Raw + jpeg b&w

Eye-level

Banned
I know not many here shoot in B&W but I was wondering if you did what do you think about shooting RAW + Jpeg set to B&W? With this approach maybe it could help one get a better exposure as you could instantly see how the dark and light areas are balanced and how they interact. So when you "found" a good one you could easily bring back the color through the RAW file.

What do you think? Is it even possible to set our cameras up this way?
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
I just checked my D7000 and B&W is not one of the Quality settings... having said that... I shoot RAW to card 1, and Jpeg Fine to card 2...

I also use Topaz' B&W plug-in with LR4... and get a brazzillion presets...
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Oh!! Monochrome simply desaturates, and if I'm shooting with B&W in mind I have too many other things going thru my head (contrast enhancement, filters, etc.) that looking at a B&W would probably confuse me. LOL
 
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Oh!! Monochrome simply desaturates, and if I'm shooting with B&W in mind I have too many other things going thru my head (contrast enhancement, filters, etc.) that looking at a B&W would probably confuse me. LOL

I have not done any B&W yet to amount to anything. I have been playing this morning in Photoshop with converting to B&W to get the results I wanted to make it look like what I did in the darkroom many eons ago.

D5100_00405.jpg
 
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RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
I know not many here shoot in B&W but I was wondering if you did what do you think about shooting RAW + Jpeg set to B&W? With this approach maybe it could help one get a better exposure as you could instantly see how the dark and light areas are balanced and how they interact. So when you "found" a good one you could easily bring back the color through the RAW file.

What do you think? Is it even possible to set our cameras up this way?

Jeff, I am not an expert but I just shoot raw and do not worry about it. I see an old building, I will say "hmmm.. maybe b&w) and take the shot!

There is so much you can do in postprocessing.. I have not seen an advantage for me to shoot both raw & jpeg.

Just the rookies opinion...

Pat in NH
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
Let's talk about this...

B&W is about the whites... too much light, and the sensor blows out, and detail gets lost in the white... so you want as much white as you can get without blowin' the sensor and losing detail..... That means, if we can just get to the point where the white blows out, and then back off...(every sensor being different) then we'd retain all the detail without being lost.

In practice, you can set your review screen to chimp the shot, see if the highlights are blown( the flickering) dial down the light (using whatever you like, ISO, Aperture or speed) and then re-take the shot until the flickering just goes away... At that point, your exposure should be right on...

And when you convert the RAW to B&W, the whites should be perfect... and the same with the color...
 

Eye-level

Banned
I was trying to come up with a way to make B&W useful to myself...haha

I appreciate the comments...I need to experiment with it a little further...
 

LensWork

Senior Member
It is not necessary to shoot Raw+JPEG to get both color and B&W versions of the same image. If you set your picture control to Monochrome, the small JPEG that is created to be viewed on your camera's monitor will be B&W. Your camera's monitor is incapable of displaying a raw image so the camera creates a JPEG as part of the original RAW file so that it can be viewed on the camera's monitor. The JPEG that is created is not a separate file that is saved, just a viewable version that is embedded in the Raw file (this JPEG is also what is viewed when you view the image in Windows Explorer).

The Raw file is unprocessed data and the Picture Control setting only effects how that raw data is displayed when using Nikon software. All of the color information is recorded in the raw file regardless of the Picture Control setting. Using Nikon software you can change the Picture Control, white balance, exposure, etc. without is having any effect on the original raw data file. From within Nikon Capture NX2 you can save different versions of the instruction set used to display the image (monochrome, vivid, etc.). These versions are not completely new files , just differing instructions for NX2 on how to display the image. These additional instructions sets are only a few KB and have no impact on the original image (unless you make the mistake of "Save As" instead of just "Save").

If you need have a print made of the raw file, or post it to the web, then you select "Save as" and choose JPEG (or TIFF for some print applications). This creates a new file with all of your edits, Picture Control setting, etc. applied and saved as a printable/web viewable file.
 
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