M8 mono mode

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SnapperJ

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If I shoot in mono mode will contrast filters (red, yellow) have any effect on the sensor. If so will the effects be the same as on film?
 
Better to shoot in colour and apply filter effects in post-processing.(Except IR and Pol). But basically the answer to your question is yes.
 
As Jaap says, shoot in colour and post-process. In any case, the answer to your question is that filters will work in a similar way but slightly differently in that the sensor has different sensitivities to the different wavelengths when compared with (pick your favourite) film.

I use filters on my dSLR sometimes when I know I want B&W as the final output as I don't like doing too much post-processing. I work on a computer all day... the last thing I want to is spend my time on a computer as part of my hobbies!
 
I shoot my 20D in color and switch it in the computer and also do the filter thing there too. Filters cost light, and on an SLR I always disliked looking through yellow, orange or red filters.
 
I think if you put a filter in front of a digi the auto white balance would try to remove the effect so you would at least have to set the WB manually.

Maybe the mono mode would have different filter effects within like an EOS 20D?
 
Toby said:
I think if you put a filter in front of a digi the auto white balance would try to remove the effect so you would at least have to set the WB manually.

Maybe the mono mode would have different filter effects within like an EOS 20D?
Click to expand...

Very interesting comment. Thanks
 
From what I've seen from the Epson RD-1 B&W wise, it would be great if Leica licensed the algorithm/software from Epson or whoever developed it for them.
 
With a Bayer-matrix digital sensor you effectively have the red, green and blue filters "on" the camera with every shot. The individual pixels on the sensor are monochrome -- they only measure quantity of light. Each pixel has a red, green or blue filter over it, making it sensitive only to light on those wavelengths, just as with a colour filter on film.

The net effect is that the three "channels" (R,G,B) in Photoshop are the unmixed red, green and blue feed. You can select how much of each channel is "mixed" into the final image in monchrome mode. This allows you to chose any variation of red, green and blue filtering on any shot -- with the effect being the same as it would with a filter on BW film (just on a continuous sliding scale of intensity, which you can variably apply to any part of the image in whatever amount you wish).

This is why digital is such a powerful tool for BW photographers.

(It is also why you don't really ever want to shoot jpegs for BW work of any importance, since you throw-out all of this potential control)
 
SnapperJ said:
Very interesting comment. Thanks
Click to expand...
I'm not sure any of them really answered your original question. So it is time for some heresy to the "shoot color and always in RAW" folks:D
In the land of in-camera B&W we find JPEGs and the in-camera processing may just desaturate the image, but I bet this varies with camera brands, as I have seen some variations. The gray tone along the color spectrum is very neutral, compared to B&W film and a bit too ideal in the cameras that I have used. I don't know for sure that white balance is active in B&W mode, but if it is we would have a lot of flexibility to combine say flourescent WB with a green filter and eventually find what we are looking for. Setting WB to daylight and using color filters will alter the gray scale & contrast, just as it does for film.
There are color mixing setting for post processing to approximate various B&W film color responses, to get the old familiar look. The post processing approach is the most flexible, but I think there is fun to be had with the in-camera method. With the M8 you can always do RAW + jpeg and get both, but a filter will give the color RAW image a weird look;)
Bob
 
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