Black and White mode with D70?

Morning all,

 

I am a new owner of a D70, and very new to digital photography. While in the

process of setting up my camera, I couldn't find an option for shooting in

black and white. Does the D70 not support such a feature? My cheap Panasonic

point n' shoot digital camera has a b & w function, so I "assumed" the higher-

end Nikon would also have it available. Was I mistaken?

 

Thanks.

The D70 does not have a B&W mode. There is one on the D200, but you're better off converting to B&W in Photoshop anyway.

I'm not positive but there SHOULD be a B&W setting... HOWEVER, you will get considerably better results if you shoot everything in color and use Photoshop to convert the images to B&W... The algorithms within the camera are far inferior to the capabilities of Photoshop or whatever software you use for post-processing.

Like Alan said, there is no B&W mode on the D70. If you want an easy way to convert to B&W, get a plug-in to go along with whatever processing software you have. I have the simple and cheap Elements 2.0 with a $39.00 Photokit Sharpener for Elements 2.0 plug-in. I like how easy it is to convert to B&W, sharpen, reduce noise etc., etc.

Thanks for the suggestions. I currently use Paintshop Pro X for my photo editing, so I'll try the greyscale conversion feature for B & W images.

 

Would it be better to shoot in RAW mode, if I plan to convert the image to black and white? I currently have the camera settings for JPEG, Fine, and Large files.................

 

Thanks again for all the help!

There are several ways to convert to B&W: grayscale, desaturate and channel mixer. Each has its pros and cons. Grayscale and desaturate are fast and easy, but the channel mixer will give you the most control over how your B&W image will look like. Some printers handle grayscale extremely poorly.

so I "assumed" the higher- end Nikon would also have it available. Was I mistaken?" - you were perhaps mistaken by assuming that D70 was a high end camera.

Frank... Read closely: high-ER end. The D70 may not be the ubercool rich man's toy, but it's certainly a decent camera that's high-ER end machine than a P&S.

Frank .... ditto what Christopher said! Everything is relative, one man's '91' Chevy Cavalier is another man's Rolls Royce, don't be such an elitist rascal.

Craig-when I got my D-70, I was surprised to see that there was no black and white setting; especially as my Coolpix had one. I then realized/learned that the assumption was that those using higher end cameras (dslr's) would use software such as photoshop to process black and white images. In theory, one is better off shooting in colour and then printing in black and white anyway rather than shooting and printing in black and white as the camera will capture a broader range shooting in colour . Try taking the photograph and, if you don't have photoshop or photoshop elements, just print using the black ink only setting on your printer-you'll probably be happy with the results. regards and happy shooting! cb