Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

If your camera can, shoot RAW and JPG and set the camera to Black and White (my Canon does) and you will see the picture in B&W. The camera will give you a B&W JPG picture and a color RAW to work with, or work the B&W. Seeing the picture in B&W will help you understand a B&W picture. Shadings not color, it's differant.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

As you see, there are lots of ways to approach this. Each of us who has replied has done so based on our own experience, our own process, and our own expectations of results. We don't know much about yours, and that's OK, too.

There are a lot of benefits of having a raw file exposed at the base ISO of your camera with 10 or 12 or maybe 14 stops of dynamic range. I've also made some 7 shot HDR stacks with about the same amount of range in B&W JPEGS shot at much higher ISOs. I've been playing lately with JPEGs (B&W and color) made using the Active D Lighting that is available on some Nikon cameras (and I'm sure on other brands under a different name). When that function is set to maximum, it allows the camera to capture about 10 stops of range in either a B&W or color JPEG, about the same as the best monochrome negatives. That leaves a surprising amount of room in a single exposure to make adjustments to the final printable 7 or 8 stop image that most printers can produce.

I suggest starting with whatever process is most comfortable to you. As you complete your initial images, pay attention to whether they are capturing andn conveying what you had envisioned. If not, do some concentrated work on learning to visualize black and white images. For this, I would suggest setting the camera to monochrome, taking lots of images, and reviewing the exposures while you are still in position to compare them to your original scene and your expected result.

Good luck as you pursue this adventure.

rodbarr Loc: Maryland

You have FAR more control of your image if you shoot in color and then convert to B&W, but not if you choose to do a mass desaturation.

Robert MAYVILLE Loc: Ohio

I love shooting B&W!!!! I do it all in camera, love the Fuji Recipes!!! Love what I get right out of camera

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I notice you are new here. If you get into the habit of clicking on Quote Reply before answering it will let us all know who you are talking to/answering. As is, with your post we have no idea. Believe me, it helps keep the thread straightened out when you get over a few pages.

Welcome aboard. We look forward to seeing more of your work.

Dennis

mostsports Loc: Mid Atlantic

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The following is off subject. The advice raises a question re how one thinks in B@W vs. color. i am interested if others have had this experience:
I started by shooting slow color film. Did it for many years. When i started to shoot sports, i had to switch to faster ASA negative mono film. That continued until Kodak was offering 400, 800, and 1600 ASA color speeds. So liking color images, I returned to color. To my astonishment, i realized that i was thinking in B@W.! i had never consciously composed for mono, nor thought about it. At that Epiphany, i unfortunately never recorded the nature, extent, and substance of the revelation. Have any of the UHH Had a similar experience?

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

I shoot in RAW and color and change in PP. If you shoot in monochrome you can't change back to color.

Don

PhotogHobbyist Loc: Bradford, PA

I read, here on UHH, that when you set your camera to monochrome it affects how light is recorded on the sensor and thus reducing the clarity or resolution of the image. I do not recall or completely understand the description as the person explained it. I tried to do some comparative photos and did notice some difference between the ones taken in color and desaturated and those taken with the camera set to monochrome recording. based on that I'd suggest shooting in color and then desaturating in post.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

If I decide to shoot some in black and white or am assigned a job in black and white I prefer to shoot in monochrome.

If I plan the shot in black and white, I will not regret not having don't it in colour simply because my original concept is monochromatic and I want to approach it that way and stick to the original preconception of the image.

This is not simply a philosophical approach- there's a technical aspect that stems from my black and white film experience. There are two terms that most folks associate with film and are seldom referred to in digital imaging, the are PANCHROMATIC AND ORTHOCHROMATIC. In the olden days, fils were available in both these spectral sensitivities. This provided the photograher with certain variations in renditions that were applicable to specific subject interpretations. For example, orthochromatic films were "red blind" and this rendered very robust darker skin tones that were very dramatic in low-key and theatrical portrait and character studies. Pachchromatic films provided a more authentic grayscale and special re-s sensitive pan films produced very alabaster-like skin tones.

There is also an issue of tonal separation where contrast filtration is required. For example a red able on a blue background my record in the same tone of gray so a filer would need to either dark the background or lighten the apple.

So, by shooting in monochrome, I can assess these effects add filtration when required and make certain I have the rendition I need before concluding the shoot.

I can simulate the orthochromatic effect on skin tones by shooting through a green filter. I can create an ethereal and more "creamy" skin tone with a light red filter and can address any number of merging tones and create contrast with the appropriate coloured filters. I can lighten or darken foliage, emphasize clouds and skyscapes and verify results right on the spot.

I had mentioned this online before and of course, some "professor" chimed in and said I was "too old school" and the term panchromatic" only pertain to film- not digital. Pnchroma film was supposed to be sensitive to all colours into the visible spectrum, however, some had biases and were more sensitive to daylight or artificial light and were typed and specified accordingly. The sensor is out the digital camera is supposed to be panchromatic. Frankly, I don't know if there are biases but the effect of filtration still works for me. This does not mean that I always shot with filters but if the becomes necessary, I can assess the effect right in the camera.

I am sure SOME of these effects and manipulations can be performed in post-processing or when conversions from colours are made, however, I find I get better and more predictable results in the camera.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Life is in color, but black and white is more realistic. - Samuel Fuller

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

It's not reducing clarity or resolution that is affected by shooting monochrome. It's the way the various colors are rendered into gray tones. You can control that by converting in post, but not by merely desaturating the image. That is the least sophisticated method, and offers no such control. There are numerous techniques for converting to B&W in post which do offer that control.

srt101fan

My understanding is that settings such as monochrome have NO effect on the RAW capture of the image. They only affect the JPEG generated after capture.

I hope someone knowledgeable will clarify the issue for you.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You've read and / or misunderstood complete BS readily available from the internet. The camera captures the image exactly the same as always with the output set to monochrome. The digital camera then simply converts the JPEG output to the B&W settings of the camera. Here is why the RAW is fully and exactly the same (aka dull full-color with no sharpening) even with the B&W settings active.

Quixdraw Loc: x

I found no advantage to shooting Raw. Just extra steps and a lot of time wasted. That said, I prefer taking pictures to making pictures. In film days I / We would often shoot one camera with slide or color film, another with Black & White film. It is not easy to shift the eye / brain effectively from color to value. To that end, many used a special amber / brown (for lack of a better description) filter to view subjects. Still have one, worked pretty well.
Point of it all is not doctrine or "photo theology" but getting the results you want. The very best method is the one that works well for you.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Raw isn't just a file format, it's a way of life. We see the world not through our viewfinder, but in the output of our software. In this sense, the purpose of RAW is an act of the imagination.