Monochrome Mystique
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- Опубликовано: 27 июл 2024
- Christmas cheer was getting to me, so I clicked my Pixii Plus into black-and-white mode and headed out into the nighttime streets in search of the Monochrome Mystique. Come on along...
If you'd prefer a normal review of the Pentax K3 III Monochrom, these friendly Canadians can fix you up: • Pentax K-3 III Monochr...
NOTE: I generated all the film-noir movie posters using the MidJourney v6 generative-AI app. MidJourney is pretty good on film noir, but it has absolutely NO idea what a #Leica Monochrom, a #Pentax K3 III Monochrome, or a #Pixii Plus looks like... so the camera images are ludicrously unrealistic. If you need to know what these cameras actually look like, the internet is your friend... 
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This no nonsense video presentation on black & white photography is a work of art! Congratulations!
I have a background in deep space long exposure imaging. The type that is done by using Peltier cooled CCDs at one end of an astrograph, all mounted on a guided EQ mount. The length of subs ( frames /exposures ) run into tens of minutes and their numbers large. We specifically used Mono CCDs ( all CCDs or CMOS sensors are manufactured as monochrome in the first stage and converted to colour later ), and then depending on the type of subject and its emission band, we either used Narrow Band or Wide Band filters to capture the data ( photons really ) and build up a picture after extensive processing. The reason for using Mono rather than a colour sensor were 1: the extra sensitivity of the mono sensor, 2: the ability to use Narrow Band filters to isolate Hydrogen Alpha, Oxygen III, N II or SII regions. A mono sensor also has a much higher signal to noise ratio than a colour sensor for obvious reasons ( simply it is less noisy for a given level of signal ) . In day to day photography, these advantages re not so easily realised, unless the photographer predominantly works with very high gain values ( falsely known as iso ) at night or in bad weather or for aesthetic reasons. The resolution advantage is not evident either, as the work is mainly hand held. So, unless you constantly use iso 6400 and upwards, photograph at night or in very bad light, then the mono sensor will not really show its advantages over a colour sensor. The rest is one's personal choice, I guess.
Interesting info! Until the video started getting longish, I had planned to mention that mono imagers do have specific, easily visible advantages for micro and astro photography (of course, one of the first places digital imagers appeared was on the KH-11 series of spy satellites, and these were strictly mono.) I agree that in mainstream photography, as sensors have improved, the one-EV-step advantage gained by omitting the Bayer filter array is only noticeable for "edge cases" such as extremely low-light shooting. However, one thing I remember from when the M9 Monochrom came out was that the original color M9's low-light performance was, er, lackluster at best compared to its Nikon/Canon competitors, so it was speculated that among other things, making a mono version was an easy way to squeeze out a bit more low-light/high-ISO performance for journalists and documentarians who needed better image quality but could do without color...
I’ve shot the
Erica M9 Mono for over 8 years and just love it. Just this week, I took delivery of a used M10 Mono, a huge leap in capability over the M9. While I haven’t used it much yet, I really like it so far.
The BnW mindset is different and while you can achieve this with a software conversion, getting it in camera causes you to commit to this style. This is DEFINITELY NOT FOR EVERYONE but for the right person, it’s fantastic.
I have had my Ricoh GRIII converted to monochrome and couldn't be happier. I totally agree that it alters how you see things, scanning for monochrome picture opportunities.
Somehow the strumming bass music just suits your photos and presentation! I just picked up the kIii monochrome. Im still learning to use it. Part of my reason for getting it is my nostalgia for the old film days when i shot B&W. The other reason was at least compared to the Leica, the pentax body is relatively affordable and i dont have to buy any new lenses. I dont know if this is true, but i heard that Pentax took advantage of a large production run of mono sensors that were available from Sony. If this is true i applaud pentax for using the opportunity to bring an unusual camera to market.
Glad you liked the music track... I was going for a hard-boiled film-noir feel to match the hilarious but apt illustrations I got out of MidJourney. I agree that really enjoying black-and-white photography is a very good reason for buying a monochrome-only camera... the results may not be technically "better" than b&w conversions from a color camera, but if it helps you put yourself into the monochrome mindset, that's a strong advantage. I don't know what prompted Pentax to roll out a monochrome camera, but they seem to have made up their minds to zig when everyone else is zagging (for example, sticking with DSLRs while Canon/Nikon/Sony are trying to move users to mirrorless) and I applaud them for this gutsy call!
Funny this comes out as I’m looking at the Pentax k3 iii monochrome
The Canadian bros' review (linked in the description) is actually very helpful. One interesting claim it makes is that Pentax's Simplex-format camera, the K1, actually makes better monochrome images because its larger sensor has better gradation… so the appeal of the K3 Mono depends mostly on how much you like the idea of having a dedicated b&w camera…
I was wondering you did your BW image with AI. :)
I began all the prompts with “black and white movie poster for a film noir movie…” For the camera images, I included the URL of a publicity image of each camera. I didn't expect the results to look quite so ridiculous, but once I saw them I had to keep it going as a running gag…
This prompt me to learn more about A.I imaging. Btw, I had to wait unit late January for my Pixii upgrade.😄
Glad to hear it piques your interest. When it comes to AI imaging, I think "known your enemy" is a good motto! Well, it's not really the enemy, but it's bound to cause some confusion potential between it and photographically-based imagery until people get more used to it and realize it's not really "intelligent"! Re Pixii, I had a similar experience: I ordered the 1.5x magnifier eyepiece and was told it would be delayed until January because they had received some out-of-spec components from a supplier and had to request replacements. I guess supply-chain issues are still a problem for manufacturers big and small!