Nikon, why no "Monochrome" digital camera?

[BruceSD]

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I still love black and white prints.  Like most of you, back in the day I had a black and white analog dark room and exclusively printed black and white.

I currently own over 40 digital cameras, but none of them are dedicated monochrome bodies, until now...

Leica makes a number of full frame "Monochrom" cameras.  The are expensive running $4,000 USD to around $10,000 USD.

About a year ago, Pentax came out with a Monochrome APS-C DSLR camera body.  I finally decided to purchase one, it is scheduled to arrive tomorrow.  It costs $2,200 USD new; mine is an "open box" copy I bought from Amazon.com for $1,600 USD.  While still expensive, it is much more affordable than one of the Leica "Monochrom's".

I'm greatly looking forward to learning how to use my new B&W body.  I've got 6 or 7 colored filters all ready to try out.  Also plan to try IR filters and polarizing filters too.   Initially, I'll be shooting:  Zeiss ZF 25/2.8, Pentax 28/2.8 shift, Leica 50/2 Summicron R, the Pentax 77/1.9 limited (voted Pentax' best lens), and a Pentax 50-135mm zoom lens.  Should be lots of fun!

Why does Nikon not make a monochrome camera?  Do you think they ever will?  If Nikon did make a monochrome camera, would you buy one?
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[pluton]

Personally, I probably wouldn't buy a monochrome Nikon since I find the mono conversions from raw files to be adequate.  I have read that monochrome sensors (and sensor conversions) have a nice rendering of detail that's different from converted color raws.  Have fun with your new camera!

[ARTUROARTISTA]

With the Nikon D200 you can shoot in black and white

[Birna Rørslett]

Many modern Nikons have a dedicated b/w mode. If you shoot jpgs, you get the b/w output directly. If shooting in RAW, use NX Studio to get full b/w tifs (or jpgd if you so prefer).

I have a Sony NEX5-N modified to true monochrome (thanks Vivek Iyer ). This is 16MPix APS-C and output files are very nice through Monochrome2DNG converter. Perhaps a bit sharper too? I mainly use it for IR.

[Airy]

I also like shooting monochrome. Ilford HP5 used to be my standard. With the Zf, I have the possibility to view B&W which I think inspiring. B&W conversion in PP looks satisfactory, not only with the Zf but also the D800 I used before. SilverEfex is also a useful add-on when one lacks inspiration or time.

Having a monochrome sensor would not add much where (in my case at least) more serious practice should come first.

However, If could swap a conventional sensor for a B&W IR sensor as easily as changing film, I'd be happy.

[Les Olson]

The first thing to remember is that B&W film is not equally sensitive to all wavelengths of light, and the wavelength sensitivity of films varies quite a lot. There is a convenient graphic showing a bunch of film spectral sensitivities at www.linabessonova.photography/spectral-sensitivity showing how much they vary. The amount of silver in an area of film is not just a measure of light intensity, and a B&W film image is also a record of the colour of the light.

The same is true of digital sensors. Silicon is not equally sensitive to all wavelengths, so the voltage output of a monochrome photosite is not just a measure of light intensity - it also varies with the colour of the light (micromagnet.fsu.edu/primer/digitalimaging/digitalimagingdetectors.html). In a monochrome sensor you don't know how colour and brightness combine to determine a photosite's output, but if you have the Bayer filters you do know the colour of the light each photosite saw so you can adjust for the spectral response and reconstruct the luminance information more accurately.

You do get a small increase in resolution by getting rid of the Bayer mosaic. That may have been worthwhile when we had 6MP sensors, but until someone invents a higher resolution printer it doesn't make any difference with modern sensors.