S2 native B/W mode

[jacques]

HI you all,

Today my dear friend Jan Schiphorst and I, we did pay a visit to the Belgium coal mine, which has been closed most recently in 1989.

Some times one can get a tour, but most of th etimes you are only allowed to have a look from the outside.

Today we got the key of the main building and the aloweness to go inside and photograph how and what we liked.

Not all, buta large numebr I choosed to use S2 native B/W mode in combination with: Nikon 17-35 2.8 AFS, Nikon 105 2.0 DC, Sigma 14mm 2.8, and Nikon 50mm 1.4, weel you can see in the EXIF data.

For all I choosed to use ISO 400 and made the frames hand held.

B/W mode of S2 is very special, I do consider it as far better than desaturating afterwards. Capture in 12 Mpixel JPEG mode.

For a design of a DSLR of over 2 years old, I think it hardley can be beat by any other DSLR, well might be mine preoccupation. ;-)









As there are 39 images, I would like to recommand the B/W lovers to pay a visit to:

http://www.pbase.com/jacques/beringer_bw_inside_th_ebuilding&page=all

Enjoy or not,

I'm interested in your comments,

jacques.

S2 in B/W mode realy differs from desaturating a S2 or any other DSLR afterwards.

HYaving the time and undesturbed shooting situation to do a lot of lens changing and using different settings, well those people in Beringen made my very happy.

 

[Manta Ray Arts]

I'm glad you like the B/W mode of the S2, but consider capturing in color RAW and then using other B/W techniques other than simply desaturating the image.

Channel mixer, various filter and hue layers and curves in different channels can create B&W with great character and are both better and more flexible than the B/W in-camera mode. Moreover, if you capture in color RAW, you always have the ability to use the B/W mode in file conversion anyway.

Nice images, btw

HI you all,

Today my dear friend Jan Schiphorst and I, we did pay a visit to
the Belgium coal mine, which has been closed most recently in 1989.

Some times one can get a tour, but most of th etimes you are only
allowed to have a look from the outside.

Today we got the key of the main building and the aloweness to go
inside and photograph how and what we liked.

Not all, buta large numebr I choosed to use S2 native B/W mode in
combination with: Nikon 17-35 2.8 AFS, Nikon 105 2.0 DC, Sigma 14mm
2.8, and Nikon 50mm 1.4, weel you can see in the EXIF data.

For all I choosed to use ISO 400 and made the frames hand held.

B/W mode of S2 is very special, I do consider it as far better than
desaturating afterwards. Capture in 12 Mpixel JPEG mode.

For a design of a DSLR of over 2 years old, I think it hardley can
be beat by any other DSLR, well might be mine preoccupation. ;-)









As there are 39 images, I would like to recommand the B/W lovers to
pay a visit to:

http://www.pbase.com/jacques/beringer_bw_inside_th_ebuilding&page=all

Enjoy or not,

I'm interested in your comments,

jacques.

S2 in B/W mode realy differs from desaturating a S2 or any other
DSLR afterwards.

HYaving the time and undesturbed shooting situation to do a lot of
lens changing and using different settings, well those people in
Beringen made my very happy.

--
'Make great images with any camera and they will talk.' Melvin Sokolsky

http://www.mantarayarts.com

 

[Artichoke]

fine gallery, jacques
this may be my favorite



poignant, almost elegiac & unquestionably improved by being B&W
I am surprised at how well the mine is maintained

abandoned mines in the States get grotty very quickly ...my Mom was from the coal mining region in Eastern Pennsylvania & old mines there are scary places (happily ash & beech tree seem to be flourishing in the old slag heaps)

B&W using Fuji's conversion is excellent, though I prefer the added control using Digital Daan's BW conversion from color gives ...I love tweaking my images, though I have to admit that Fuji's BW mode is difficult to improve upon
thanks for sharing these
--
pbase & dpreview supporter
Fuji SLRT forum member since 5/2001
http://www.pbase.com/artichoke

 

[Wayne Vale]

Very nice work, beautiful photographs !!! S2 is a wonderful camera to shoot b/w with and often use the same Nikon 17-35 2.8 AF-S, a very nice combination. Once again, wonderfull work !!!

Wayne
http://www.pbase.com/waynevale/

fine gallery, jacques
this may be my favorite



poignant, almost elegiac & unquestionably improved by being B&W
I am surprised at how well the mine is maintained
abandoned mines in the States get grotty very quickly ...my Mom was
from the coal mining region in Eastern Pennsylvania & old mines
there are scary places (happily ash & beech tree seem to be
flourishing in the old slag heaps)
B&W using Fuji's conversion is excellent, though I prefer the added
control using Digital Daan's BW conversion from color gives ...I
love tweaking my images, though I have to admit that Fuji's BW mode
is difficult to improve upon
thanks for sharing these
--
pbase & dpreview supporter
Fuji SLRT forum member since 5/2001
http://www.pbase.com/artichoke

 

[limlh]

I don't shoot b/w much, but what I notice is that the native b/w of S2 right out of the camera has greater dynamic range, especially details in the shadow areas.

