p.4 #1 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
Another point not mentioned for digital B&W: pixel pitch IMHO does affect the quality of the output. A high quantity of smaller pixels leads to better tonality and smoother tonal transitions, but fatter pixels render better --or at least more film-like-- high-contrast edge transitions. Hence the two traits tend to fight each other during conversion, requiring not only careful clarity and contrast tweaks, but also careful application of color sensitivity/filter-pack settings. These can be tweaked in most contemporary cameras, but unfortunately I find there's usually not one sauce that suits all images -- hence it's done during raw conversion for me. (Yes, I still sometimes shoot in mono so I get to preview that way in the VF, but I still post process raws to my mono finals.)
Part 2 is I've really never seen a good digital replication of mono film's halation effects where digital grain is or at least can be pretty good. And for whatever reason, at least for me, it's good halation emulation that's mostly missing in any direct or "in-cam" mono digital conversion.
p.4 #3 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
DenverSteve wrote:
Or you can just shoot Leica Monochrome cameras or Leica bodies with B&W and B&W HC.
I do appreciate the enhanced detail from true monochrome cameras for sure. The only nit I have is the need to use filters during capture as we did years ago in order to get the separations we want. One big advantage to digital color conversions is being able to determine that after the fact; albeit at a net loss of resolution for any given sensor size in mono...
p.4 #4 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
Jack Flesher wrote:
I do appreciate the enhanced detail from true monochrome cameras for sure. The only nit I have is the need to use filters during capture as we did years ago in order to get the separations we want. One big advantage to digital color conversions is being able to determine that after the fact; albeit at a net loss of resolution for any given sensor size in mono...
Agree. That's why I shoot all personal work in JPEG B&W/Mono and DNG. That way I can visualize/compose in B&W and capture JPEG for evaluation and then work an image, where appropriate, from the RAW files.
p.4 #5 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
Jack Flesher wrote:
I've really never seen a good digital replication of mono film's halation effects where digital grain is or at least can be pretty good. And for whatever reason, at least for me, it's good halation emulation that's mostly missing in any direct or "in-cam" mono digital conversion.
You mentioned why you like RAW. But I don't think you specifically said RAW helps with halation, or gets halation to look the way you want. Is this another reason to shoot RAW?
p.4 #6 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
Rainbow Chaser wrote:
You mentioned why you like RAW. But I don't think you specifically said RAW helps with halation, or gets halation to look the way you want. Is this another reason to shoot RAW?
So I can add the color filtration that renders the mono tonality I want during the mono conversion.
The best emulation for halation I have found are using very light diffusion filters during capture. The hardest part is getting one that’s just strong enough to register a subtle halation glow and shadow softening in lower light conditions, but not so strong it inordinately affects sharpness. And in this, every focal length requires a different strength, stronger as you go wider, so they’re not really suitable except on primes; or possibly zooms where you plan to be in a relatively narrow focal range.
p.4 #7 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
RoamingScott wrote:
1) he was saying YOUR post was off-topic
2) you most certainly don't have to upload photos here to share them, which you'd think one would discover over the course of 5 years but here we are
I guess if I stick with it long enough, I can hit on the right combination. I shoot everything on B&W HC on Leicas (JPEG) and also capture DNG. These are from JPEGs. Oct 08, 2025 at 05:54 PM
p.4 #8 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
Jack Flesher wrote:
So I can add the color filtration that renders the mono tonality I want during the mono conversion.
The best emulation for halation I have found are using very light diffusion filters during capture. The hardest part is getting one that’s just strong enough to register a subtle halation glow and shadow softening in lower light conditions, but not so strong it inordinately affects sharpness. And in this, every focal length requires a different strength, stronger as you go wider, so they’re not really suitable except on primes; or possibly zooms where you plan to be in a relatively narrow focal range. ...Show more →
Have you experimented with the Halation and Bloom controls in Dehancer out of curiosity?
