problem with black and white features

[castadivax]

HELLO there

I have a canon 550d, canon lens efs 17-55mm

I am trying to do a series of b&w photos but when I connect the sdcard in the laptop the images always appear in full color. when I shoot , on the dysplay I have the image in b&w but then on the screen it comes out in color. tried also different sd card, anyone might address me to the solution or what to do?

already tried to do on and off, format camera etc

 

[Gerry Winterbourne]

I am trying to do a series of b&w photos but when I connect the sdcard in the laptop the images always appear in full color. when I shoot , on the dysplay I have the image in b&w but then on the screen it comes out in color. tried also different sd card, anyone might address me to the solution or what to do?

That's what usually happens if you shoot raw: the small JPG that the camera generates for review on the LCD is B&W if that's what you've set, but the raw file itself contains all the colour data collected by the sensor.

When you set the camera to B&W what happens is that you create a tag that's embedded with the colour data in the raw file. The camera's JPG engine reads the tag, so if you shoot JPG the conversion is in B&W. Some raw developers read the tag, some don't. The software that comes with a camera usually reads the tag by default but you can turn it off; third party developers usually don't read the tag and many of them can't.

You haven't said what software you're using. Any decent raw developer has a pane for adjusting saturation and luminance and (usually) hue. To convert to B&W go to that pane and select saturation. With luck there's a "convert to greyscale" option: if so, tick it and then play with the sliders for different colours to alter the way the B&W conversion looks.

Converting to B&W this way is amazingly flexible once you've acquired the technique. For example, here's a colour shot converted to B&W in two ways. Don't bother about which is more "accurate" - B&W is always "wrong" so you do what you like.

--
---
Gerry
___________________________________________
First camera 1953, first Pentax 1985, first DSLR 2006

Galleries by Gerry Winterbourne

www.pbase.com

[email protected]

 

[Jim Cassatt]

Are you shooting RAW? If so, the image on the screen will appear in B&W, but the RAW image will be unprocessed. I would suggest you do as most of us do, shoot in color and convert to B&W in post.

 

[MinAZ]

You might be shooting raw. Try switching to jpeg and see if that helps.

 

[castadivax]

I am trying to do a series of b&w photos but when I connect the sdcard in the laptop the images always appear in full color. when I shoot , on the dysplay I have the image in b&w but then on the screen it comes out in color. tried also different sd card, anyone might address me to the solution or what to do?

Hi gerry,

I always shoot raw, never had any problem before, as I always managed to have images straight in black and white before, I prefer to shoot in b&w as it is the only way I can have a high res,

how do I turn off the tag you are talking about? and by software do you mean the post production software?

in case, I use photshop, and if you mean the camera I don't really know, never changed anything in terms of upgrading so I still have what came with my canon 550d,

how do I get into the software and change the tag or features?

thanks a lot

 

[castadivax]

yes, i shoot raw, always never had anything like that before!

so don't know how to have a b&w raw image

 

[castadivax]

well yes, but I need a raw b&w as I alwasy managed to do so , maybe something need to be change in the settings?

 

[Gerry Winterbourne]

I am trying to do a series of b&w photos but when I connect the sdcard in the laptop the images always appear in full color. when I shoot , on the dysplay I have the image in b&w but then on the screen it comes out in color. tried also different sd card, anyone might address me to the solution or what to do?

I always shoot raw, never had any problem before, as I always managed to have images straight in black and white before, I prefer to shoot in b&w as it is the only way I can have a high res,

how do I turn off the tag you are talking about?

You can't turn it off as such. If the camera is at default settings (colour) the B&W tag doesn't exist. If you set the camera to B&W the tag is created and embedded in the raw file. However, Photoshop doesn't read camera tags so you don't need to turn it off.

and by software do you mean the post production software?

Yes.

in case, I use Photoshop, and if you mean the camera I don't really know, never changed anything in terms of upgrading so I still have what came with my canon 550d,

If you are doing all your editing in PS the initial conversion is done in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR). Open your file in ACR as usual and go to the HSL tab (tab this time, not tag). The method I described is what I do in ACR so just follow that.

how do I get into the software and change the tag or features?

