Thursday, April 13th, was "Black-and-White Day," with the new Pentax K3 Mark III Monochrome officially announced (it will ship at the end of this month, according to reports) and the new Leica M11 Monochrom finally moseying along after the M11 (which has been out for a year and three months).
The new Pentax Monochrome
Monochrome sensors don't deserve all the fierce disputation and hand-wringing they inspire. The most popular video review of the new Pentax seems to be Samuel Lintaro's, on his Samuel Streetlife vlog. He points out the real reason for a dedicated B&W camera at about the 20:40 mark: "Also, [I] never questioned why I was shooting black and white. I never missed color. Whenever I shoot black and white on my color sensor cameras, because I can quickly change my image preview to color, I sometimes want to see it in color. But here, I can't do that, so I don't think about it. So I guess the main selling point of a monochrome sensor is that whole experience."
That's it. The experience is really the main thing about it. And it's not very complicated...it's simply that it enables you to ignore color, see tonally, and not have to constantly decide whether a particular shot should be color or not. Which for some people helps them concentrate. Personally, as I've written, I'm unable to concentrate exclusively on B&W when I'm shooting with a color sensor. I see how the camera sees, meaning, both ways, color and B&W simultaneously, so I continually have to make decisions about what kind of shots I'm looking for. It drives me nuts. YMMV.
Of course, a lot of "color shooters" out there in the multiverse aren't sensitive to colors as they shoot color, and they wouldn't pay any attention to tones either, so they're convinced they do equally well at both. Actually they do, except you'd have to say they do "equally poorly" at both. Everyone within the sound of my voice excepted from this judgment, of course!
Experience
As I pointed out yesterday, you have to consider that unless they shot a lot of B&W film in pre-digital days, most photographers have actually not experienced what it's like to shoot with a dedicated monochrome camera. The only options have been very expensive, and until fairly recently they were rangefinders—already a niche, an acquired taste. What the world needs is a good $650 Fuji ILC monochrome, so people could easily afford one as a secondary body and find out for themselves what it's like. Most people, when they discuss this, are only imagining, in their heads, what they think it must be like to shoot with a dedicated monochrome camera (and many of them aren't dedicated monochrome shooters), and they derive their conclusions from that. It's a poor way to experience things, generally...in fantasy only. It's better to have actual experience. A cheap-yet-adequate B&W-only camera would give more people the opportunity to try it and make up their minds based on experience.
"Special"? Bah.
And as an oh-by-the-way, all the seductive verbiage you might read about "specially designed sensors" is highly likely a load of BS. These are just normal sensors with the CFA (color filter array) and anti-aliasing filters removed. They're not special in any way. And they're not "designed" for B&W. They differ in a few ways from color sensors: they are more sensitive to light by up to a stop, unless you put an optical filter on your lens; they're sharper, not that today's color sensors lack for sharpness by any sane standard; and there's no chroma noise. In practice, there is not much highlight headroom, meaning you have to expose for the highlights in camera (Samuel Lintaro addresses this nicely), which works because shadow recovery is awesome; and they're not as sensitive to ISO as color cameras are. If you see comparisons of a converted color file and a dedicated monochrome file, and they look pretty much the same, ask to see a comparison at, say, ISO 12,800. You'll see more difference there.
A sensor actually designed for B&W would be legitimately exciting. Without knowing what I'm talking about (because I'm not a sensor designer or expert), I would guess that it would feature spectral correction, calibrated lifting of the mid-tones probably in software, and ND filtration on up to half the pixels for highlight rendering/recovery. Fuji, which long ago designed a special dual-photosite sensor with areas of different sensitivity (someone will have to remind me what that was called) would have the technical know-how to actually design a sensor for B&W. [UPDATE: Fuji SuperCCD SR II, found in cameras such as the Fujifilm S5 Pro—thanks to Peter Cameron for this. —Ed.]. But the economics probably aren't there.
Last point: the Pentax is for the Japanese homeland market, full stop. That's how Ricoh made the decision and that's where it cares about the response. So those out there who want to whimper on about how the K3-III Mono does or does not appeal to them should keep in mind that unless they're Japanese and living in Japan, it's not actually really for them. Be grateful they're even offering it in other countries. (All of this paragraph is my opinion only.)
In sum
Does anybody need a dedicated B&W camera? There's a lot of strident I-know-what's-best-for-everybody bullcrap out there on the wilds of the World Wide Web. If they don't want one, fine; if they already have what they need, bravo; but I'm standing up in the audience and applauding Pentax. I question the wisdom of testing the concept with a premium-price product—I've always wanted to see a cheap option that would make sense as a second (or third, or fourth, etc.) body, for proof of concept (I certainly felt the same way about the Leicas). But a group of intrepid photographers will find their creativity served by the new camera, and I look forward to seeing the work they will do with it.
Mike
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Featured Comments from:
Chris H: "I believe the mono Pentax is a HUGE advent for the market, whether the sales will reflect it or no. Something that does the Leica Monochrom thing, at roughly a quarter of the price of a new Leica Monochrom. I hope this is wildly successful, as that can only be a good thing for the industry and hobby, and maybe convince others to become fish in a growing pond. That would really be great."
Benjamin Marks (partial comment): "...Let's face it: for me (and most of us), this is play. Not a calorie of food on my table nor scrap of leather on my children's feet depends on my making an image. So all I ask myself is: 'does it look like fun?' The answer to that is,'yes'—Photo World looks more fun with a dedicated B&W camera in it."
Roger Bradbury: "I don't want one, but as a Pentax man I'm most pleased to see it and I think they'll sell every one they can make. That's great for me, as the more cameras Pentax sells the more lenses they'll sell too, and the chances of more new lens models increases.
