Monochrome sensor portraits

[bobfriedman]

D800M,Carl Zeiss Otus 1.4/55
1/60s f/5.6 at 55.0mm iso250


D800M,Carl Zeiss Otus 1.4/55
1/40s f/5.6 at 55.0mm iso320


D800M,Carl Zeiss Otus 1.4/55
1/100s f/5.6 at 55.0mm iso250


and a stuffed animal

D800M,Carl Zeiss Otus 1.4/55
1/160s f/2.2 at 55.0mm iso250

[golunvolo]

The detail in the hair looks impressive, is it?

[bobfriedman]

The detail in the hair looks impressive, is it?

i am not sure of the question.. but this is an alpaca hat.

[golunvolo]

Sorry I´m not clear. I was seeking confirmation about the amount of detail in the files. It looks like it renders small details with great definition.

[bobfriedman]

Sorry I´m not clear. I was seeking confirmation about the amount of detail in the files. It looks like it renders small details with great definition.

theoretically yes.  my task has been to find subject matter that brings that out.. i will say with the manican that the amount of shadow recover while preserving detail in the hat was impressive to me.

[Jack Dahlgren]

I'm seeing an odd patterning in the first and last images. There is a screen pattern over the face and light areas of the background. Are these present in the original photos?

[Akira]

These look amazing, but it would be impossible to fully appreciate the potential of D800M with these images in the posted size and on my computer screen.  Awesome camera!

[bobfriedman]

I'm seeing an odd patterning in the first and last images. There is a screen pattern over the face and light areas of the background. Are these present in the original photos?

yes.. this is an artifact of turning demosaic off using a raw processor such as Monochrome2DNG or DarkTable... which does not dither the resulting pixels.  I have reprocessed the 1st image using AccuRaw which does a 1-pixel dither (i believe) that is designed for images where the CFA was removed. This artifact has become an issue on occasion. If i just drop these images into photoshop they will demosaic as if there was an RGB Bayer area present.

[Macro_Cosmos]

D800 is cheap nowadays, I'm looking to buy one and get a friend specialising in camera modding to convert it into BW by scraping the Bayer Matrix off.

I have some questions though:
1. Which raw converter is needed? The camera would definitely apply some stuff to the raw file that amplifies/suppresses each colour pixel that it thinks it's there. This will as I would imagine, generate a RAW file with some sort of mosaic pattern of different gradients of grey.

2. I've read on Nikonhacker, that they have a firmware with "true dark current" and "original raw generation", would this be needed? If I apply it, would it be possible to drop the raw files into Capture One Pro or LR?

3. Would it then be important to use UV or UV-IR filters on the lenses?

Any tips would be appreciated.

[bobfriedman]

I have some questions though:
Any tips would be appreciated.

i would contact MAXMAX.com  - doing this conversion correctly is no simple matter.

[bobfriedman]

Raw Converters with capability to bypass demosaic operation - DarkTable, RawTherapee, Monochrome2DNG, AccuRaw

[Macro_Cosmos]

i would contact MAXMAX.com  - doing this conversion correctly is no simple matter.

Yeah I agree. I'm not confident to do it myself. The friend I have is happy to take it to task though, he's modded several cameras already. In exchange, I'm bringing him sand samples from various local beaches

I'll look into the raw converters you've mentioned.

[bobfriedman]

Yeah I agree. I'm not confident to do it myself. The friend I have is happy to take it to task though, he's modded several cameras already. In exchange, I'm bringing him sand samples from various local beaches

I'll look into the raw converters you've mentioned.

does he have the ability to plasma etch off the CFA and microlenses?.... the yield for this operation sometimes requires more than one sensor..