> On Apr 13, 2023, at 10:29 AM, Godfrey DiGiorgi <godd...@mac.com> wrote: > > I've been working with the Leica M10 Monochrom for about a year now. > > Larry has it correct ... Think of a monochrome camera's output as a simple > recording based on the sensor's spectral sensitivity curve, just as you do > with B&W film, and use B&W color filters to modify the translation of color > tones to grayscale in the same manner that you do with B&W film. > > I don't know what "technical arguments" one might have against the notion of > a monochrome camera. There are obviously trade-offs ... you don't get color > recordings, you do get more dynamic range, acutance, and an increase in > sensitivity. You don't have access to 'recovery' tools that will rebuild > detail from overexposed data in two of three channels, so getting the > exposure right without blowing highlights is important.
Basically, the technical arguments would be “are the tradeoffs worth it?”. You are losing all of your color channel information in exchange for a little bit better performance in other areas. I suspect that the improved performance (in monochrome) is about on par with the improved performance gained by shooting full frame, or about one sensor generation worth of performance. It might actually be closer to comparing one of my Miatas (Mx-5/Eunos) with my Mazda 3, or maybe comparing a Fulvia with a Mercedes. I would not want a Miata as my only car again, it has too many limitations, but for when I don’t need the room, fuel economy etc. of the 4-door hatchback, there are times when driving the Miata is more enjoyable. Similarly, when you need that last little bit of performance for a monochrome image, that you’ll be making wall sized prints out of, it’s not much more expensive than buying many of the top end Pentax lenses. > The only 'marketing choice' about it is that monochrome-only cameras have > proven to be a pretty popular niche product; offering one if you want to > cater to niche audiences is a calculation of what profit you might make from > the offering. Exactly. > > Photographically, it's just as valid a notion as only buying B&W film for > your film camera when you have a dozen choices of color film available right > alongside. And if the advantages of the monochrome-only sensor speak to your > work in a better way than B&W rendering of RGB channel data does, it's a good > choice. It’s really strange, Godfrey and I seem to basically agree on something. > > I've been rendering B&W images from color capture data for 45 years. I still > do today when I'm not using the M10-M. But that said, the output of the M10-M > puts B&W capture quality at a different level of technical quality: it makes > noticeably better quality B&W photographs compared to the best of > RGB->monochrome rendered images. I hope the Pentax KIII Mono does as well. > The monochrome-only digital camera suits me very well, but I understand > completely that it does not suit all photographers or photographic purposes. > :) > > G > >> On Apr 13, 2023, at 10:42 AM, l...@red4est.com wrote: >> >> I don't think it is firmware on this one, I think it comes down to the >> response of the silicon since it doesn't have a Bayer filter. You would have >> to choose a color filter when shooting, just as with black and white film. >> I could make all sorts of technical arguments against it, but it's really >> just a marketing choice. >> ... >> >>> On April 13, 2023 7:27:23 AM PDT, Paul Stenquist <pnstenqu...@comcast.net> >>> wrote: >>> PhotoShop is my monochrome kit. I’d rather control how the various tones >>> are rendered in grayscale rather than living it up to the camera and the >>> techs who deisgned the firmware. >>> >>> >>>>> On Apr 13, 2023, at 9:32 AM, Godfrey DiGiorgi <godd...@mac.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Nice! If they've done a good job of it, this is a much less costly entry >>>> point into a dedicated monochrome kit. >>>> >>>> It's entertaining that its announcement happened within a day of Leica's >>>> M11 Monochrom announcement, too. >>>> >>>> G >>>> >>>>> On Apr 13, 2023, at 5:14 AM, Steve Cottrell <co...@seeingeye.tv> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> https://www.dpreview.com/news/2780405465/ricoh-announces-pentax-k-3-iii-monochrome-dslr >>>> -- > -- > %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List > To unsubscribe send an email to pdml-le...@pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from ret13est -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to pdml-le...@pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
