How do YOU see?

[titrisol]

Agreed, color became "cheaper" in the mid/late 80s

I bet there is a small niche for cameras without the bayer array, of people that want to experience the BW film era without having to smell the darkroom (my favorite part). Leica has been doing for a while (very $$$$$)
A while ago I saw some people de-bayering sensors to get near-IR sensitivity and then they began modifying the Ricoh GR cameras to get monochrome images. They claimed that because the processor didnt need to interpolate colors in the bayer array the resolution was better (crisper/sharper) https://85mm-photography.com/static-pag ... sion).html
I guess that created enough buzz that Ricoh/Pentax modified their existing platform (K3-iii) to follow suit.

In this times, the internet forums and "influencers" have weight that was unthinkable in the time of magazines

A good discussion.

When I was young, shooting in color was a rare luxury, and then only done with slide film on special occasions, such as a trip. I got to see everything in terms of the B&W tones. When I could afford color, it was an additional angle and often a headache. Much later on, with C-41 in the mainstream, the situation reversed. Eventually I got to shooting only slides!

So, it may be more a question of what is available and what is your personal preference. Nowadays, for me is B&W on film and color in digital.

It is so easy to desaturate a digital color image, enhance a color channel if needed, etc. I do not understand the Leica or Pentax move, but then I may be too old to understand the current market. Maybe B&W has a special artistic halo, maybe these cameras could allow better definition or they would be simpler and more ergonomic.

Although the world is in color, IMHO some subjects often come out better in B&W, for instance portraits.

[GrahamS]

It's not the smell of the darkroom that I miss - it's the smell of a freshly opened film canister.........

[alexvaras]

It's not the smell of the darkroom that I miss - it's the smell of a freshly opened film canister.........

Thank you, Graham! I thought it was just me!

[Bennybee]

I own a number of digital cameras, a few of which are older and have no monochrome setting. So I need to shoot those in color mode and have to convert the pictures to monochrome in post. When I then inspect those color files on the computer screen they look worthless (banal, boring), probably because I 'saw' in black&white when I shot them, and the results in colour don't appeal to me as I anticipated - until I change them to mono (sometimes, not always of course).

[PFMcFarland]

In revisiting this thread I must give my observations on the current trend of monochrome sensor cameras. I'm all for it. Though I've had success with converting color files, and using the monochrome setting on a couple of my cameras, I've seen much better IQ with the new models. The thing is you now have a sensor which has no high by-pass filter built-in, and it is seeing the light as it should be, directly on the surface which allows for the use of contrast filters added on to the lens just like back in the good old film days. And if you want to introduce a bit of grain effect, just crank up the ISO into five-digit territory. Now, if they could just match the lower cost of B&W film...

PF