Digital BW, The Print

Why should I care how any film sees color? I'm shooting digital, so 
comparisons to film are irrelevant to me. Who can perceive a slight difference 
in color rendition when converted to greyscale in a practical picture taking 
situation? I can't imagine the viewer would have a problem with it.  I'm still left 
with the question: How does desaturating using channel sliders differ from 
simply converting to greyscale?

Steve


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "michaeladawson_ajax" <mike.dawson@w...>
> To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y...>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 12:44 PM
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Converting to B&W Workflow question
> 
> 
> > I read several of the replies and they are all correct but I don't
> > believe they addressed the exact intent of the question.
> >
> > The replies all focused on using curves and channels to mimic the
> > effects of putting different filters on the camera.
> >
> > Unless I missed it, though, no one has addressed the issue that B&W
> > film is not neutral in its response to the color spectrum.  Its
> > pretty good compared with decades ago.  But my understanding is that
> > it is still not truly panchromatic.
> >
> > In other words the film responds slightly differently to red, green,
> > blue wavelengths of light.  And each manufacturer creates films with
> > slightly different response characteristics.  So desaturating in
> > Photoshop yields an image which is different than what would be
> > obtained by B&W film.  Using the channel mixer allows one to simulate
> > the response of B&W film to different wavelengths of light.
> >
> > Then there's the whole issue of film grain.  And even that has a
> > Photoshop plug-in available.
> >
> > Mike
> > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "millerhillsteve"
> > <steverob@s...> wrote:
> > > I currently am using PS Elements as I can't afford Photoshop and
> > frankly, my
> > > prints are pretty damn good, but I've seen references to using the
> > channel
> > > mixer instead of simply switching the mode to greyscale. What are
> > the
> > > differences in desaturating an image when switching to greyscale?
> > >
> > > Steve