish that my Olympus E-20 viewscreen could be switched from color to B&W -- may eventually have to buy a Minolta 7hi.

It's true that photos 'should' be shot in color and changed to b/w later in PS. But sometimes I just want to see the b/w right away, so I just shoot it in the camera. Not the best for quality, but sometimes the best for the shot (and for my shooting style).

There is really nothing you can tell about a B&W photo on the camera's LCD display anyway. You may as well leave all your options open and shoot the picture in colour, and then selectively remove it in Photoshop or Elements.

Is the conventional wisdom really true. One might think that you might get some better resolution in B&W mode since each pixel need only record intensity not assigned to a color. I am not sure about the details but if in color mode each pixel can only record one color shooting b&w should give you more resolution

Pierre, on my LCD I can judge the BW nature of the photo. Maybe it just doesnt work for you. And as I say all the time, I may simply be nuts. But it works in a way to help me see a final BW effort.

 

regards

Bill

To Bill Van Antwerp: I've been thinking about that, too, when I first read this post. Maybe shooting in raw mode could give you a high resolution B/W picture.

 

But our reasoning is only correct if you photograph a subject that is already B/W. Since each pixel on the sensor has a color filter, there's no way to tell if your (for example) red sensor was looking at a fully saturated green or a black surface. Both do not reflect any red light. Now, if your subject is already B/W, each sensor would pick up some information in a predictable way and you could indeed use some post processing software to convert the raw sensor data to a high resolution B/W image. Shooting an arbitrarily colored scene, in many parts only few sensor pixels would contribute meaningful information.

My experience is similar to William's. As someone who has shot tens of thousands of frames of black and white film, I still find it interesting and useful to switch to black and white for viewing. You can see some of the issues with similar tones and contrast on the screen. It's worth switching back to color for the shot since the black and white image that the camera saves is RGB and b/w mode doesn't really serve any value.