5D MkII Black and White

[glueman]

Hi, when I shoot in monochrome the images on the camera screen are black and white but when I open them in Photoshop they are in colour.  I know I can convert to monochrome but is there any way I can keep the images in B&W when transferring to Photoshop without converting?

Ian

[kvbarkley]

No. You must be shooting RAW. Adobe either can't or doesn't bother to honor all the internal settings in the RAW file before conversion.

AFAIK, only DPP will do what you want since Canon obviously knows what all the settings in the RAW file mean.

[glueman · Accepted solution]

Many thanks for the explanation, I am indeed shooting in RAW and yes, DPP does retain the B&W image.

[kvbarkley]

That being said, it is usually better to do the conversion on the computer since you have much more fine control over the process, which is an art in itself.

[ebiggs1]

"I am indeed shooting in RAW ..."

Raw is simply the luminously/exposure that the sensor caught.  Post editors use whatever jpg settings you had in your camera to create the image you see. You can not view a Raw file. It is not an image. Set your camera to B&W even though you are using Raw. The Raw file data is never changed or altered. Do your editing as you see fit in post. That is where it belongs anyway.

[kvbarkley]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

Post editors use whatever jpg settings you had in your camera to create the image you see.

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Not always, most non-Canon RAW developers will not pay attention to the B&W setting.

[ebiggs1]

All Raw B&W photos are imported into LR as B&W.  Watch the preview.  LR then ignores the camera settings and uses it's own conversion process which adds the color. It is the only way to truly preserve the Raw file with no in-camera settings.

1. In the library grid mode- press CTRL+A  to select All photos

2. Press V

All the photos are now B&W.

I really can't and shouldn't speak of other editors since I consider them irrelevant.

[kvbarkley]

The preview is the embedded JPEG that is created by the camera, and is not RAW data.

[ebiggs1]

All Raw files are essentially B&W pictures. they have only luminance information. It is the "Demosaicing" that turns them into color pictures. When you shoot Raw format only the thumbnail is rendered in camera. You get the information of the picture style (in this case the B&W info) embedded into the Raw metadata or sidecar file. But to use that information you need a software that can interpret the information and process that Raw data. LR ignores that sidecar info and does it's own thing. LR truly is the Raw file converted into a viewable image.

When you import them into LR, LR has no idea that you used your camera's built-in processing scheme to convert them into a certain style.   LR and/or ACR generally recognise any "custom" in-camera adjustments including things sharpening, contrast, saturation, etc and so they of course won't appear upon import either.

The thumbnails initially appear in LR using your in-camera adjustments because it's using the jpg preview embedded into the Raw file metadata or sidecar tag. When that is complete, the image is processed by LR and the preview is updated, hence the thumbnail changing. If you want Raw B&W photos, use LR to do them.  That's how it works.

"The preview is the embedded JPEG that is created by the camera, and is not RAW data."

Did I say that?  I don't think so but if I did, I did not mean to say it. LR actually preserves the Raw data file better than DPP4 does. DPP4 can actually over write the original Raw file as I understand it.

Heck I forgot what we were originally talking about now anyways!

[kvbarkley]

I think we are saying the same thing. 8^)

I think (and I am sure you agree with me) that the key is to do the B&W conversion in photoshop, not in camera.