sgpix Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 I've not long had my 5D and have been playing around with shooting RAW + Mono JPEG shots. So far, I haven't been able to better the internal B/W JPEG conversion the camera does with PSCS2 and channel mixing conversions on the RAW image. In fact, I reckon the B/W images straight out of camera are great! Am I wasting my time? Should I just accept that the Canon alogorithm does it realy well and be happy that my B/W workflow can be some far reduced?! Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam_r Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Simon,<p> Maybe it's a Canon thing. I shoot with a 350XT and I think the b+w's are great. Very smooth tonality. Here's an example:<p> <a href="http://www.pbase.com/pam_r/image/69268041">Canon 350XT b+w example</a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rquimby Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 I shoot with the EOS 30D and generally never shoot in the B&W style from the camera. There are really two reasons for this. 1. If you shoot in the B&W style, you will never have the option of the color shot, but if you shoot in color you can process both color and B&W. 2. There really are so many different effects available if you post process in Photoshop using Color Channels. IMO B&W out of the camera tends to be somewhat nutural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam_r Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 <b>"If you shoot in the B&W style, you will never have the option of the color shot, but if you shoot in color you can process both color and B&W."</b><p> Ron, if you set your camera to shoot RAW+jpg you get the best of both worlds. RAW will still be in color and the jpg in b+w. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_sokal___dallas__tx Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Can you be more specific about your B&W conversion techniques, beyond just saying that you use channel mixer? How else do you process the image? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymond_ocampo Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 I would like to know as well the best technique in creating rich-looking BW images via PS Channel Mixer. TIA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rddelliott Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Take a look at Adobe's Lightroom for processing RAW images into b/w images. Easy with great results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam_r Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 If you want to roll your own...<p> I've tried every conceivable action, method, and technique for converting in PS. The best method, by far is found at the link below. It gives total control over every aspect. I have yet to find this much control. It's not for PS beginners. But if you're familiar with adjustment layers, channel mixer, etc., give this one a try. If you're not PS proficient, run it anyway. Just play with the sliders until you get something you like ; )<p> <a href="http://www.atncentral.com/download.htm#KC_BWSelect">Kent's B+W Selective Color v4</a><p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgpix Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 Sorry to be a dullard, but I can't post any samples until I work out how to do so... give me a little while! To answer question re. conversion techniques, I have tried two: 1) open colour RAW file into PSCS2 with white bal correction and a linear curves setting, add a levels adjustment layer, then add a black nd white gradient map layer. Adjust red, green and blue levels individually until visually happy with contract and tone, then flatten image. Finally convert to grayscale from RGB. 2) open image, go to chanel mixer, set to gray, adjust channels individually as above. change image to grayscale. I admit it's pretty basic - I'm not an advanced PSCS2 user and I haven't tried selectively adjusting images with dodging/burning etc. yet... Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgpix Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 OK - here are those samples... hope this link works! http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgpix/sets/72157594405406473/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam_r Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Simon,<p> What b+w parameters do you have your camera set to? That out-of-the-camera b+w looks very dark to me. Your blue channel on this one is very noisy, best to leave that one out of the mix.<p> I did this example using your color original and the action I mentioned above. No burning/dodging, etc. Just a straight conversion (I did sharpen):<p> <a href="http://upload.pbase.com/image/71200085">Converted using Kent's Selective Color action</a><p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgpix Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 Pam - that's nice looking conversion... My camera B/W settings are out of the box (3, 0, N, N)... to be faire, the original was quite dark (I didn't exposure compensate in RAW conversion deliberately, but it was set to Auto and did add some)... Perhaps my conversion technique just needs to be better! At least by shootin RAW + JPEG I've got the options (that was the thinking, anyway) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgpix Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 BTW - downloaded that Kent's Conversion file, Pam... what do I do with it now? Can't seem to find any other similar file ytpes in the PS folders... Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam_r Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Simon,<p> <b>"I didn't exposure compensate in RAW conversion deliberately, but it was set to Auto and did add some"</b><p> Ahhh, that probably explains the difference. I don't know, maybe I'm strange, but there's something about the Canon b+w mode that I really like....that long, smooth tonal scale, very nice.<p> As for using Kent's action. Did you get it loaded into your actions palette?<br> - First, click on the arrow to open the action. Click on "Instructions" and press the play button. This will explain a little about what the action does.<br> - Start by highlighting the #1 option, "RGB Chan Mix + Selective color and press play.<br> - Follow the instructions, press continue after reading the instructions, then make adjustments to the tools as they appear.<br> - When the selective color adjustment appears, choose a color from the drop down list and play with the "Black slider" to see if that color is being affected. Adjust each slider to taste.<br> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pam_r Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Simon,<p> If you downloaded and unzipped the action, you need to place it somewhere on your hard drive and remember the location. It's not a good idea to place into the PS folder because you might lose it if you need to re-install.<p> Open PS, open the image file you want to work on. Go to Window>Actions to open the actions palette. At the top of the palette you'll see a small arrow pointing right. Right-click on it and go down to "Load actions". Navigate to where you placed the action and load it. Continue as above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgpix Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 Thank you very kindly - super-helpful! Yes, I agree - I LIKE the Canon B/W algorithm :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now