Problems with B/W importation...

[ToTheEnd]

Hello,

I shoot with a Canon 4''D all the time with RAW... and recently, I started to shoot in B/W.

However, when I import them in LR, they first appear in B/W and then, get changed in color.

1. I believed images in B/W where in B/W and nothing else... how does LR colorized those?
2. Is there a way to "tell" LR to stay with the original setting and not to convert B/W pictures to color?
3. I believed that shooting in monochrome was best for having final B/W pictures... is it true? If not, do I get the same "quality" if I shoot everything in color and then, in LR, migrate color pictures to B/W?

Thanks for your help...

T

 

[Mark Sirota]

When you set your camera to B&W, what you're actually doing is asking the raw converter built into the camera to convert the image to monochrome when it develops the image.

That monochrome JPEG created by the camera's raw converter is stored in the raw file as a preview image, is displayed on the back of the camera, and is used to calculate the in-camera histogram. However, when you get to Lightroom, it initially shows you the preview, but then generates its own preview based on the raw data. Since the raw data is in color, you end up with a color image.

If you want to convert that to grayscale, press V, or apply a Develop preset at Import which converts to grayscale.

So to point 3: Untrue. Your camera's sensor captures color; the monochrome version is produced in post, whether it's in the camera or on the computer.