Does the 8800 take pics in B&W & Sepia ?

[Roxanne]

I decided that this is the camera I NEED !! But does it shoot in B&W and Sepia ? Thanks !

[George Riehm]

I decided that this is the camera I NEED !! But does it shoot in B&W and Sepia ? Thanks !

Why would you want to do this, when you can just convert them later in Photoshop or Elements (or any other post processor). That way you will always have a color original to work with.

Just a thought.

[brucegarrett]

Hi Roxanne

Yes you can shoot in black and white with the 8800. Although the pic size is the same as in colour, the detail is enhanced.

But you can't shoot sepia in-camera. This can be done in post-processing in Photoshop, Nikon View etc by adjusting the colour balance.

Nikon View/Nikon Editor is a free download from Nikon Support.

Happy shooting.

Bruce

[George Riehm]

Hi Roxanne

Yes you can shoot in black and white with the 8800. Although the pic size is the same as in colour, the detail is enhanced.

But you can't shoot sepia in-camera. This can be done in post-processing in Photoshop, Nikon View etc by adjusting the colour balance.

Nikon View/Nikon Editor is a free download from Nikon Support.

Happy shooting.

Bruce

Hi again,

"Although the pic size is the same as in colour, the detail is enhanced."

Is that really true? How does that work vs. Photoshop greyscale conversion? As is the case with RAW, I always assumed that post processing can bring out more detail than in-camera processing.

[brucegarrett]

Hi George

The 8800 has a separate black and white setting in the Saturation Control menu. The finder and display also show the image in black and white in this mode.

Although this disables the White Balance and White Balance Bracketing and you can't shoot in RAW.

See page 94 in the new manual..."Black and white images require same amount of memory as colour images, but show a higher level of detail".

Bruce

[Roxanne]

Thanks ;)

I dont have Photoshop , but am considering getting Elements . I would love to be able to learn to use the real thing !

[kornhauser]

It's in the saturation control menu.

[George Riehm]

Hi George

The 8800 has a separate black and white setting in the Saturation Control menu. The finder and display also show the image in black and white in this mode.

Although this disables the White Balance and White Balance Bracketing and you can't shoot in RAW.

See page 94 in the new manual..."Black and white images require same amount of memory as colour images, but show a higher level of detail".

Bruce

I know how it works. But I have a problem believing that Nikon can smash the function into the camera as well as it can be done in post processing.

I would appreciate more detail than "it just does". And a higher level of detail in what way? Does it disable the anti aliasing filter? If not then it is just Nikon hype.

I'm not saying that it can't be done, but it just goes against everything I have been taught.

[brucegarrett]

Technicalities apart George... it works.

Surely that is the plan?

Bruce

[Roxanne]

Yikes ! OK OK enough already LOL

I'll probably shoot in color and convert in PSP ;)

Thanks Guys ;)

[George Riehm]

Yikes ! OK OK enough already LOL

I'll probably shoot in color and convert in PSP ;)

Thanks Guys ;)

Sorry, I didn't want you to think this was an argument, but more of a discussion. I try to learn from others, but I need to be able to pass on detailed information to others with accuracy as well. If the in-camera desaturation works better than external processing then that is good information.

Try it both ways, and see which works best for your subjects and lighting, also try NEF (RAW) as a way to access subtle shadows and highlites (apparently this doesn't work in B&W mode). I'm not sure that PSP has a RAW processor, so maybe leave Photoshop Elements as a future "to buy" item.

Anyway, thanks for bringing this up. I didn't mean for you to feel that you were causing a problem.

Bruce, Thanks, very much, for your input, and the reference in the 8800 manual. I'm sure desaturation works fine in-camera. I'll ask the guys at Nikon what they mean by "greater detail" in the manual. :) It may be that they do a broader band process before converting to JPEG.

Thanks again.

[Roxanne]

Oh No ...No Problem !! You guys are great and there IS alot learned through these discussions ;) Much better than a simple yes or no ! Thanks !

[Robert Besen]

I would guess that b/w in the camera uses all 12 bits of the A to D converter, as does the RAW mode.