Black and White Digital Camera

[DumfriesDik]

Can I pick the brains of my learned friends please.

Aside from the super expensive cameras, do you know of any that might be affordable, sub £200 say?

I don't mind how far back in time you go, but it has to be digital and predominantly for black and white. I'm thinking Ricoh GR/mkII, but they don't come around very often nor is it exclusively B&W.

I just fancy playing with a basic or simple camera. Can anyone think of cameras I should look out for please?

Thank you.

 

[d00d]

Hi

If you're looking for small, and don't mind lack of viewfinder, the Panasonic GX800+12-32mm is a fab little toy.

I don't have one, but I do have big brother, the GX80, which is similar.

The GX800 has a great B&W shooting mode called L.Monochrome, very contrasty and can be nicely tweaked using clever in-camera raw processing.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eTqEj3PS5k&ab_channel=PanasonicEurope

 

[d00d]

A certain online dealer currently has GX800 body for £154 and 12-32 at £88

Pancake primes: 14mm & 20mm (that's 28 and 40 equiv.)

 

[LunaCat]

Can I pick the brains of my learned friends please.

Aside from the super expensive cameras, do you know of any that might be affordable, sub £200 say?

I don't mind how far back in time you go, but it has to be digital and predominantly for black and white. I'm thinking Ricoh GR/mkII, but they don't come around very often nor is it exclusively B&W.

I just fancy playing with a basic or simple camera. Can anyone think of cameras I should look out for please?

Thank you.

As far as I can see if you get a dedicated BW camera then you need to apply optical filters to get colour effects (like darkening the blue sky). If you use a colour camera in RAW then you can do that in post processing.

I wouldn't use any in-camera procsessing myself. Surely the point is you get the data and make the BW pic that YOU want.

 

[Cap'n Bill]

Why not use a decent film camera and B&W film. You could get several films for price of a digital dedicated camera and a lot of entertainment.

 

[GooGaBu]

I have in the past year started to shoot on B&W film - with a 1950's Voigtlander and Zoomar 36-82mm f2.8 lens.
And shooting with that is REALLY fun - and it got me thinking the same question as the OP is asking.. a B&W only digital camera.

When searching for one - most answers for 'affordable' B&W cameras were really just normal cameras that have a great B&W mode you can use.

And then there are the expensive B&W only cameras.. Leica, Phase One, etc..

Had almost given up on the idea, but then a second hand Leica Q2 Monochrome came to a store near me..
And... yes, I spent the money for it.

To my eyes, there is a HUGE difference in shooting with, let's say my Sony on a B&W mode and then the Q2 Monochrome.
Of course.. would probably be just few clicks on editing software to get the same sort of look (but.. that's not the point ;-) ).

The Ricoh you mentioned - that did come a lot for me during my search.. and Sony a6000 also was one that kept popping up all the time.

And aren't there places that also convert normal cameras to B&W or Astro photography.. have you looked at those?

 

[LunaCat]

I have in the past year started to shoot on B&W film - with a 1950's Voigtlander and Zoomar 36-82mm f2.8 lens.
And shooting with that is REALLY fun - and it got me thinking the same question as the OP is asking.. a B&W only digital camera.

When searching for one - most answers for 'affordable' B&W cameras were really just normal cameras that have a great B&W mode you can use.

And then there are the expensive B&W only cameras.. Leica, Phase One, etc..

Had almost given up on the idea, but then a second hand Leica Q2 Monochrome came to a store near me..
And... yes, I spent the money for it.

To my eyes, there is a HUGE difference in shooting with, let's say my Sony on a B&W mode and then the Q2 Monochrome.
Of course.. would probably be just few clicks on editing software to get the same sort of look (but.. that's not the point ;-) ).

The Ricoh you mentioned - that did come a lot for me during my search.. and Sony a6000 also was one that kept popping up all the time.

And aren't there places that also convert normal cameras to B&W or Astro photography.. have you looked at those?

Hi there, you say "my Sony on a B&W mode". Is there a reason for using the camera's build in BW functions?

 

[Cap'n Bill]

It will show the image in the viewfinder as B&W which makes the result easier to visulise and the jpg will be B&W. The raw file will still have all the colour information.

 

[d00d]

Hi there, you say "my Sony on a B&W mode". Is there a reason for using the camera's build in BW functions?

some people like to think in B&W and shoot in B&W

I'm currently getting interested in B&W of the high contrast variety. Here's my first effort:

GX80, L.Monochrome, then lowering EV some more and shadows some more in post.

 

[Nod]

Why not use a decent film camera and B&W film. You could get several films for price of a digital dedicated camera and a lot of entertainment.

Much as I loved film (and resisted digital for as long as possible), I wouldn't go this route these days. The price of film keeps rising and the number of labs doing the D&P seems to be falling. OK, developing at home is relatively easy (especially with B&W [traditional rather than XP-2 etc.]), it's another expense and can be a hassle finding which chems suit you best (not to mention which films do) and somewhere dust free to dry the negs. Lob in a decent scanner and the costs just keep rising and that's before you start playing with darkrooms.

 

[LunaCat]

It will show the image in the viewfinder as B&W which makes the result easier to visulise and the jpg will be B&W. The raw file will still have all the colour information.

Oh! You're using RAW and Jpeg... a bw jpeg and a RAW. I see but if you are then going to post process the RAW what you see through the viewfinder in BW bears little resemblance to the final BW.

 

[Nod]

It's closer than a full colour image though!

