Thread: Leica to sell Black and White sensor "M" camera? (rumor)

I'll believe it when I see it - and if it does materialise - and accept M lenses; it will NOT be a budget item.
I'm thinking M9 price minimum, and if limited edition, quite a bit more.

LOL this will thrill the Leica fans ;-)
I would Pick TRIX for Grain

Wait a minute, I always thought the best B&W conversions are the ones that have colour information in the RAW?

Originally Posted by TraamisVOS

Wait a minute, I always thought the best B&W conversions are the ones that have colour information in the RAW?

As Brian stated, a sensor is a monochrome device, it is sensitive to light level only. The colour information is added by either the Bayer filter, or in the case of the Foveon the depth to which various wavelengths of light, i.e. different colours penetrate the silicon. Therefore the camera has added the colour information to the image. The uncoloured information must by inference be the truest representation of the light levels of the original scene.
The colour information in a black and white conversion can be used to manipulate the image which normally to me means distort the image from that that would be obtained by black and white film. That doesn't necessarily make for the best black and white conversions in my humble opinion.
Well that's my understanding for what it's worth.

Barrie

hmmm ok thanks for explaining that.

Originally Posted by TraamisVOS

Wait a minute, I always thought the best B&W conversions are the ones that have colour information in the RAW?

No- the best Monochrome images are done with a Monochrome sensor, whether electronic or chemical based. Otherwise, Kodacolor 400 would have put tri-X out of production decades ago. Filtering, also best done optically rather than digitally.

IF Leica brings out a Monochrome camera, it will be like what Kodak did 20 years ago: develop firmware and software that supports both color and monochrome detectors and offer two versions of the camera. The camera hardware will be either moncochrome or color depending on which version of the detector is used, but the firmware and software will handle both. That way you do not have to maintain two code trees and test procedures. That is the hard part of having different versions of a camera. Otherwise, a Monochrome sensor is just like ordering a Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich without the mayo. Leave out the color dye, have the firmware skip color interpolation, everything else stays the same.

I'm not sure whether I'm nitpicking, or simply not understanding a couple of things:

Black and white film (whether silver- or dye-based) doesn't have equal sensitivity to all wavelengths of light (hence pan- and ortho-); How does this play into the discussion?

I "get" that a Bayer filter adds colour, but if the Foveon is sensitive to different wavelengths, is it not recording rather than adding colour?

Originally Posted by pdh

I'm not sure whether I'm nitpicking, or simply not understanding a couple of things:

Black and white film (whether silver- or dye-based) doesn't have equal sensitivity to all wavelengths of light (hence pan- and ortho-); How does this play into the discussion?

I "get" that a Bayer filter adds colour, but if the Foveon is sensitive to different wavelengths, is it not recording rather than adding colour?

Hmm, I knew there was a reason why I normally avoid discussions such as this Paul, I would suggest that you are correct about the Foveon sensor.

Barrie

The Foveon sensor has separate layers for RGB. The RGB Dye still absorbs most of the light that passes through the detector array.

"Brian's world": For improved Monochrome Dynamic Range, I would use Neutral Density filters on the Foveon sensor so that each layer captures a different level of intensity, then add the layers. Preserve more highlights and shadow detail.

Gizmodo picks up on the rumor

Is a Black and White-Only Digital Camera a Great Idea?