How do you take B&W pictures?

<p>This may sound a dumb question but how do you that? I am trying to learn the E-PL3 that I just bought but I suppose it applies to any digital camera. I understand you can always do it after the fact but is there a way to take pictures in B&W in-camera?</p>

<p>Specs for the E-PL3 show "Art 3" should be grainy b&w. I'm not sure whether it offers more monochrome modes.</p>

<p>Some digicams offer a variety of monochrome modes, some don't. My Nikon D2H dSLR does not so I convert in editing. My Nikon V1 has excellent in-camera b&w modes for JPEGs and I use them often, including the in-camera "contrast control" filters.</p>

<p>Try Picasa for quickie edits. The b&w filter option is very good -- it's easy to see how the various color filters affect the monochrome versions. It works just like using a yellow, orange, green, red, etc., filter over the lens with b&w film. Unless you need noise reduction for raw files, Picasa is pretty good and a great value - free.</p>

<p>Set your picture mode to monotone....your JPEGs will come out in monotone while your RAW files will be in color. Although I have an E-PL2, I understand those features are essentially identical in the E-PL3. The best way to learn your new camera's features, BTW, is to thoroughly read the manual, and then practice using some of the different modes and features...it takes a little while to do, but you can quickly master the features...but you do need to read and reread the instruction manual.</p>

<p>While you certainly can, I'm not certain you should work "in-camera," versus in post processing. Without knowing all the details of exactly what the camera does, I suspect overall quality will be considerably better if you use RAW and convert later. I have used Lightroom, Photoshop, and Silver Effex from Nik. All work reasonably well and Silver Effex has the most control. Good luck.</p>

<p>I shoot primarily black & white with my Pentax K-01 mirrorless. I set the camera to RAW+JPEG so I have the colour raw files to fall back on if needed. But the in-camera black & white results are great, and I love being able to compose in black & white, and see the black & white image immediately.<br>

I have the image controls and in-camera filtering set to give me black & white JPEGs, usually with a red or yellow contrast control filter, and a tiny bit of warmth added. To my eye, the results look very much like T-Max, printed onto warmtone paper. It's a lovely look. In hundreds and hundreds of exposures, only once have I gone into the RAW file and re-done the black & white conversion myself.</p>

<p>I agree with David. The big advantage of Mirrorless is to be able to see the B&W photo before you push the button and make adjustments. I use B&W or Sepia mode. My older Panasonics (Lumixes?) have a particularly useful "Smooth B&W" mode. </p>

<p>It's easy to use in-camera JPEGs with pre-cooked effects. Just think like you did when shooting film, rather than how you'll adjust it later. Once you're familiar with the quirks of an art filter or how an in-camera monochrome conversion will render colors into shades of gray, it's easy to visualize the end product. It's not much different from shooting color slides or negative film, or C-41 monochrome film. However it's not quite like shooting b&w negative film and working darkroom magic on the prints.</p>

<p>And if you don't like the JPEGs, there's still the raw file to edit later. Assuming the camera can record raw and JPEG simultaneously. Not all do.</p>

<p>I do occasionally use something like Ilford XP2 black and white film in film cameras because of its lovely tones, but for digital it makes sense to shoot in RAW so that when you convert to monochrome imagery in post processing you have the full array of data to work on - color channels, emphasis on some part of the spectrum (called "filters" in film days), and so on.</p>

<p>Even for my beloved old film cameras, I usually shoot color negative film and convert to monochrome as I would for an originally digital image.</p>

<p>There were people who suggested the 'shoot color' for B&W imagery even in film days, but the darned orange, etc., masking on the negatives was troublesome.</p>

Some cameras have "in camera" modes designed to mimic particular black and white films, but I find I get better quality

from post processing raws. On the other hand, seeing a decent black and white picture in the camera would make

visualization easier so if I had an appropriate camera that could take both raws and jpegs and the black and white mode

was decent, I might select both and use the jpegs just for an idea of what the output might be while post-processing to get

the real things.

 

Think about it. The raw colors, plus manipulation of the channels of the color image means that you can retroactively use

various color filters to manipulate the black and white film instead of thinking of it all before hand. It's pretty neat to be

able to do that sitting in front of your computer instead of at the site of the photo.

Would a red color filter used in digital color camera or in post on a digital color shot converted to B/W darken the sky

the same way a red filter does when shooting B/W film?

<blockquote>

<p>"Would a red color filter used in digital color camera or in post on a digital color shot converted to B/W darken the sky the same way a red filter does when shooting B/W film?"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yes, but skip the red filter on the lens. Do adjustments in editing from the raw full color file without filters. You may need to adjust the color channels to emulate the look of a particular panchromatic b&w film, since they vary in spectral sensitivity.</p>

The reason I asked was because I noticed that blue sky comes out very grainy looking when you try to darken them in post. How do you

overcome that?

<p>[[The reason I asked was because I noticed that blue sky comes out very grainy looking when you try to darken them in post. How do you overcome that?]]</p>

<p>Unless you're shooting with a really wide lens, where the change in effect would be seen across the sky, I would recommend a polarizing filter. I use one quite often when shooting digital B&W for darkening skies. </p>