HI you all,

Today my dear friend Jan Schiphorst and I, we did pay a visit to
the Belgium coal mine, which has been closed most recently in 1989.

Some times one can get a tour, but most of th etimes you are only
allowed to have a look from the outside.

Today we got the key of the main building and the aloweness to go
inside and photograph how and what we liked.

Not all, buta large numebr I choosed to use S2 native B/W mode in
combination with: Nikon 17-35 2.8 AFS, Nikon 105 2.0 DC, Sigma 14mm
2.8, and Nikon 50mm 1.4, weel you can see in the EXIF data.

For all I choosed to use ISO 400 and made the frames hand held.

B/W mode of S2 is very special, I do consider it as far better than
desaturating afterwards. Capture in 12 Mpixel JPEG mode.

For a design of a DSLR of over 2 years old, I think it hardley can
be beat by any other DSLR, well might be mine preoccupation. ;-)









As there are 39 images, I would like to recommand the B/W lovers to
pay a visit to:

http://www.pbase.com/jacques/beringer_bw_inside_th_ebuilding&page=all

Enjoy or not,

I'm interested in your comments,

jacques.

S2 in B/W mode realy differs from desaturating a S2 or any other
DSLR afterwards.

HYaving the time and undesturbed shooting situation to do a lot of
lens changing and using different settings, well those people in
Beringen made my very happy.

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

 

[Vera]

HI you all,

Today my dear friend Jan Schiphorst and I, we did pay a visit to
the Belgium coal mine, which has been closed most recently in 1989.

Some times one can get a tour, but most of th etimes you are only
allowed to have a look from the outside.

Today we got the key of the main building and the aloweness to go
inside and photograph how and what we liked.

Not all, buta large numebr I choosed to use S2 native B/W mode in
combination with: Nikon 17-35 2.8 AFS, Nikon 105 2.0 DC, Sigma 14mm
2.8, and Nikon 50mm 1.4, weel you can see in the EXIF data.

For all I choosed to use ISO 400 and made the frames hand held.

B/W mode of S2 is very special, I do consider it as far better than
desaturating afterwards. Capture in 12 Mpixel JPEG mode.

For a design of a DSLR of over 2 years old, I think it hardley can
be beat by any other DSLR, well might be mine preoccupation. ;-)

http://www.pbase.com/image/32425575 .

the fuji black and white mode is great. I think it helps you to see in black and white rather than converting. did you use any photoshopping with these apart from maybe sharpening

 

[marc goldstein]

Bravo and congratulations on your great captures,

and I agree with you that the native B&W of the S2, especially with a lens like the 50mm Nikon 1.4 creates stunning and most importantly "natural" results right out of the camera.
Well done.

-MG
http://www.pbase.com/dudedelux

 

[jacques]

Using RAW for a S2 is like cutting the hairs of the brush of the a fine brush. ;-)

RAW, NEF and how they call it, is technics, not about the real embedded feeling which are possible.

Use RAW for those tools, which they forget to do the convesion in a decent mannor.

S2 in JPEG mode, just gives you the feeling of being totally free, choosing ISO, choosing colour or B/W. Setting the S2 to B/W closing the doors of perception of colour, makes one opening his eye, not being forced towards technical excellence, butjust to concentrate on the real interesting aspects of light and dark.

Well just IMHO, feeling free, feeling free in conception and in extracting the essence of the image,

jacques.

 

[jacques]

Hi Artichoke,

Setting the S2 to B/W is like closing many doors, but also to open the real doors of perception.

As Jan and I got the oportunity to go inside the building, no one looking over the shoulder, all time to excange lenses, to find an other perspective, feeling dead of a dead coal mine, the reminances of th eon the surface buildings, having the time to change lenses etcetera, well it have been a excellent and extraordinary open mind feeling.

I do have have as many in colour as in B/W, think I'm going to do a lot of prints and offering those for free.