 

[GooGaBu]

Hi there, you say "my Sony on a B&W mode". Is there a reason for using the camera's build in BW functions?

In my opinion.. probably not.. that is sort of why I decided to get Monochrome camera - just so that I do not even have a chance to get the image captured in colour.
You might as well trust yourself to convert it in post... although.. seeing in on the display in B&W..

And as David above said 'Some people just like to think and shoot in B&W' ..
For me it is also just to get my 'photography brain' thinking in other ways and to get away from the usual work side of photography.

 

[LunaCat]

some people like to think in B&W and shoot in B&W

I'm currently getting interested in B&W of the high contrast variety. Here's my first effort:

GX80, L.Monochrome, then lowering EV some more and shadows some more in post.

Yes I like that too. Colour digital does it too though. These two were taken with colour (obviously!) RAW and no filters.

 

[LunaCat]

In my opinion.. probably not.. that is sort of why I decided to get Monochrome camera - just so that I do not even have a chance to get the image captured in colour.
You might as well trust yourself to convert it in post... although.. seeing in on the display in B&W..

And as David above said 'Some people just like to think and shoot in B&W' ..
For me it is also just to get my 'photography brain' thinking in other ways and to get away from the usual work side of photography.

But in taking BW you are just recording the intentisty of the light and throwinf away the colour information, which is the filter information. The only way of doing the equivalent with a BW camera is to use optical filters and then the result is fixed. If you use colour you can tweek using the curve until you get what you want and have access to the equivalent of many optical filters.

 

[swanseamale47]

I've used a normal Canon/Nikon and got pretty good results. I shoot raw and jpeg, that give a BW jpeg and a full colour raw if I change my mind later.
One trick I found that makes a difference is to A set one of the built in colour filters (orange/ red maybe) and B in the camera setting take the contrast up a click or two. This gives me a BW closer to film look.
While a BW only camera might get better results (never tried one) I cant see the cost vs benifit compared to tweaking a normal DSLR to your liking.

 

[d00d]

There's a good video here on Panasonic Lumix Camera Monochrome Customisation:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYKlqmr6kZY&t=311s&ab_channel=sulantoblog

 

[DumfriesDik]

A bit of a come down here. Well, kind of. Whilst rummaging through my desk I happened upon a Canon Powershot D30. I will use that for the next few days and see what happens. Now the gremlins have taken my card case - today is going to be a long day!

I still have my eye on the Pano DG800!

 

[Sangoma]

I only see advantages in converting RAW to B&W, instead of capturing it in B&W

Whether it is film or digital B&W you capture (convert the colour scene to B&W) it with the settings and filters you select at the time.
If that is not right, you do it again.

If you convert from RAW, it is like being able to take it again with different filters and settings (to a degree).
It offers more flexibility to convert it to B&W later than at the time you take the shot.


The Panasonic Lumix cameras have an option for B&W viewfinder, but what for? When you use B&W film, the viewfinder isn't B&W, it is colour, you have to use your knowledge and experience to see it in B&W in your mind, and decide on filters and exposure.
A B&W viewfinder might help to replace those skills, but the scene is still colour, so to my mind they are useful to keep and hone.

 

[LunaCat]

I only see advantages in converting RAW to B&W, instead of capturing it in B&W

Whether it is film or digital B&W you capture (convert the colour scene to B&W) it with the settings and filters you select at the time.
If that is not right, you do it again.

If you convert from RAW, it is like being able to take it again with different filters and settings (to a degree).
It offers more flexibility to convert it to B&W later than at the time you take the shot.


The Panasonic Lumix cameras have an option for B&W viewfinder, but what for? When you use B&W film, the viewfinder isn't B&W, it is colour, you have to use your knowledge and experience to see it in B&W in your mind, and decide on filters and exposure.
A B&W viewfinder might help to replace those skills, but the scene is still colour, so to my mind they are useful to keep and hone.

Good point about the BW film camera having a colour viewfinder!

I completely agree, I don't need to see a BW representation, I see the scene and I can see that it would be a BW picture. I take it with the intention of it being BW.

 

[swanseamale47]

Back in the mists of time some film photographers had what I thnk was called a panview filter? (it's a long time ago) these were a sort of dark mauve-ish from memory and you looked at a scene through this, as it took out most of the colour giving a vague idea of what it would look in BW..

 

[LunaCat]

Back in the mists of time some film photographers had what I thnk was called a panview filter? (it's a long time ago) these were a sort of dark mauve-ish from memory and you looked at a scene through this, as it took out most of the colour giving a vague idea of what it would look in BW..

It sounds like mechanism that allows us to identify what would look good in BW. Could make it into an app that you point at a scene and it highlights the BW canidate shot. I'm joking.

 

[swanseamale47]

It sounds like mechanism that allows us to identify what would look good in BW. Could make it into an app that you point at a scene and it highlights the BW canidate shot. I'm joking.

Thats exactly what it did, a dark red or mauve gel would do it, or as you say an app these days

 

[Erty]

On my D7200 I can load up lots of black and white picture controls. On my D3400 you have one monochrome option which is very adjustable (but still not as good as separate picture contols). Both apply the picture control to live view, so what you see is what you get.
As already suggested, a D5300 will probably do everything you want it to do with a kit lens and you might be able to get one for that price privately. Less capable, a D3300 (same as a D3400) is still pretty good you can easily get them for under £200.
Get the AF-P kit lens if you can.