Black and whites

[SwitchFX]

Several years ago, I owned a manual SLR, I got it from a garage sale while in high school and cherished it. Now, while I don't have the SLR anymore, I remember quite often purchasing black and white film. Mostly because I really liked the B/W image scene.

So, after the digital age, and me getting ready to lay down a grand or two on equipment soon, I wanted to ask this.

What is the best method to achieve a BW image? Is it taking it in BW in camera, doing it during RAW conversion, after RAW conversion with desaturation of the image, or conversion to JPEG then using the black and white imaging tools in Photoshop CS3?

 

[craig]

Shoot the image in colour. LR allows you to use colour filters to change the tonality in a B&W image. PS does much of the same. Investigate converting to LAB when going greyscale in PS.

Love & Bass

 

[JerryPH]

I will answer the question with another question (lol)

When ever did in-camera processing provide a result superior to a shot modified in post process?

There are tons of great plug-ins out there that give some very interesting B&W effects, complete with some pretty original looking grain. Plug-ins like Alien Skin, NIK Viveza and many others, are ways that will give you the "look and feel" of various kinds of film in a pretty interesting manner that no digital camera can yet accomplish, and are a bit better than the B&W tools built into CS3, which is still better than what the camera would give you, which is basically just an image that is desaturated completely.

B&W Velvia or Kodachrome are a click away!

 

[SwitchFX]

Hmm, you definitely have a point there, Jerry. I will definitely look into those plugins you mentioned, thanks bud!

 

[DRoberts]

CS3 can give you all the play you need for B/W conversion. Can be done with B/W Conversion and Curves. After converting play with your RGB channels to get the best effects. Then you can get grain and other "retro" effects under the stock filters. The plugins are nice, but if you are on a limited budget you can get by with CS3 alone.

 

[JerryPH]

The plugins are nice, but if you are on a limited budget you can get by with CS3 alone.

Very much so. The idea behind the plug-ins is simple convenience. As I said... "one click away".

However, if your belt is sinched tight becuase someone just spent $900 for CS3 or CS4, thats all possible without the plug-ins but time and effort are required.

 

[Jaszek]

And if you shoot RAW, even with B&W set in camera, when you dump it onto the computer it will be in color.

 

[mariusz]

raw file a must - than you can use differnet methods - I quite like the new photoshop bw.

 

[Actor]

When ever did in-camera processing provide a result superior to a shot modified in post process?

Ever since 1940 when Ansel Adams published his work on the Zone System.

What's true for film is true for digital. If you know what you're doing and don't let the camera do your thinking for you, you can go into your darkroom (er, editor) with a better baseline and potentially a better print.