Here's my dumb question of the day ...

[auntAgonist]

Can you take black and white pictures with a digital camera?

I've had my Olympus for a while and I've just now started using it more.

thanks.

[Philostopher]

1. There's a black and white setting on our Olympus C-5060

I don't know how old your camera is, or which model you have, so I don't know if the option is available to you or not. On ours, it's on the 'Camera' menu; you access the 'Function' menu option and it offers black and white and sepia options. Sepia is like those fake 'Old West' photos you see that they do at tourist traps out west.

I don't know if your camera has the same options as ours -- our older Camedia didn't have that on the menu. You might check there, or look in the manual. Their web site has pretty good documentation on the cameras, if I recall, too.

You also can do it in the later Camedia computer program, if you go into the 'edit' function and click 'Filters' -- the older program doesn't have this option, but the 4.1 version of the program does. I think you can download it from the web site, even if you don't have a newer camera. Works the same as the older version of the program, far as I know, except there are more 'bells and whistles.'

[auntAgonist]

4. thanks I'll have to check, It's an Olympus C50 Zoom

I'll toy around with it and see what happens :)

It'a only a year old, 5 megapixel.

[lakemonster11]

2. I always just do it later on the computer.

I'm using Photoshop now, but I've used other programs, too, and they almost all have something you can click on to make a picture black & white. In Photoshop, you choose "grayscale" in the color settings.

[auntAgonist]

5. I have done that in the past too, I honestly didn't think of it.

I will reload photoshop if I can't find a setting :)

thank you !

[electricmonk]

7. A basic tutorial on converting in photoshop

If you use the channel mixer you can get a lot more control over the process. Here's a quick tutorial on the subject. Of course like most things in PS it can get way more complex but this gives a good start.

http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/index.php?m=show&id=92

[okasha]

9. "Desaturate"

works, too, and I think it gives better tonality if you're going for a quickie.

Okasha

[Longgrain]

3. I would think so...

I know my Olympus C-5000 lets you take sepia-tone photos, I don't see why not black and white.

[auntAgonist]

6. I'll get out the dreaded manual

and see how to do that :) thanks !

[Touchdown]

8. Photoshop is essential in my life.

I recommend it to everyone with a digital camera. I just have Elements 2.0 ($80-90) and it has 90% of what you can do ith the $400 professional PS. For hobbyists, PSE is fantastic.

Oh' yeah, you can remove color with it. I forgot what you asked.

[okasha]

10. I got my PS 7.0 from an outfit

called buysusa.com for $49.99. They sell debundled software by individual CD: no box, no manual, just the program. It is eligible for upgrades, though.

If you have a good PS book or are willing to learn by playing with the program, then you don't really need anything more. Photoshop is much more powerful than Elements, which will not do at all some of the things I need done. No curves, for instance.

Okasha