There are a lot of settings for Halation and Bloom (plus film grain and other traditional film/print/darkroom emulation settings) so pretty much any effect or strength is possible. Thy do have a free trial but the plugin has become fairly expensive. I think it was a bit cheaper not so long ago.
p.4 #11 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
@Tariq Gibran the "quote" button isn't working right now, why I named you. Anyway I looked at the samples and yeah, they look like other digital halation attempts I've seen, meaning not quite right. Halation haloes are not consistent, meaning they bleed differentially into adjacent tones depending on that particular tones density. That's the first giveaway on this tool. Next, the way diffusion fills shadows is variable as well, and this tool applies it more globally. It's better than nothing, but to my eyes, not really believable --or at least not to my tastes-- as it looks digital as opposed to old school organic. But thanks for sharing.
p.4 #12 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
I dont want to start a new thread so Im asking here. I repeatedly read that B/W only cameras like monochrome Leicas deliver raw-files that are better when processing, but if you prefer to use your photos straight out of the camera in Jpeg format is there still an advantage?
p.4 #13 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
It's been almost a year since acquiring my M11-D, love it both for color and BW conversations.
The best conversion software for me has been Silver EFex pro. My other casual camera is the X100VI which I either run thru a custom recipe or I also push it thru silver efex pro.
Now, when I go out wanting to make BW images exclusively, I do take a character lens such as the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 classic or similar which puts me in that particular mindset.
p.4 #14 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
@Jepser yes, there are still advantages even when shooting JPEG. Noise from higher ISOs isn't as evident or distracting to my eye. Removing the CFA from the path between the lens and the sensor increases sensitivity by about a stop and increases resolution. The downside is the sensor is effectively daylight-balanced, so, if the light isn't 5500K, then there will be shifts in the grayscale of your results that can turn whites and blacks into muddied tones. You either need to compensate for that with a color correction filter or learn to process mono images to compensate. You'll likely also want to use color filters for contrast manipulation (who doesn't love the darkened skies and foliage of a landscape taken with a red filter?) and they all impact transmission, negating your stop advantage. And since you are using them to manipulate contrast, you're also impacting resolution, so how much of an advantage you retain over a color conversion is going to be situational.
I know Monochrom and mono conversion owners who don't bother with filters and rely on their post skills alone, so they can maintain the transmission advantage in shooting (I've done that). There are also people who don't bother with either and rely on using film filter packs and some minor contrast adjustments in software like SilverEfex (I've done that, too), but I find the most satisfying thing for me is to get it as right as I can in camera, and that necessitates filters. So the big advantage to me is the ability to shoot higher ISOs without as big an impact to the resulting image, and I shoot RAW. If I were shooting JPEG, I'd feel like the filters were more a requirement than an option that saves time in post. Just my opinion, of course.
p.4 #15 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
Jepser posted: "I dont want to start a new thread so Im asking here. I repeatedly read that B/W only cameras like monochrome Leicas deliver raw-files that are better when processing, but if you prefer to use your photos straight out of the camera in Jpeg format is there still an advantage?"
I've not found any advantage. For me it's actually more limiting. Being able to compose and "see" in B&W and capture B&W in JPEG and full-sensor w/color in DNG is a win/win. I have the monochrome JPEG - which are always gorgeous - and DNG which can be worked with in color or black and white.
p.4 #16 · Your Favorite Color Camera, for Mono Images ...
1bwana1 wrote:
I have been happy with my M11 monotone conversions. I had a M10-M for a while but didn't find the difference in most conditions to be worth keeping it so I sold it. I found that the real advantage of the M10-M was in very low light situations. In post I found having access to individual color channels to be a ln advantage for the M11 files.
Absolutely. I like converting files from the M11. But lately, I've been shooting at night more and more. And even with 50 0.95 at 1/1000s, I need up to ISO 16000, which is too low on a color M11. I'm still resisting buying the M11M
Oct 08, 2025 at 05:54 PM