Black and White mode, including display

[bobwysiwyg]

I did try a search, but found nothing. I'm looking for a digital camera that has a built-in black and white mode. Oddly, my Nikon D100 does not.. that I can find, and I have noticed there are some consumer level cams that have this capability. I'm by no means looking for a top of the line camera. My intent is to use this as a preview cam for film photography.

[AlexMonro]

Most digital cameras, from pocket ultra compacts, to enthusiast DSLRs, have a B/W jpeg mode, which will display the results of the in-camera conversion on the LCD. It probably won't have exactly the same response as any given B/W film, development, and printing process though - you might be able to approximate the look by a bit of trial and error adjustment of contrast settings, though inherently B/W film is likely to be capable of far greater dynamic range with appropriate processing.

I'd suggest you just look for a digital camera based on your other requirements, and then just check that the model you chose has a B/W mode - at least 99% of them will.

[bobwysiwyg]

I started rummaging through the menu on my wife's Canon Elf, sure enough, it has a B&W mode. For the heck of it, set the ISO to 100 and compared it's exposure for a gray card and compared it to both my Seconic meter and my Pentax spot meter.. very close as in with one stop! I guess one could use it for metering in a pinch as well.

[AlexMonro]

That tells you the basic metering response is fairly close on a mid grey, but doesn't tell you anything about the shadows and highlights, which are likely to be very different. The Elf probably only has about 6 stops dynamic range, B/W film can give 12 or more - tonality is the main feature of B/W.

I think the compact can still be a useful tool though, but it might be a good idea to shoot a test roll or two of a range of subjects, particularly high contrast, and compare the prints with images on the compact's screen. You probably want to make notes of the the exposures, as well as development and printing techniques.

Maybe read up on the Zone System (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_system) - this could be an interesting new variation, at least in some circumstances.

[bobwysiwyg]

My reference to metering was in a pinch only and more of a curios note than anything. I'm familiar with the zone system though my practice of it is a bit shaky yet. Actually, I was more interested in the display as a cheap preview function. Now if my wife's Elf had a 4x5 display.. :rolleyes: