Possibility of converting a M8 to a B&W camera.

[taxi38]

Now that an M8 can be had for a reasonable price is there a possibiity of removing the rgb filter chemically or physically to produce a b&w camera of possibly greater fidelity?
If it is does anyone know of a decent place tofor the surgery?

 

[Artorius]

The M8 is a B&W camera already. If you want more, convert your RAWs to B&W in C1 or PSCS.

 

[user237428934]

Now that an M8 can be had for a reasonable price is there a possibiity of removing the rgb filter chemically or physically to produce a b&w camera of possibly greater fidelity?
If it is does anyone know of a decent place tofor the surgery?

I think it makes more sense to buy Silver Efex Pro, a very good plugin for converting to b&w. Why castrate a good camera 😱

 

[taxi38]

Now that an M8 can be had for a reasonable price is there a possibiity of removing the rgb filter chemically or physically to produce a b&w camera of possibly greater fidelity?
If it is does anyone know of a decent place tofor the surgery?

n.b. of possibly greater fidelity.Im led to believe that by removing this filter all the pixels wil be available for the image ,not just one in three or whatever it is at the moment.Also this filter has,apparently,a softening effect which has to be corrected later with the unsharp mask.

 

[Mephiloco]

anything you do is going to compromise the quality of the sensor and images taken by the camera and also kill the resale value of the camera

 

[250swb]

n.b. of possibly greater fidelity.

Greater fidelity compared to what? B&W is already an abstraction of reality so I don't know where your base point would be in a make believe world.

Steve

 

[mfogiel]

The solution is simple, sell the M8 and buy the M7, film is superior in B&W anyway.

 

[kully]

Why? B&W film responds differently to different colours... Is this idea for taking pics?

 

[user237428934]

n.b. of possibly greater fidelity.Im led to believe that by removing this filter all the pixels wil be available for the image ,not just one in three or whatever it is at the moment.Also this filter has,apparently,a softening effect which has to be corrected later with the unsharp mask.

As far as i Know an AA-Filter for reducing moire effects has a softening effect. But I thought the M8 has none.

 

[taxi38]

To be clear..I have an M6 and a M4-2 ,my digital photography is limited to my phone and my wifes fuji f20.
Im looking at this as an idea that might be tempting if possible as a B&W only sensor has distinct advantages over a colour one and might just improve the digital image.

 

[stupid leica]

thread.
of.
the.
year.

Removing the RGB array is, as far as i know, not anywhere near feasible on any sensor. This would completely change the way the camera records and processes the image.

Go get a bunch of Tri-X, Neopan, or HP5 (yuk), and shoot real B&W.

 

[taxi38]

anything you do is going to compromise the quality of the sensor and images taken by the camera and also kill the resale value of the camera

Its what has BEEN done to the sensor that compromises the image.

 

[user237428934]

I am going to get some popcorn. Seems to be a funny discussion.

 

[ulrikft]

If you could, physically, remove the RGB sensor, you will get a image fully compromised of luminosity values, without colors being represented or doing anything at all, just light values. I guess this means that you could use red/blue/green filters etc. You would also get more accurate representation of the things you shoot, but I don't know if this will be worth it, I think the work done on the sensor alone would cost you enough that just getting a M9 and converting your color raw files the normal way, would be better. Any advantage out of this would be reasonably marginal compared to price and work done.

 

[mfogiel]

Speaking seriously, the idea is not new. Read this article:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/kodak-760m.shtml

The guy has finally settled on the MP+35/2 Biogon and Efke 25 film.

 

[Avotius]

This thread cracks me up! Not because of the idea of converting an m8 into a b/w only camera but because of how many people before have said they want their next digital rangefinder or whatever to be b/w only and I always voiced the opinion that such a thing would never and should never be made because it would compromise too much of the end user when it came to any sort of flexabilty as we have come to expect in digital capture...and now look at this thread, seems when someone has the idea of making a camera b/w only it's not a good idea. Wow.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Shhhhh, Leica is going to be very upset now that you've given out the secret of the M-13, which has not only built in settings for a multitude of film and developer combos but also the typical grey scale rendition of prints by everybody from Bruce Davidson to Gene Smith to H.C.B., and the flare characteristics of a plethora of lenses. Supposedly new software will be brought out annually to include the styles of new photographers as well as some more obscure names out of the past. Leica is currently negotiating with Kodak to get the rights to their old slogan "You push the button, we do the rest".

 

[taxi38]

Fair enough,but Im willing to bet that if Ricoh ever has the balls to bring out a grd whatever with a b&w only tiny sensor it will compare pretty well with an M8 converted in photoshop.

 

[stupid leica]

anything will compare pretty well with (and completely destroy) a M8's image. That is a horrible camera. 😛 haha

 

[GoneSavage]

Thumbs up for experimentation! I would love to see images from a black and white M8, and wish you luck with this project!