bene
Established
Which is better? pro and cons like tonality pushability? etc
david.elliott
Well-known
When making a choice between color film converted to black and white vs. black and white film, I dont really see how tonality and pushability are deciding factors at all.
I think it probably boils down to - you can make a color photo black and white, but you cannot really colorize a photo taken with black and white film.
If you want to have the option of a color version, you must use color film.
I think it probably boils down to - you can make a color photo black and white, but you cannot really colorize a photo taken with black and white film.
If you want to have the option of a color version, you must use color film.
Al Kaplan
Veteran
You have more options with B&W as far as speed, grain, tonality, contrast, etc. plus silver based film, properly processed and correctly stored has great keeping qualities. Silver doesn't fade the way that the dye in color film does.
Chris101
summicronia
Black and white photos are best if they are made on a medium intended for black and white photos. If you want to turn color images into monochrome ones (and maybe apply color "toning" along the way) it is probably better to start with a digital image from the git-go.
mfogiel
Veteran
The colour C41 film is not pushable at all. at most it has to be pulled always to get a decent shadow detail, with slides things get worse due to smaller dr. The tonality of B&W film, is what makes it live and prosper, and you lose most of it in the conversion process, so just shoot B&W film if you want quality B&W images.
robinsonphotography
Established
B&W is the reason I shoot film. I can shoot color digital all day long and convert to black and white, but it's not the same as shooting black and white film (nor is c-41 converted in LR)....there is no substitute!
Chriscrawfordphoto
Real Men Shoot Film.
Black and White film. I have done BW from digital cameras by converting and I have done conversions from color slides and color neg film. None of them are as good as real BW film, though I have gotten excellent results from digital cameras and C41 color film. Slide film never worked well, it hasn't got enough dynamic range and shadow detail is usually lacking in the converted image.
Color photo scanned from negative. Yes the sky looked that purple.
Same image converted in Photoshop
This is from a Kodak DCS-14n digital camera, converted in Photoshop. I don't have the original color image online to show.
A color image from the Kodak 14n
The BW conversion
You're probably wondering now why I think BW film is better. It is. Many of my color images just wouldn't give a good BW conversion because of lack of dynamic range (especially for digital camera originals) and all pics from BW film look sharper than color conversions in large prints.
Color photo scanned from negative. Yes the sky looked that purple.
Same image converted in Photoshop
This is from a Kodak DCS-14n digital camera, converted in Photoshop. I don't have the original color image online to show.
A color image from the Kodak 14n
The BW conversion
You're probably wondering now why I think BW film is better. It is. Many of my color images just wouldn't give a good BW conversion because of lack of dynamic range (especially for digital camera originals) and all pics from BW film look sharper than color conversions in large prints.
Al Kaplan
Veteran
These discussions always remind me of the ads for a "Life Size Inflatable Doll with Features You Wouldn't Believe!"
The conversions look great in the neighborhood weekly or a trade journal.
The conversions look great in the neighborhood weekly or a trade journal.