So you don't change the tag - your software ignores it. But you can choose whether to convert the raw file to B&W or leave it in colour.

 

[Gerry Winterbourne]

well yes, but I need a raw b&w as I alwasy managed to do so , maybe something need to be change in the settings?

No. you've never had a B&W raw file because with your camera there's no such thing. What you've had in the past is either different software that read the in-camera B&W tab (which Photoshop doesn't) or you have been using a preset for B&W conversion that you've lost or moved away from.

 

[Erik Magnuson]

how do I turn off the tag you are talking about? and by software do you mean the post production software?

in case, I use photshop,

The Canon software (DPP) understands the Canon settings and picture styles and uses them by default. Or use Photoshop's batch features (e.g. http://www.lynda.com/articles/batch-processing-adobe-camera-raw) or Lightroom's presets to apply B&W styles to all of the photos.

 

[MRM4350]

HELLO there

I have a canon 550d, canon lens efs 17-55mm

I am trying to do a series of b&w photos but when I connect the sdcard in the laptop the images always appear in full color. when I shoot , on the dysplay I have the image in b&w but then on the screen it comes out in color. tried also different sd card, anyone might address me to the solution or what to do?

already tried to do on and off, format camera etc

If you open the raw file in Canon's DPP software the image will be displayed in B&W (if it works the same as Nikon), but if you open the raw image in other software (Lightroom, Elements, etcetera) the image will be displayed 'as captured', and you will then need to use the software to convert to B&W.

 

[castadivax]

I understand,,,,,it is just very strange that I always managed to have a raw b&w and now I don't, might I ask you if you know why? and if I might need to change the camera software with an updates perhaps?

 

[castadivax]

HELLO there

I have a canon 550d, canon lens efs 17-55mm

I am trying to do a series of b&w photos but when I connect the sdcard in the laptop the images always appear in full color. when I shoot , on the dysplay I have the image in b&w but then on the screen it comes out in color. tried also different sd card, anyone might address me to the solution or what to do?

already tried to do on and off, format camera etc

If you open the raw file in Canon's DPP software the image will be displayed in B&W (if it works the same as Nikon), but if you open the raw image in other software (Lightroom, Elements, etcetera) the image will be displayed 'as captured', and you will then need to use the software to convert to B&W.

hi michael, I have always been able to see a raw image in b&w even with preview.....without needs to open a software, so I am wondering what happened since yesterday when I have been able to see a raw file in b&W,

which canon's DPP software are you talking about it? should I download one?

--
Michael
http://www.flickr.com/photos/c36sailor/

 

[castadivax]

well yes, but I need a raw b&w as I alwasy managed to do so , maybe something need to be change in the settings?

No. you've never had a B&W raw file because with your camera there's no such thing. What you've had in the past is either different software that read the in-camera B&W tab (which Photoshop doesn't) or you have been using a preset for B&W conversion that you've lost or moved away from.

believe me, I could see the raw file in b&W even with the preview simply by cliking on the image straight the laptop

what kind of preset would have been? do you think i could get one?

 

[Mark S Abeln]

I understand,,,,,it is just very strange that I always managed to have a raw b&w and now I don't, might I ask you if you know why? and if I might need to change the camera software with an updates perhaps?

You got a B&W image on your computer by using your camera’s own raw converter, yes? That is now my Nikon software works.

Adobe doesn’t do this. It rather uses generic processing for all cameras.

--

The Refracted Light

A website about the Art and Science of Photography

therefractedlight.blogspot.com

 

[MRM4350]

HELLO there

I have a canon 550d, canon lens efs 17-55mm

If you open the raw file in Canon's DPP software the image will be displayed in B&W (if it works the same as Nikon), but if you open the raw image in other software (Lightroom, Elements, etcetera) the image will be displayed 'as captured', and you will then need to use the software to convert to B&W.

hi michael, I have always been able to see a raw image in b&w even with preview.....without needs to open a software, so I am wondering what happened since yesterday when I have been able to see a raw file in b&W,

which canon's DPP software are you talking about it? should I download one?