"By the way, the price of the Monochrome was just what I expected it to be; a bit over a third more than the standard K3 III."
Andy F: "For the last four years I have taken thousands of photographs with my Huawei P20 Pro phone, in the B/W pro mode, which uses the phone's 20-MP Sony monochrome sensor, in combination with a 27mm equivalent lens to produce a B&W JPEG. I wish it did raw, like the main colour camera. My phone is really a cheap man’s Leica Q2M; the cameras & lenses were developed in partnership with Leica. I am more than pleased by the phone’s B&W jpegs, which are amazingly sharp and noise-free and have a lovely tonality—as long as you make sure you do not clip the highlights. There is zero recovery for blown highlights, so you expose for the highlights and recover the shadows.
"My experience with the Huawei has whetted my appetite for a monochrome camera from one of the camera manufacturers. There are several versions of the Leica Monochrom, but IMHO the Leica is poor value for money and I am not a great lover of rangefinder cameras. Now we have the Pentax K-3 Mono, which is a technical tour de force when compared to the Leicas. It has AF, IBIS, focus stacking, and I think even pixel shift, but in a limited form. Yes it’s a DSLR, and not mirrorless, but for me I see this as an advantage, when you are more than likely going to have the exposure compensation set to –1 stop or below, to curb the highlights.
"I have signed up with Pentax EU for notification, as to when it will be available here in the UK. I already have more than enough cameras and lenses, but the K-3 Mono has given me GAS."
almostinfamous: "It is very cruel of Pentax to do this to me just a couple of months after I got into Nikon mirrorless and have no budget left over. I have always been curious about shooting a purely monochrome camera and this would have fit quite well in the pocketbook. I suppose this is their way of paying me back for my choice to get a Nikon D200 over a K100D super in 2007."
PDLanum: "Back in the day, I used to buy 100-foot rolls of Pan-X and load my own cassettes. I developed those rolls of film and printed them in the darkroom my father and I built in the basement. It got to the point where it seemed that I 'saw' in B&W. On the rare occasion that I shot color, mostly transparencies, i.e., slides, I noticed a shift in how I 'saw' and how I approached shooting. I was used to seeing color though the viewfinder and being able to understand how the resulting image would appear in B&W. It would be interesting to re-visit those days with a camera that only produced B&W files and see if I still 'have the knack.' I also wonder how long it will take for Adobe, C1, and other post-processing companies to come out with body-specific workflows. Having B&W native files sort of removes the necessity for 'vibrance' and 'saturation' sliders."
Jeff: "@PDLanum…even using a color-based digital camera, one doesn’t need saturation (or hue) sliders in PP with B&W conversions. Color hue and saturation have no effect on black and white tonalities, regardless the camera. 'Seeing' in black and white is about luminance/brightness. HSL sliders? Ignore the first two. For me, the main benefit of a monochrome-based camera is that it allows me to shoot without looking for, or being distracted by, potential color pics. It becomes a mindset."
Jeff1000: "The Nikon Z7 has no AA filter, is full frame, and 45.7 megapixels. The drawback is that it is capable of shooting color?"
Mike replies: I assume you prefer a camera that natively shoots color? And don't you have a number of options on the market to choose from? So your needs are met. And yet for people who want a camera that natively shoots mono, you object to them having ONE reasonably priced option? Why? Why would you begrudge letting other people have what they happen to want? Does it somehow mean you can't have the Z7 that is your choice?
My attitude has always been that I want photographers to have whatever they want or need to do their work, regardless of whether I can see the need for it myself or not, and regardless of whether I have any interest in it or not.
John Krumm: "Our friend Ned has been happily shooting samples in Florida, using a variety of lenses...."
Paul: "I have a tendency to convert everything to black and white (particularly family or people) with my old cameras. While I would love to try a dedicated monochrome camera, my abilities do not justify the cost. At the rate I shoot, I can use quite a lot of black and white film over a number of years before using up $2,200 plus a lens or two."
Andrew Kochanowski: "Lost in the excitement may be the appreciation of how very fine the K-3 III is as a camera, monochrome or not. For someone who likes an ergonomic, tactile experience, for a just right shutter sound, and for a optical viewfinder that is almost as good as the ye olde 35mm versions of good SLRs (in some ways better, as you can customize what you see in the blacked-out areas around the image, and superimpose focus points and horizon lines, etc.), the K-3 III is a pleasure to use. Now, I know it doesn't get any respect from the 99% who haven't tried it, but maybe the monochrome version will be tempting."
Matthew: "I've put in my order for one, despite having a full Fuji system (nine lenses with three cameras, including an IR-converted X-T2), Nikon F6 with a few lenses, and Zeiss Ikon ZM with a few lenses. I like cameras, of many different styles and formats. I like B&W, and use it almost exclusively. I like TTL optics, and miss having a DSLR in this age of mirrorlessness. So why not? I'll use it and I'll enjoy it. Maybe I'll even do something interesting—to me, at least—with it.
"This K-3 III Mono isn't some new chapter in an epic historical struggle between colour versus black and white. It's just a camera, and while cameras do matter, they aren't what's important. What's actually important are the results that the camera makes possible, and the way it engages with the photographer's creativity. Different cameras will do different things for and with different people. I rejoice in that. And now I also finally have a chance to buy the DA 35mm ƒ/2.8 Macro Limited, which might be reason enough—for me—all on its own."
Mike replies: That's a beautiful lens. My full review of it (with Carl Weese) is no longer online, or, at least, I can't find it. However my "first impressions" post is still available. If this were 2014 I would buy the camera and that lens! Alas, they moved my cheese. Enjoy it for both of us, please.