Digital BW, The Print

Danny Culbertson wrote:


> What would be really nice would be a digital camera that had some of 
> the same color to B&W flexibility you have with camera raw.  Then 
> you could atually get an idea in the field what sort of B&W results 
> you'd get.  Sort of previsualization on the LCD rather than in the 
> minds eye.  Except you could change your mind back in the lab.

Canon's low-end DSLR, the 20D, almost - not quite - manages this well. 
It has a B&W jpeg mode, which saves a monochrome jpeg, and the user can 
select what "filter" to apply to the image and also, I think, what 
"print" type (sepia, etc) rendition to make. I've used it once. You get 
a nice B&W image on the LCD and you can see how you like the results. 
The camera can save images in "RAW + jpeg" mode, so you can always 
change your mind in the darkroom later using the 12 bit raw file, and 
aren't stuck with the monochrome 8 bit jpeg at any time.

Nice, as far as it goes. What it could really use, though, is a way to 
switch through different filters while you are looking at the image - 
without having to dive deep into a menu to switch filters and without 
having to take a second image of the same scene. If you could sit there 
and look at a B&W image on the LCD, and use the thumb wheel to switch 
between red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet filters, you'd not 
only have a killer B&W teaching tool, but a very nice visualization aid 
in the field. Unfortunately, no dice on this.

--
Jeff Medkeff
Eagle River, Alaska