charles_hansen2 Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Being a 20D owner, I was excited to play around with my friend's 1D Mk11. I was raving how great my 20D's B&W setting is, especially with the red and other filters, and my friend seemed perplexed, as she's never seen that function on her $4,000 camera. After playing around with the camera, I too, never found the B&W setting. Is there one we both missed? If so, what's the menu navigation? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitmstr Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 It is assumed that 1D MKII users are not the sort who would use in-camera B&W conversion. Therefore, it doesn't have the feature...neither does the 1Ds MKII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 More is not always better. There are perfectly good ways of converting a color picture to B&W in PhotoShop (with much larger degree of control too). There are many good reasons to buy a $4000 camera, but automatatic converting to B&W is not one of them (or at least not the most important one). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven_palow Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 i really dont mean this to sound arrogant, but even if my camera (1ds MkII) had that feature, i wouldnt use it...and my final images rarely end up in color. shooting in color really gives me options. it even lets me see if the image is actually stronger in color. steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Yeah, that's a feature for beginners and the spec sheets. Folks with 20D's who know how to use the Channel Mixer in Photoshop have noted that the 20D's B&W mode is pretty weak anyway. B&W is always better with the channel mixer. It's like having an infinitely variable set of color filters, all of which can be applied post-exposure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward_h Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 What? After 9 newer versions the 1D still doesn't have a BW mode? Goddamn. Better dump my mark 2 and get me a 20D which already has that mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knweiss Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 The only good reason for in-camera b&w mode I can think of are the smaller file sizes of b&w images compared to color images. I.e. you could pack much more pictures on a compact flash card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger.a Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 I like it and I'm not a beginner. I seldom use colour. It only converts to BW if you shoot jpg's. I shoot Raw, which still gives a colour file, which you convert later.but the BW preview is nice. The Canon RAW conversion software does a good job most of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beauh44 Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 You might want to try <a href="http://www.theimagingfactory.com/">Convert to B&W Pro</a> by the Imaging Factory. It's a little pricey but they have a 30-day free trial. I used it for <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/3629855">this shot</a>, taken with a 1Ds2: Best wishes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Mark II? Do you mean the 1Ds II, or the 1D II, or the 50mm f/1.8 II, or the 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 II? With so many Mark II's it's hard to figure out what Mark II somebody is referring to when they say Mark II. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beauh44 Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Hi Andrew, I don't believe either of the "Mark II's" - 1D or 1Ds - support in-camera B&W like the 20D does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phule Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 There are many good reasons for a camera to have a black and white mode built in, and claiming that you wouldn't own one if it did is absurd. No one forces you to use features on a camera. Shooting RAW+JPEG but being able to see a preview of the scene in B&W is a fantastic tool. Not everyone can visualize (n) minutes or hours in front of Photoshop with the channel mixer while in the field. Given the fact that the LCD doesn't do anything to show you a final result to begin with, it's absurd to claim there is something inherently wrong with seeing an image in b&w on the LCD. If you're shooting RAW, all the color info is being recorded anyway; I don't see a compelling reason to not have it as an _option_. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moli_luo Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Now Rob, I'm sure Canon had a good reason not to include the B&W mode in their flagship camera, just as they didn't include PIC shooting modes. I'm sure there are also people out there who would like to see PIC modes on the 1Dmk2 but canon just wouldn't be targeting the right market segment by the inclusion of those features. Very same reason that most dSLR photos are not super-sharpened and super-contrasty straight out of the camera - they expect most of the people who own these cameras to do some photoshopping afterwards anyway. Of course, there are people who do like that P&S look (a guy I was reading on dpreview started a thread saying how D70 was terrible because it wasn't sharp and stuff and how his P&S was much better) but to position their products the right way, Canon might just have to make these sacrifices and alienate certain consumer groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atan Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 I own a 20D, and although I think the built-in b/w conversion is nice, I hardly use it. Alot of time I just use it so see the effect of the filters on the LCD screen but most of the conversion is done in photoshop. That's because, like many people say here, it provides better control. Thanks. atan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taner Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Here is a shot I took in color in istanbul with my XT/350D which does have an in-camera-B&W mode:<p><img src="http://www3.sympatico.ca/askintaner/photonet_post/taner-constan-026.jpg"></p>Although I like it in color, I prefer this look:<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/3624730-lg.jpg"></p>In PS, I used layers for B&W conversion; some areas of the image have a red bias, and other parts, green bias. Then I applied the sepia tone, and finally introduced some 'grain'...<p>I cannot think of many good reasons why you would want to shoot in B&W, although I must acknowledge that I prefer having my mind made up between color and B&W (as a final image after a PS conversion that is) before I take a particular shot.<p>Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beepy Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 So, shooting in color allows you to apply various Photo Filters to enhance the image and then a variety of B+W conversion attacks (from Channel Mixer, to LAB to Actions). There are some actions out there I think that emulate popular black and white film response given a color input. It's just a lot more flexible than I would think any in-camera conversion can achieve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitmstr Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 >>Not everyone can visualize (n) minutes or hours in front of Photoshop with the channel mixer while in the field<< How did you shoot B&W film? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Magically, some people's ability to visualize is dependent wholly on the film type or sensor being used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spearhead Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Post-processing to B/W is superior to any in-camera algorithm. However, that isn't relevant here - the market for the 1DMkII is sports and reportage. Virtually of sports and reportage is sent in as color, if it's going to be converted, it's done at the other end by whoever is using it. Music and Portraits Blog: Life in Portugal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phule Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 << >>Not everyone can visualize (n) minutes or hours in front of Photoshop with the channel mixer while in the field<< How did you shoot B&W film? >> It comes with experience of course. Are you claiming that someone has to have shot B&W film in order to buy this camera? There's no "experience" pill to take, and therefore one can not be expected to know what it will look like in the various permutations of "B&W" that can be produced electronicly. I'd also argue that there are a number of professional or advanced amateur photographers that have never shot B&W film (or film at all). Why should they be denied a useful feature like B&W preview in camera? Elitism like this in the world of photography is strange at best and sad at worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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