Bootleg Monochrome: Sony A7C + FE 40mm f/2.5 G

I am intrigued by the two recent monochrome only camera announcements. One for Leica and another from Pentax. The Leica I expected. Leica has a long history of these specialized editions. The Pentax was a bit of a surprise. I welcome both.

Some scoff at such additions and I get it. Technically both take away features and hardware and charge more.

I welcome them because I get it. Plus having an allegiance to arguably even less sensible image capturing devices…

…I am not one to judge. In both cases color gathering sensors are removed which:

1. Allows more light to fall on the B&W sensor which improves light gathering capabilities.
2. Allows light to have a straight path to the B&W sensor rather than being partially obstructed by the color arrays which means the true image is captured with no interpolation needed to reconstruct the blocked bits.

So as I said above, I get it. Clean B&W DNG files is one of the reasons I enjoy using the Quattro twins above.

If I ever locate my money tree I might buy both the Leica and the Pentax. But… What if you had no interest in or ability to purchase these specialized devices? Quattro camera put aside one can enjoy a somewhat watered down monochrome experience.

Memory recall slot 2 on every digital camera I have ever owned is dedicated to B&W. Sony allows for a few options. RAW offers a B&W create style. JPEG offers up two B&W picture effects. Rich Black B&W that takes multiple images and High Contrast B&W. All have their merits, but I chose the latter option for my preset. RAW files require B&W conversion in post which, for me, does not force me to commit and is no different from my normal shooting other than previsualizing an approximated end result. I first stumbled upon this set up when using the, since traded for the 40mm, Sony FE 28-60mm f/4-5.6…

…and it has served me as well. Would a sensible rational person see enough of a difference? Likely not. But even though I am neither sensible nor rational this setup keeps me sufficiently amused. Add in a Leica-ish lens hood to the mix and I am good to go.

The setup is even all black already. A funny thing happens when I am out shooting. The glance. That look you see other photography gear afflicted individuals throw your way as they are trying to work out what exactly you are working with. A Konica Hexar RF with TTArtisans 21mm f/1.5…

…almost put an elder statesman jogger at Duke Gardens down as he almost stumbled trying to work out exactly what the heck it was. The same setup was the reason I met a fantastic local professional photographer. Cameras are like flares for camera geeks. Well, I noticed the addition of a metal square hood had a similar effect yesterday as it left puzzled looks on a couple of faces.

Anyhoo. On to the photos. While I did not expect the images to turn out badly by any means, I must say I like them more than I expected to.

Well, that is about it for now. Might try a few other monochrome setups. Might not. We will see.

Happy capturing.

-ELW