The New Golden Age of Black and White Photography
Monochrome cameras and OLED screens combine for IQ that rivals the best of large format film
Perfecting Equilibrium Volume Three, Issue 6
Editor’s Note: I wrote this article for Pentax Forums, where it appeared May 6. It is reprinted here with permission.
The Sunday Reader, May 12, 2024
A single frame from a Monochrome sensor exceeds the image quality of Pixel Shift images from color digital cameras at higher ISOs.
We have entered a new Golden Age of Black and White Photography. The extraordinary image quality of monochrome digital sensors can be combined with the enormous dynamic range of newer display technologies such as Organic Light Emitting Diodes; OLED screens offer true blacks and greater dynamic range than was possible with film. The combination delivers image quality that rivals the large format 8x10 cameras and custom wet darkrooms available only to giants such as Ansel Adams.
Now, you can get better image quality from a single frame from the Pentax K-3 III Monochrome at higher ISOs than a multi-shot Pixel Shift composite from the (color) Pentax K-3 III.
How is this possible? Isn’t a 24-megapixel RAW file a 24-megapixel RAW file? Well, yes and no:
Yes, they both have the same total amount of data.
No, because they do not have the same data.
The regular color version of the K-3 III– from here on, the Color– has a RAW file that contains luminosity data, specs on the camera's Bayer array, and de-Bayering instructions (more on that later). The K-3 III Monochrome– from here on, the Monochrome– only has luminosity data for each pixel.
Think of it this way. Let’s say we’re both filling quart flasks. I like my whisky straight, so I fill mine with 32 ounces of Scotch. You like a cocktail, so you mix up a batch of Highballs using the traditional recipe: 2 parts Scotch, 6 parts soda, plus a twist. Two things are true when we are done:
We both have 32 ounces of tasty adult beverages
I have more whisky than you. A lot more.
That’s only the first key difference between the Monochrome and the Color. Here’s the second: every frame you’ve ever taken with a color digicam is a computational image. Monochrome images, on the other hand, are a direct record of the light.
Now this isn’t trolling (OK, maybe just a little bit). It’s how the technologies work. Sensors cannot see color, so engineers developed workarounds like the Bayer Array, or an arrangement of color filters covering the sensor used to create a color image. A Bayer Array is half green, one-quarter red, and one-quarter blue. This produces image files of red, green, and blue pixels of varying density, which must be processed to be combined into a full-color image.
This is done by running these files through a de-Bayering algorithm, which mixes the RGB data for every pixel with information from surrounding pixels to generate the final value for each particular pixel.
Each camera maker has their own recipe for de-Bayering processing; this is the much-vaunted color science cited in adverts. The files can also produce black-and-white images…by running them through another set of algorithms to process the calculated color into monochrome.
The RAW files produced by the Monochrome, on the other hand, are simply a direct recording of the amount of light hitting each pixel. Nothing more, nothing less.
I’ve been a Pentax guy since the 1970s, shooting a matched pair of Pentax LXs loaded with Tri-X as a photojournalist working across North America and the Pacific Rim. I bought a Monochrome as soon as they were released, so I’m very familiar with it. That’s why I’m using it as an example.
But this is not a Pentax story. The difference between color sensors with Bayer-type arrays and monochrome sensors is the same whether you’re comparing the Pentax K-3 III Color and K-3 III Monochrome, the Leica Q series color and Monochrom, the Leica M series color and Monochrom, or really any color digicam and any monochrome-converted camera.
It isn’t a question of brand. It’s a question of the direct record of luminosity offered by bare monochrome sensors versus the computed output generated by the de-Bayerization algorithms of color digicams.
Take it straight from Pentax: the Monochrome records so much more light and so much more detail that a single frame can exceed the image quality of multiple merged Pixel Shift frames by the Color. That’s partly because of all the luminosity data monochrome sensors can record, and partly because of how today’s digital sensors work to produce color.
