20D new user. why are my raw b+w pics coming up in color in photoshop?

[randy_almquist]

i just started downloading my first card with pics from my new 20d and

when i download the b+w pics shot in camera the raw images are in

color and the jpegs are in b+w, whats up? i have downloaded the raw

2.4 from adobe and think i installed properly not aure whats wrong!

[dpowis]

RAW files are always in color.

The B&W option you chose applies to the processed files, i.e. the JPEGs.

 

Hope this helps

 

Daniel

[randy_almquist]

so then how do i get a raw file turned into black and white, does it all have to be done manually? if i use a filter like red on b+w does that effect the raw file?

[goulden]

a raw file is just that, raw. it contains all the data which came into the camera at the time you took the picture, so it will always contain colour data. When you open it using whatever software you choose, you select all the parameters such as white balance, contrast etc at that point you can convert it to black and white

 

do any search on photo.net or google and it will come up with hundreds or thousands of explainations about what info raw files contain and how to process them

[phil vaughan - yorkshire u]

If you open it in DPP, you will be able to choose to process it with the shot settings IIRC. However the B&W modes aren't really for RAW shooters, you are much better off processing to B&W in Photoshop using channel mixer.

[henry_minsky1]

Hey, the new Picasa 2 (free from Google) has a cool B&W processing option, it lets you slide the mouse over a color palette, and choose the color and amount of the filter you use, in realtime.

 

Picasa works on JPEGs only, I believe. But I think it's a great alternative to doing B&W in-camera.

[mendel_leisk]

"so then how do i get a raw file turned into black and white, does it all have to be done manually?"

 

Just shoot snow scenes at dusk, formal do's with everyone in tux's, penguins, extreme close-ups of golf balls, and the like.

 

I'm sorry, leaving now. :)

[awindsor]

The question is not why is there colour data in the RAW file nor how to convert RAW files but why ACR does not convert using the settings recorded in the RAW file ! The short answer is that ACRs 20D support seems incomplete. The 20D is the only Canon dSLR with the black and white modes.

 

The EOS Viewer contains the B&W settings for converting RAW files and probably respects the settings of the camera (I don't shoot B&W using the B&W modes so I haven't tried). Unfortunately it seems that ACR does not do this. UsinUnfortunately the EOS Viewer does not handle batch processing gracefully nor does it have as many options as ACR. DPP does not seem to contain the 20D B&W options.

 

You can certainly get greater control by converting the colour image in PS but you pay a cost in time spent post processing.

[west_cork]

Picture Window Pro converts colour to BW well - you can use a colour wheel and chose the filter colour - costs about 100 dollars. I've found it able to open Raw files direct from the camera, although I haven't worked with them much.

[doug_landrum]

I did some head shots for my son's high school musical using the 20D B&W parameter. I forgot to switch to JPEG on the make up night - I usually shoot RAW files. Even though the shots appeared in color on DPP, they appeared in B&W on the thumbnails of the EOS Viewer utility as I expected them to look using the B&W mode. I selected the batch of photos that I fouled up and then used the EOS Viewer Convert and Save function. Here is how to recover your B&W shots as JPEGS on a Windows based maching:

 

Create a unique destination folder.

 

Open the EOS Viewer Utility.

 

Batch select your RAW files appearing B&W.

 

Go to "File".

 

Click on "Convert and Save in file . . ."

 

Click the "Save in following specified folder" radio button.

 

Click "Browse."

 

Browse to the destination folder and click it. The folder should appear next to the "Browse" button.

 

For output settings, I selected JPEG, 4(Highest Image Quality) and 584 pixels/inch - that gives you a 4X6 image from an EOS 20D file.

 

Check "Do not modify" in File Name.

 

Click OK.

 

Now when you open the JPEGS in Photoshop, they will be in B&W. I can't claim that the images would be the same as JPEGS out of the camera but mine looked like the effect that I desired.

 

Good luck.

[bob_a]

You probably don't need RAW if you have to ask, shoot jpegs until you're comfortable with what you're doing. Chances are, the in-camera jpeg algorithms will do a better (and much quicker) job than you in PS - at least in my case. I do keep RAWs of "important shots", however most of the time in-camera jpegs are just fine. Good luck