[Digikam-users] Black and white images

[Vasilis Yiannakos]

Sorry, maybe it's my fault not to mention that I do not compare the raw
bw with the one generated by digikam processing.... 
When it has to do with bw conversion, I do it either in Photoshop with
the famous Russel Brown technique, or (and better) in Adobe Lightroom,
by working directly on the raw. These results are far superior to any
in-camera processing that I have seen (non only in my cameras)
Unfortunately all open source raw converters can't do very well the job
(yet). And yes, when it come to new DSLRs (like your canon 50D, my
Olympus E-3 etc) in camera bw raw processing is fairly good. But when
you have the FULL color information available, you can ALWAYS try
different process methods to get what every time YOU want ;-)

So, actually, my opinion is that it is wise to have the full color
information available, so that you can work on it as you want. When you
shoot directly to bw, you lose some information, so your work
possibilities are less. Fortunately, when you shoot raw, you have all
the information available when you want it :-)


________________________________________________________________________

Vasilis Yiannakos
billyiannakos(at)gmail.com
www.yiannakos.gr
oximata.yiannakos.gr
Athens, Hellas 

On Sat, 2010-01-30 at 02:14 -0800, davidvincentjones wrote:

> I am not sure what you mean (or imply) by "random". I am usaware of anything
> random in my raw data and I would never 'hang my hat' on  the JPG format.
> 
> I am using a Canon 50D and when I use the B/W setting my tests indicate
> better results than shooting in Color and then converting. I do not use the
> DK 'filtering' or other options; they do not appear to be helpful personally
> for me.
> 
> In most instances I find very 'acceptable' results using DK although I must
> admit to using UFRaw for some batch work and on rare occasions I use
> CinePaint for part of the process when dealing with extremly difficult
> highlights and if I am pushed into "dodging and burning".  I do not
> subscribe to Gimp due to the 8 bit limitation which becomes, to me, quite
> apparent in monochrome.
> 
> For me, there is an entirely different 'feel' in working in the B/W mode
> that I am better able to capture with the 'long shoulder' and B/W settings
> on my camera. ... maybe that's just me.
> 
> I  am fairly comfortable sticking, for the most part, with DK for both
> monochrome as well as color. A little more sophisticated adjustment in some
> areas of luminescence would be most welcome for sure .... but I am sure that
> it will come in good time. After 50 years in a darkroom, DK is a real
> winner.
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