For photographers who shoot images that will in at least some instances be displayed in black and white (artists, newspaper photographers, etc.), it would be nice to look through the camera viewfinder and press a button to see the view in black and white.

This could be implemented easily in a digital camera (though I'm not aware of any that offer it), but when I first wanted the capability, digital technology was not available. Any ideas if it could be done using optics alone?
-- beauxeault, Jun 30 2000

panchromatic viewing filter http://www.bhphotov...=&sku=245949&is=REG
for viewing color scenes as monochromatic [chronopsis, Dec 27 2004]

this is cool, i'll have to do some thinking about it, i've always liked optics, but i've never had the chance to really study it properly and fully

it's not the camera idea that i like most, but the turning a colour image into a black and white one using just optics idea
-- brutus, Jul 03 2000


Digital cameras have this. I can speak for Sony Mavica as that is what I have. It comes with a B+W, Sepia, Solarize and Neg-Art as picture effects. Nifty. With 35mm, I believe looking through a green filter gives one a reasonable idea of the B+W end product.
-- jetckalz, Jul 13 2000


Definitely doable with a digital camera, you just need a B&W viewer on the back*, or a B&W mode selection for the viewer.

I think it won't ever be a popular product (artistic stuff never is, otherwise it's not art), so you're talking hugely expensive. This might be a feature on an upscale digital SLR

(*or, on the other hand, it might be a way for a cheap digital camera maker to cut costs.)
-- whlanteigne, Jun 11 2003


You cannot convert full-spectrum light into true black and white using optics. Cameras like the upper-scale Fuji Finepix digitals offer digital through-the-lens Electronic Viewfinder, but no B&W mode. Many Sony models do offer B&W, but you'll have to watch the LCD display for the effect.
-- Cedar Park, Jun 11 2003


Some Cannons and Nikons have a B+W mode, also sepia and other things.
-- tiromancer, Dec 27 2004


When you convert a color image to grayscale, you have lots of control over how that happens—you can blend the color channels in different ways. When the camera does it, it either picks one wavelength (if I make the right assumption about the optical solution) or just takes the average of red, green, and blue for each pixel (if it's digital). Therefore, the viewfinder preview might look quite different from the final grayscale image.
-- notexactly, Nov 14 2015



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