The Online Photographer

Wow, I am really sorry. No new post yesterday...and in the middle of Black Friday week! I am not the World's worst businessman, but I am at that end of the scale. If you are starting your shopping already, please think of TOP if you are buying a camera at B&H Photo or a book at Amazon, would you? (Both of those look interesting, and one of them is popular.) (And both of them are links, hint, hint.) Pretty please? It would help me out. I get a little spiff in return when I refer you to them, and you don't pay anything extra. Many thanks.

Speaking of cameras, after writing about my kit the other day (and hearing from Ned B., who is the very soul of a true enthusiast, and a friendly fellow), I did think of something to want. (I have lots of practice at that when it comes to cameras, so I fall back into it easily.) A Pentax Monochrome for portraits. Which made me wonder: has anyone (besides Ned, who definitely has) bought or used the Pentax Monochrome yet? And if so, what do you think? Useful? Pleasant? Pointless? Valuable to you, or too specialized?

Of course, reader Acetous Q. Driveby can opine about how B&W is sh*t and he's always hated it and anyone should just convert color files and etc. etc. etc.—because that happens every time the subject comes up. Or, Acetous, you could ease up and just not. Up to you. (Look up "acetous." It means "vinegary." I'm kind of proud of myself for knowing that word.) There sure are a lot of parentheses in this post. (As is my wont. Well, one of my wonts. I just looked up "wont"—"one's customary behavior in a particular situation." Looking up words is my wont too. I do it probably every single day, and probably have done since my grandmother gave me a dictionary before I started high school. I was proud of that dictionary. If you can believe this, I used to read the dictionary, as well as the encyclopedia. Really! But I digress. As is my....)

Obviously, I have a B&W-only camera, so I've put my money where my mouth is. ("Halloween 2023," when I checked just now, just passed 14,000 views! That will be next Fall's print, assuming old TOP survives that long.)

You can thank me for the existence of the Pentax Monochrome, by the way. I conjured it into existence by buying an expensive converted camera just before it came out. I think it worked out for me, though—my camera is far from ideal, but I love it.

Sorry for the lack of post-age yesterday. I did do the Comments, at least. And now, breakfast.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Matthew: "The Pentax Monochrome is the best camera I've ever used, but in a quiet way. Under ideal conditions detail and tones are a bit better, and noise is a bit better. But under adverse conditions it really shines; high-ISO photos—I happily use 50,000 through 200,000—are grainy but usable, without breaking up the way colour files can.

"As a thing, the camera itself is excellent. It has an essence and purpose that makes my Ricoh GRIII feel fussy and haphazard. There's a spiritual difference between looking at the world through the lens versus looking at the camera's recreated light, just as there's a difference between recording colour for monochrome post-processing and black-and-white photography. The Monochrome certainly isn't right for most people, but it's as close to perfect-for-me as I've ever found."

John Camp: "I bought a bunch of Pentax gear for my wife when she evinced an interest in photography, which turned out to be passing. So it sat around, doing nothing, until the Monochrome came out. Since I had six lenses, I figured what the heck. When I opened TOP this morning, the camera was sitting next to my elbow, because yesterday I was out shooting...crows. Nothing like some serious black, if you're shooting B&W. Especially against an overcast (white) sky.

"It's really a good camera, I think. Feels good in the hand. Maybe has too many buttons. Twenty-eight on the exterior of the camera, including two adjustment dials and a joystick (as opposed to setting dials.) Fixed B&W LCD, and very nice traditional DSLR viewfinder. I mostly ignore the buttons and dials; after setting it up, I left them alone, although I do have to make further adjustments when shooting in the evening.

I have all Pentax glass: a 60–250mm, a 50–135mm, a 16–50mm, and three of the very small 'Limited' lenses, the 70mm, 43mm and 21mm. The zooms are quite good if not excellent. The Limited are jacket-pocket size, and they are very good.

"The images also seem quite good, although I'm not a pixel-peeper and don't do 'tests.' Anyway, the images are satisfying, for B&W. I would never buy a Leica, as I don't like rangefinder cameras, but looking at the examples that Kirk Tuck has been showing lately, I'd say that the Leicas are better, probably both because of the sensor and the glass (and Kirk's talent) but if you like B&W prints, I doubt you could see much difference in anything less than a 22-inch print (except for the talent part).

In other words, the Monochrome seems to me to be a good solid camera. My biggest problem is that I'm no longer sure how much I like B&W, even after shooting it for the first 20 years of my photography life. I screw around with it more than I get serious. And I really do shoot it like a film camera—I don't chimp, mostly just shoot.

"Do like the crows shots, though. They make me laugh."

Andy Kochanowski: "I have said several times, even probably here, that the Pentax K3III is a marvelous camera. Unless you require preternatural focusing speed, or if you cover the NFL or similar, it will give you pliable, rich files all day long. I shot maybe 600 images one day of an event and didn't even get the battery meter to go down one bar. The viewfinder is almost like a fine SLR with the added focus confirmation or grid lines if you like. It is small and dense and feels like you could drive a nail with it if needed. All this to say I'm sure the Pentax Monochrome is a very fine B&W camera. I don't have need for one, since I shoot color and am happy to continue to do that. A kit of the K3III and a Ricoh GRIIIx is pretty perfect."

Robert Roaldi: "I'm told that the Monochrome is a big success and selling like hot cakes, so we might have more B&W cameras soon. Someone must be working on an app to colourize B&W photos."

Clayton: "You may notice that Robert Frank drove across America while Todd Webb walked. Both lived 95 years. Just thought you needed to add that to the lifestyle statistics."

Kye Wood: "This is the gold standard review and reason explaining why this camera is truly important. And explains how it came to be. I still think the FA 31mm Limited is the best lens I've ever held, by the way."

rr: "I think I get the idea of a monochrome sensor, and the impact of its characteristics. I also think the technical differences are overrated. What makes a camera like this produce better black-and-white photos is the commitment and the decisiveness of the person who bought the thing in the first place. Nobody who just wants to try B&W once in a while does. I'd guess these cameras are used by people who are really into B&W, who know which filter to use to bring out the tonalities, who were willing to learn the characteristics of the sensor a long time ago, and who are now just taking photos. Decisiveness on all levels, from the mundane technical, to subject matter choice, over to where the resulting images sit on an emotional and cultural spectrum, that's what's important."