When you select 'Monochrome' as a choice for how you want the picture to look the camera still records all of the colour information to the raw file, and only the final jpeg will be in Monochrome. Since I am not familiar with Canon I do not know what they call the picture settings of Vivid, Neutral, Standard, Monochrome (these examples are from Nikon). If I select Monochrome in my camera, shoot raw and take a photo, the preview on the camera screen will be in B&W (Monochrome). If I open that raw file in Adobe Light Room it will be in colour.

Both Canon, and Nikon include a program with their cameras that can edit the raw images from the cameras. Canon calls their program DPP (Nikon calls theirs View NX2), and you should be able to download the latest version of DPP free from a Canon web site. These programs can read the camera settings that you have selected (Vivid, Landscape, Normal, Standard, Monochrome, etc.) and display the file with those settings. Other software not provided or sold by Canon will not "read" the camera settings and will display the file with all of the information recorded which includes all of the colour.

--
Michael
http://www.flickr.com/photos/c36sailor/

 

[dsjtecserv]

well yes, but I need a raw b&w as I alwasy managed to do so , maybe something need to be change in the settings?

No. you've never had a B&W raw file because with your camera there's no such thing. What you've had in the past is either different software that read the in-camera B&W tab (which Photoshop doesn't) or you have been using a preset for B&W conversion that you've lost or moved away from.

believe me, I could see the raw file in b&W even with the preview simply by cliking on the image straight the laptop

what kind of preset would have been? do you think i could get one?

Gerry is telling you the truth, but that isn't incompatible with your experience. Raw files are neither color nor B&W, so it isn't possible for them to "be" a B&W raw file. Raw files contain data that can be read and converted into an image; that image could be displayed as either color or B&W (and with an infinite variety of other characteristics) depending on how the conversion is done. Other posts have described for you the process of specifying this conversion in ACR (using the HSL tab). As someone else also pointed out, if you load the raw image into the Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software that came with the camera, it recognizes the B&W tag and sets the conversion, automatically, to reflect that.

When you merely open a raw file in Windows (such as by double clicking on it in Windows Explorer to open windows Photo Viewer), the codec that is currently available for that file type may (or may not, depending on the version of the codec) be able to read the tagged information in the file and convert it on the fly. But even if it doesn't, it should display the embedded jpeg image that is part of the raw file. THAT image will have been converted, by the camera, to B&W because that's what you specified in the camera settings. But when you view that, you are not looking at the raw data, but merely an embedded (and small size) jpeg image contained within the raw file.

If you are not able to do this with Windows Explorer now, I'm not quite sure why, unless some other camera setting overrode the B&W setting. Or perhaps Explorer is now using a codec that converts the raw to its color version, but doesn't acknowledge the B&W tag. One suggestion through, would be to use the (free) Faststone Image Viewer (easy to Google) for viewing, rather than Windows Photo Viewer. It is very fast and versatile, and will read the embedded image unless you specifically ask it to convert the raw data.

Dave

--
http://www.pbase.com/dsjtecserv

 

[castadivax]

thanks micheal, that was very helpfull

I will download the latest dpp settings now

 

[MRM4350]

You are welcome. I am happy that I was able to help. :-D

 

[Gerry Winterbourne]

well yes, but I need a raw b&w as I alwasy managed to do so , maybe something need to be change in the settings?

No. you've never had a B&W raw file because with your camera there's no such thing. What you've had in the past is either different software that read the in-camera B&W tab (which Photoshop doesn't) or you have been using a preset for B&W conversion that you've lost or moved away from.

believe me, I could see the raw file in b&W even with the preview simply by cliking on the image straight the laptop

That's because some image viewers just display the JPG thumbnail embedded in the raw file.