B&W conversion from color photos

[old skool]

What do you think of these B&W conversions in PS?

This one gets the grain from the infrared filter:
http://www.zoto.com/oldskool/img/original/99150ca54411bec443e99319d42264ba.jpg


The background here was out of focus intentionally and when I converted to B&W, it caused it to look almost like water color:
http://www.zoto.com/oldskool/img/original/af67055e87a66891682b0ef237abe997.jpg


I like this, though it may be a bit on the dark side. I did adjust it slightly towards the dark side when I applied the B&W filter:

http://www.zoto.com/oldskool/img/original/a06b8f72429b2fedd3474a546c488902.jpg

[OL9245]

Too much background with odd composition.
Work on the composition, od discard backbround.
As it is, its just messy.

[old skool]

Original shots:
http://www.zoto.com/oldskool/img/original/58b540804c684366aeabb2df71890810.jpg

http://www.zoto.com/oldskool/img/original/6b32db500b5ba4052d4dfee101f88b89.jpg

http://www.zoto.com/oldskool/img/original/5d80433b16571f9e44367b0c55675100.jpg

I am not particularly fond of the first two so I converted them to B&W to see if that would help. The last one I think looks good both ways. Unfortunately, there is some discoloration on the black dial in the lower left corner. Admittedly this shot was done hand held, point and shoot and under normal overhead room lighting, not in a light box.