Where Color Cameras Fall Short
Most digital cameras today, such as the Pentax K-3 Color, use color image sensors with pixels laid out in a Bayer pattern where each pixel measures the intensity of just one color of light: either red, green, or blue. This is accomplished by a special filter on top of the sensor that restricts the wavelengths reaching each pixel. There are twice as many green pixels as red or blue pixels, since green light is naturally more abundant.
So a ~24-megapixel sensor like the one in the color K-3 III has approximately 12 million pixels sensitive to green light, 6 million sensitive to red, and 6 million sensitive to blue. No other color data beyond this is recorded by the sensor at the time of image capture. But the K-3 III outputs full-color images with each of the 24 megapixels containing red, green, and blue color values. The missing color information is generated by making a mathematical guess based on the data found in neighboring pixels. This process, named demosaicing or interpolation, can be carried out by the camera or in development software such as Adobe Camera RAW.
Because of this demosaicing process, Bayer sensors always suffer from a slight loss of detail, especially where pixel boundaries play a key role near edges. This is why digital images from Bayer sensors are not perfectly sharp at the pixel level. Algorithm errors also produce artifacts such as moire or zipper patterns.
In this figure, the difference between the original image and that interpolated by Algorithm A (bilinear) is comparable to what a digital camera might actually output.
The extra luminosity data plus the avoidance of the image degradation caused by demosaicing combine to give monochrome cameras two enormous advantages: First, extremely high ISOs yield results as good as color cams in bright light. Second, there is simply endless detail in the shadow and dark areas.
Even the Pentax engineers who designed the Monochrome say they were surprised by the Monochrome’s image quality, especially at ISO 100,000 or higher. “Resized images do not fail even at ISO 1,600,000,” they said. “At high sensitivity, the image quality from a monochrome sensor should be higher than an image obtained with the regular model using Pixel Shift.”
Here are two images processed in Lightroom from the Pentax Forums review of the Monochrome.
K-3 III Color: ISO 3200
K-3 III Monochrome: ISO 6400
Interview with Ricoh Imaging
PentaxForums conducted an email interview with Pentax parent Ricoh Imaging, who translated our questions into Japanese, routed them to the appropriate executives, and then translated their answers into English for this article.
“Although K-3 Mark III Monochrome does not have "color" information, it can be said to have a lot of "brightness" information,” according to Ricoh Imaging. “Also, this is an advantage because it also has more information on "resolution" – detail – than the (K-3 III) color model.”
They said even they were surprised by the Monochrome’s image quality, especially at ISO 100,000 or higher. “Resized images do not fail even at ISO 1,600,000,” they said. “At high sensitivity, the image quality from a monochrome sensor should be higher than an image obtained with the regular model using Pixel Shift.”
The design goal was to exceed the black-and-white performance possible with converting color images.
“Cameras that use dedicated image sensors specialized for monochrome photography have a clear difference in the descriptive performance of monochrome photographs compared to monochrome images obtained by converting color images. You can feel the difference in the reproduction of details, fineness of noise particles, smooth gradation, etc.” they said. “With a digital single-lens reflex camera, you look at the actual light through the optical viewfinder and imagine a monochrome photo as you take the picture, just like you would with monochrome film. The K-3 Mark III Monochrome is a lightweight APS-C format camera that fits comfortably in your hand, yet has an optical viewfinder comparable to that of a full-frame camera, allowing you to enjoy the shooting process while enjoying the wide range of expressiveness and descriptive performance that only a digital camera can offer.”
The Ricoh Imaging spokesman said they have been pleasantly surprised with the Monochrome’s results. They have also been surprised with what users are doing with this new camera. “We’re seeing works created by K-3 Mark III Monochrome users shooting moving objects in dark places.”
Ansel Adams, who knew a thing or two about black and white photography, wrote that the image – RAW files for digicams – were the composer’s score, and prints were the musical performance of that score.
Why else is this a Golden Age of B&W Photography?
So the Monochrome’s beautiful files can only be the start of the equation. A true new Golden Age of Black & White requires an equally improved way to view these images. After all, even the best black & white image looks weak on an LED monitor.
