#photography nerditry:
Is it worth using a monochrome sensor for making digital B&W photos?
TL;DR: Sometimes, but the benefits are relatively limited and may not outweigh the cost and hassle.
I make mostly B&W photos, at least in my fine art photography practice. I’m fortunate to have both the color and achromatic (B&W) versions of the sensor I use in my main camera system, but I usually (about 80% of the time) use the color sensor and convert to B&W in post processing.
The tradeoffs:
1/
So you can usually easily make IR photos with an achromatic sensor. It means, however, that not only do you have to have the various color contrast filters to make regular B&W photos, but you also need both an IR-cut filter (for making photos with visible light) and an IR-low-pass filter (for making IR photos). So you’re carrying around a lot of extra stuff.
9/
Are there other advantages to the achromatic sensor?
Not really in my experience. You can capture just about the same tonality and dynamic range with an equivalent color sensor, and you get a lot more flexibility in post processing. Plus you can make color photos if you want.
Again, I’m glad I have access to an achromatic sensor, but I use it only occasionally, for maybe 20% of my photos.
10/10
By the way, I’ve spoken to photographers who insist that using an achromatic sensor is essential for artistic purity and integrity, but I think those are the same people who a decade earlier were claiming that digital photography isn’t sufficient pure.
If I wanted to make it gratuitously harder to make photos I’d just go out without my eyeglasses.
@mattblaze@federate.social What is purity in photography anyway if not a delusion some people had since the beginning of the media.
For me the bottom line with achromatic sensors is to focus on what they actually do and don’t contribute to your particular needs, and avoid indulging in sweeping romanticism about “purity” and whatnot.
Also, another practical disadvantage of achromatic sensors: there are hardly any cameras on the market that have them, and those that do are generally at the high end of the price scale. Phase One and Lecia have achromatic versions, and maybe a few others. And you typically pay *more* for the privilege of not getting the Bayer and IR filters (because the achromatic versions are much more a specialty product).
As always, use whatever tools work for you.
@mattblaze@federate.social Thanks for this explanation. Your conclusions map pretty well onto the choice of monaural or stereo cartridges for playing 78s: the “proper” solution (e.g. Denon DL-102) is expensive and obtains only a very marginal benefit.
@mattblaze@federate.social And when they want color photos they take multiple exposures with different colored filters and then combine in post? :D
@gregersn@snabelen.no Technicolor forever!
@mattblaze@federate.social I had a really interesting answer from an exhibition curator last year who insisted that non-chemical photography simply isn’t photography. While I don’t agree he was at least coherent about it which made for an interesting perspective.