I mentioned in an earlier post about this rig that two monochrome only camera announcements intrigued me. 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:
- Allows more light to fall on the B&W sensor which improves light gathering capabilities.
- 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.
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.
As an odd coincidence I was asked more than once this week what my favorite camera was, and I always include a lens in this equation. Deciding this on the film side would be a rough one, even though I believe I know what I would choose if pressed. On the digital side a combination came to mind first each time I was asked that surprised me honestly. The combination above. Not some oddity. Not some pixie dust brand. But the fairly mainstream combination above. This surprised me so there will be more to come on the why, or why I think why, in a future post.
Anyhoo. On to the photos. After the last time I expected great results and this combination did not disappoint.
Here are a few photos taken one evening. Most while my son where waiting on our food order.
Well, that is about it for now. The last time I said that I might try a few other monochrome setups. I won’t.
Is this set up as good as a dedicated monochrome rig?
Surely not.
Is it good enough for my purposes?
Yes.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 