B&W photos with Canon 5D

What would be the best way to make B&W photos with a Canon 5D? Should I shoot color and process it in photoshop or what?

The great thing about a digital camera is you can take the picture in color and then see how it will look in B&W later. You can use Picasa 3 which is free and under "effects" choose "Filtered B&W". Also go to "tuning" and adjust your shadows as dark as you can but still showing detail. Same with highlights, as ligt as you can go and still show detail. When your done the picture should "snap" and not look muddy. Hope that helps.

you can also shoot directly in BW with a 5d and with most of the digital cameras i think

MrScrappy wrote: What would be the best way to make B&W photos with a Canon 5D? Should I shoot color and process it in photoshop or what?

Yes. That way gives you more options in the way you make it look, including keeping it in color should you choose to.

If I shoot jpg b&w with my 5D and pull the photos into Photshop the photos are b&w. However if I shoot b&w in raw and pull the photos into Photoshop the photo comes in in color and I have to convert to b&w so I guess it depends on how you shoot. If you shoot in raw all the time don't even use the b&w setting. I have never used the b&w setting except that one time.

Take the photo in color, then process it in B&W.

MrScrappy wrote: What would be the best way to make B&W photos with a Canon 5D? Should I shoot color and process it in photoshop or what?

If there was a single best way we would all be using it, and there would be no other options.

You will probably have more options in controlling tones converting a color photo to BW. For instance you can make red a darker gray, or blue a lighter gray, or both. For instance a traditional color contrast effect in BW landscape photography would be to darken blue skies to make white clouds pop. Or darken red lips. Or lighten red freckles.

But maybe you don't need or want options. You want speedy BW right out of the camera, and you are very satisfied with the in-camera BW conversion. Then setting the picture style to BW would be the right choice. You do have some control over contrast, etc...

I shoot raw, and like to convert from color. Sometimes I set the camera to BW though, so I can see the preview in BW. In-camera processing settings affect the jpeg displayed on the LCD, but aren't permanent to the raw file. When the raw file is opened in the raw processing software what ever the default processing parameters for the software are will be applied, meaning it usually turns back into color.

Henry Peach wrote:

MrScrappy wrote: What would be the best way to make B&W photos with a Canon 5D? Should I shoot color and process it in photoshop or what?

If there was a single best way we would all be using it, and there would be no other options.

You will probably have more options in controlling tones converting a color photo to BW. For instance you can make red a darker gray, or blue a lighter gray, or both. For instance a traditional color contrast effect in BW landscape photography would be to darken blue skies to make white clouds pop. Or darken red lips. Or lighten red freckles.

But maybe you don't need or want options. You want speedy BW right out of the camera, and you are very satisfied with the in-camera BW conversion. Then setting the picture style to BW would be the right choice. You do have some control over contrast, etc...

I shoot raw, and like to convert from color. Sometimes I set the camera to BW though, so I can see the preview in BW. In-camera processing settings affect the jpeg displayed on the LCD, but aren't permanent to the raw file. When the raw file is opened in the raw processing software what ever the default processing parameters for the software are will be applied, meaning it usually turns back into color.

Excellent reply Henry.
I do convert from color but you do whatever works for you.

I know that now days in the digital era it is easier and gives a lot more control shoot in RAW or JPEG in color and then go to your favorite software and do the conversion.

B&W (at least for me) is not "style" , it is indeed an obsession...

For me works this way on camera : I got my profiles done in the computer , uploaded to the camera (Color space is always Adobe RGB 1998) and love to use real glass filters in front of my lenses . I know... I know... people go like "WTH?!?!!" But hey , it works for me and have a lot of fun trying different color and tones filters , graduated neutral density , starfilters and soft focus etc.

It is like going back to film good old days only now you can see , correct and re-take right away what you just have taken.

After that post prod is mostly dodge and burn and one last step that almost everybody I know miss (most important if you are going to print) is to convert your image into a real B&W . This means (in Photohop) go to Edit , Convert to profile and in the dialogue window select "Working gray - Gray gama 2.2" (This can not be reversed once done).
This is mostly because if you leave your picture in RGB or sRGB printers will automatically simulate blacks mixing all other colors , meanwhile if your picture is a gray gama only printers automatically "know" you require to use black and gray ink only.
That said , this is the reason when you print a B&W (or al least look so on screen) most of the times will come green and white or reddish or with a yellow tone and all those will give a metamerism ( prints tend to change colors depending on the environmental light) problem that can not be corrected unless you properly re-print for B&W only.

As far as I know the best you can get for B&W conversion (if you go the traditional digital way) is NIK software , those guys are THE GUYS for B&W conversion software.

I hope this helps a bit .
Cheers!
M.