They look weak because they are weak. Individual LED pixels cannot be turned off entirely, so there are no true blacks on such a screen.
Enter the OLED: Organic Light Emitting Diode screens are a newer technology than LED and LCD panels. OLED screens have been around for a few years in small sizes such as smartphones, before jumping to large, high-end televisions at eye-watering prices.
Those prices have finally started to drop below $1,000 USD in the past year, at least on sale.
Unlike LEDs, individual OLED pixels can be turned off, meaning the screens can achieve true black.
That means OLED panels offer a new standard in dynamic range. OLEDs can achieve more than 20 stops of dynamic range, while LED and LCD panels top out at around 14.
Film can capture up to 18 stops.
Black and white images from the Monochrome on an OLED screen resonate with deep, detailed blacks and subtle midtones. They remind me of the best archival exhibition prints from wet darkrooms.
Blacks and whites look so much better that I work on my Monochrome images on my 13-inch laptop screen, rather than the 42-inch 4K monitor on my desk.
So why don’t I just replace the desktop monitor? Well, that brings us to the one current drawback with OLED TVs and monitors: They’re large, and their prices are even larger: there are hardly any smaller than 50 inches and $1,000.
OLED laptop prices have already dropped, on the other hand. Check them out if you’re looking for a machine for your photography. There are models with great screens for under $500, such as my Lenovo Duet 5.
So the laptop will be fine for me for a bit while prices are coming down. Tech prices always do. And there are new technologies just emerging, such as Micro-LEDs, that support turning off individual pixels and achieving true blacks. Time will tell if they will be an effective competitor to OLED screens.
I’ll replace my monitor with an OLED. And I’m also planning an OLED display. I’ll mount a 4K OLED on the wall and use it to display my Monochrome images. That may actually happen first; OLED sales are getting better and better, but models under 50-inches remain scarce.
There are screens with a dedicated art display mode, such as Samsung’s Frame and the Hisense CanvasTV, but so far none of these are OLEDs.
So you’ll have to roll your own. Tom’s Guide’s roundup of Best OLED TV deals for May features the LG C3 4K OLEDs, running from $896 for the 42-inch model up to $3,147 for the 83-inch: “The Editor's Choice TV delivers perfect blacks, thrilling contrast, and rich, accurate colors at every point across the visual spectrum.” So your color images will look amazing, too.
Monitors remain expensive; for example, even on sale for $899 the Alienware 34-inch Curved Gaming Monitor is $3 more and 8 inches smaller than the 42-inch LG C3.
The Bottom Line
With Monochrome cameras and OLED screens, we have entered a new golden age of black-and-white photography. From a technical perspective, you can now outperform traditional film and overcome the limitations of Bayer arrays. And prices have dropped considerably in the past year; the Pentax K-3 III Monochrome alone is a third of the price of the Leica Q Monochrom series, which was previously the least expensive monochrome model. OLED screens have dropped below $1,000.
If you love black and white, don’t wait. You’ll find this new golden age of black and white a revelation.
Next on Perfecting Equilibrium
Tuesday May 14th - The PE Digest: The Week in Review and Easter Egg roundup
Thursday May 16th - The PE Vlog-FIGHT! Udio AI music generator vs. Suno AI music generator
Friday May 17th - Foto.Feola.Friday
Sunday May 19th — Payola, gatekeepers and Top40 were way worse than social media - When I see article after article after article about how algorithms and AI are ruining art and music and news, I only have one question: Are you insane? Do you not remember Top 40 heavy rotations? Were things better when hit songs were selected by payola? (Also: How much ya wanna bet payola is STILL going on? It’s just called targeting now.) Were people more informed when gatekeepers decided what you could know about events in the nation’s capital, and decided the entire population of the United States was not mature enough to see photos of President Franklin Delano Rosevelt in a wheelchair? Or any reporting at all about the open secret of President John F Kennedy’s naked pool parties?