[B][FONT=Arial][SIZE=4]In my book to make great digital black and white you need to start with colour[/SIZE][/FONT][/B]

Last week I commented on the arrival of [URL="http://dpnow.com/forum2/blog.php?b=314"]Leica's M Monochrom[/URL], a specialised version of Leica's M-series digital rangefinder camera fitted with a purely black and white full frame sensor. At the time I wondered at Leica's audacity and vision to create such a camera, but the more I thought about it the more I began to feel this was a flawed mission. And this is why:

[IMG]http://dpnow.com/files/blog/colour_mono.jpg[/IMG]

All three black and white versions of this image were adapted from the colour original at the top left. No changes to contrast or brightness were made. The only changes were adjustments to colour channels in the original that affected the mono conversion. This is an immensely powerful facility that Leica M Monochrom photographers won't have because the camera's sensor only records luminance. No colour data is recorded, so there are no colour channels to play with.

It may be possible, as in the old black and white film days, to use colour filters over the lens to darken or lighten selected hues, but this is not confirmed and even if it was, the range of tonal adjustments available would be much more limited and fiddly to achieve compared to using a colour original.

I'm seeing Leica tomorrow and will be hoping to debate the above with them - I'll certainly be reporting back.