Next gallery will be Surface mine building in muted colours,

jacques.

wrote:

fine gallery, jacques
this may be my favorite



poignant, almost elegiac & unquestionably improved by being B&W
I am surprised at how well the mine is maintained
abandoned mines in the States get grotty very quickly ...my Mom was
from the coal mining region in Eastern Pennsylvania & old mines
there are scary places (happily ash & beech tree seem to be
flourishing in the old slag heaps)
B&W using Fuji's conversion is excellent, though I prefer the added
control using Digital Daan's BW conversion from color gives ...I
love tweaking my images, though I have to admit that Fuji's BW mode
is difficult to improve upon
thanks for sharing these
--
pbase & dpreview supporter
Fuji SLRT forum member since 5/2001
http://www.pbase.com/artichoke

 

[jacques]

Hi limlh,

The B/W mode is kind of very interesting prison.

There just isn't a way back, but the richness of texture, shapes and lines, is the finest reward one can have,

jacques.

 

[jacques]

Dear Vera,

I just used and very moderate contrast and brightness, then resized and used moderate USM.

The S2 is a JPEG 12 Mpixel mode camera, IMHO not a camera to make photographs in RAW and start endlessly thinkering on the image.

The S2's firmware just is too fine tuned already,

jacques.

S2 over 2 years old design, but for 6 Mpixel native super CCD based canera ver, very mature.

 

[jacques]

Dear Marc,

It isn't my style to post photographs in the Fuji DSLR forum, but well one shouldn't be too regide.

In case I would have bought it recently, I mean the S2 at European prize level, I think I wouldn't have been disappointed with it's abilities,

jacques.

Making photographs isn't depending on the body, but on the eye.

Some make like my type of capturing and other may hate it, buti's just the way I frame.

Thanks a lot for the fine comments.

 

[Fred Shively]

Excellent work, Jacques. B&W is my preferred mode and the results I get even in jpg fine printed to A3 from the S2 are also remarkable

HI you all,

Today my dear friend Jan Schiphorst and I, we did pay a visit to
the Belgium coal mine, which has been closed most recently in 1989.

Some times one can get a tour, but most of th etimes you are only
allowed to have a look from the outside.

Today we got the key of the main building and the aloweness to go
inside and photograph how and what we liked.

Not all, buta large numebr I choosed to use S2 native B/W mode in
combination with: Nikon 17-35 2.8 AFS, Nikon 105 2.0 DC, Sigma 14mm
2.8, and Nikon 50mm 1.4, weel you can see in the EXIF data.

For all I choosed to use ISO 400 and made the frames hand held.

B/W mode of S2 is very special, I do consider it as far better than
desaturating afterwards. Capture in 12 Mpixel JPEG mode.

For a design of a DSLR of over 2 years old, I think it hardley can
be beat by any other DSLR, well might be mine preoccupation. ;-)









As there are 39 images, I would like to recommand the B/W lovers to
pay a visit to:

http://www.pbase.com/jacques/beringer_bw_inside_th_ebuilding&page=all

Enjoy or not,

I'm interested in your comments,

jacques.

S2 in B/W mode realy differs from desaturating a S2 or any other
DSLR afterwards.

HYaving the time and undesturbed shooting situation to do a lot of
lens changing and using different settings, well those people in
Beringen made my very happy.

--
FJS

 

[jacques]

Than you Wayne,

And I think we both do realy like this combo !!!! ;-)

I myself do feel it very different to choose B/W mode, no way back, B/W in RAW, not exiting enough and just converting to B/W by any means afterwards is like 'cutting oneself with a sponge',

Turn the S2 to B/W does make me feel to put in a real B/W negative film in my digital,

jacques.

 

[jacques]

Hi Fred,

Many may call the S2 a non Pro camera, well they might be right considering AF engine, the small buffer, the low framerate, but...

But IMHO it's Pro in the way it brings one the best digital film available, both in colour rendition, low noise and fine B/W film build in.

Working in B/W mode for me is totaly different from choosing any other kind of capturing images and converting to B/W afterwards.

The digital B/W 'negatives' ain't very hard, but do have the finest details and super handling of all kinds of ISO at different light condiions.

Wish you may enjoy B/W shooting with the S2 many many times,

jacques.

 

[BJN]

Well just IMHO, feeling free, feeling free in conception and in
extracting the essence of the image,

What you gain in immediacy, you lose in the ability to filter your images for the best effect. But do whatever rings your bell.

Accept the canned results from the camera if you like, I'll continue to work on my images in the "darkroom" with tools like the channel mixer.

--
BJN

 

[jacques]

Dear BJN,

In case I would have your abilities, yes I would use RAW with my S2, as then I could be sure I would have had a lot of more inside knowledge to handle the native DATA from the CCD than a complete team of Fuji engeneers has.

In case I would still use a analog camera I also would never ever buy those stupid factory made films, but would take production in my hands too. ;-))

The complete mania of RAW converting digital photographers has been born in the days some camera manufacturers didn't do their work very well and they thought it would be easier to write some software.

Well I think you also can easily make a estimate of what percentage of DSLR users are shooting in RAW as function of the brand of DSLR they use, as I don't want to call you silly.

For S2 users RAW will give some advantage in real difficult light conditions as the dynamic range of the original DATA in the RAW is larger than in a JPEG made one. In respect to achievable sharpness it just doesn't make any difference. I do know some S2 users who started to use RAW frequently, changed to 12 Mpixel native mode and even went to do in camera resizing to 6Mpixel images. But as managing sharpening after resizing is quite a simple task to do in software, much much more easy than managing colours,I prefer to do the resizing afterwards. The 12 Mpixel JPEG has about 30% more detail in it than the in camera produced 6 Mpixel image.

Judging a 12 Mpixel image on a screen, well is hard as one is looking at (at aprox 72dpi) at a 1.5 m (60 inch) wide image.

jacques.

BTW I think S2 users don't have the same kind of interest in using all kind of noise removers, as the Fuji engeneers realy did a very excellent job. I don't have any problem in case you would lik eto write S2 is not a pro camera, lots of details ask for better, like: better AF engine, better battery, better sealing (which isn't as expensive as some times is suggested), faster imaging engine and larger buffer, faster writing and reading to the CF card or micro drive. And above all it should have been build out of metal, so I also could use it to drive a nail in the wall.

Well just IMHO, feeling free, feeling free in conception and in
extracting the essence of the image,

What you gain in immediacy, you lose in the ability to filter your
images for the best effect. But do whatever rings your bell.

Accept the canned results from the camera if you like, I'll
continue to work on my images in the "darkroom" with tools like the
channel mixer.

--
BJN

 

[Robert Scultz]

first of thanks for shareing,... I love the B&W magazine,... too

for best results, shoot in RAW, B&W on, that way you have full color,

and can preview in B&W, exept it's slow, large files, and you need to convert it too,...

... primes,... channel mixer, since not every shot looks good , with the same channels,

last not least, add film grain to it, print it on a noritsu 400dpi, with agfa digital paper,
viola, darn nice. (lightjet and Kodak B&W paper, better ?, not yet tested)

do think the B&W mode, is a very pro feature,... just would love to have the jpeg output with the channels, instead beeing squashed.
cheers, Robert

--
http://www.RobsPhoto.com

 

[jacques]

Dear Robert,

Yes, rationaly you are 100% right, but...

The noway back, as soon as one chooses for 12 Mp JPEG in B/W mode, makes life a real adventure. ;-)

The 'negatives' well of course in digital we all see as positives, the S2 delivers under those settings is an almost perfect 'negative'. It might be called a bit soft, but it's the 'soft' we always would have liked to get when using analog B/W film.

A soft negative with details in high as well as in the low lights, a negative we can shift 'hardness' all over the range we can choose for soft low and soft high with stronger midtones, well I realy do feel it excellent starting material.

Thirty years ago I wished I had a body in which I easily could change from slide, to colour and or B/W nagative film, well I just hadn't enough resources to have three bodies to mak it possible. And now, I just have to push some buttons and all I ever wished is available.

Rationly of course the S2 isn't a real Pro body, as it's a compromise made over two years ago between what would be nice and what would be priced reasonable. I still am wondering how such 'old' product still is in the leading pack of the 6 Mpixel photosides DSLRs. IMHO the Fuji engeneers did a very fine job in tuning the different 'films' inside the S2, how they managed to tackle noise at higher ISO. And to manage noise at higher ISO is to manage higher iSO at those low light conditions one realy needs high ISO. As using 1600ISO during full daylight well the extreme short shutterspeeds then compensate for the higher ISO introduced noise.

My S2 still is in good working order and a S3 should be realy much better to change from S2 to S3, but the idea with the S3 I can choose for Kodak Tri X, Fuji Velvia, and well just fill in the ..... well that aspect could be a too big of temptation to let it on the shelves in a store,

jacques.

BTW I do love working in B/W, but still like colour as well.

LOving making people photographs, but also enjoying abstracting just shapes and textures, well I think in photography there is so much to explore and to enjoy, just sticking to one aspect, would be a shame.

first of thanks for shareing,... I love the B&W magazine,... too

for best results, shoot in RAW, B&W on, that way you have full
color,
and can preview in B&W, exept it's slow, large files, and you need
to convert it too,...
... primes,... channel mixer, since not every shot looks good ,
with the same channels,
last not least, add film grain to it, print it on a noritsu
400dpi, with agfa digital paper,
viola, darn nice. (lightjet and Kodak B&W paper, better ?, not
yet tested)
do think the B&W mode, is a very pro feature,... just would love to
have the jpeg output with the channels, instead beeing squashed.
cheers, Robert

--
http://www.RobsPhoto.com