Is there such as a thing as better lens for...

...B&W photography?
Looking for a 35mm lens to be mated with a 5D MkII.
A quick search on the forums did not yield any relevant results.
Any insight on manual and/or third-party lenses also would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Xaris

There is no such lens. Your post processing is what will make a B&W shine.

If you have a relatively newer canon camera you can set picture style to monochrome, so you can preview your results for B&W photography.

B&W is best shot in color. As such, the best lens is whatever lens you deem appropriate for what you are shooting. Shoot raw, or raw + jpg. If you just shoot jpg monochrome, you will have lost the color information, and that is KEY to PPing B&W.

cdifoto wrote in post #15965409
Your post processing is what will make a B&W shine.

Tommy1957 wrote in post #15965570
If you just shoot jpg monochrome, you will have lost the color information, and that is KEY to PPing B&W.

these.


the best lens for B/W is also the best for color.

No it's all post processing. I On One Software PerfecT B&W and Nik software to a lesser degree. I use both of these in conjuntion with LR

Tommy1957 wrote in post #15965570
B&W is best shot in color. As such, the best lens is whatever lens you deem appropriate for what you are shooting. Shoot raw, or raw + jpg. If you just shoot jpg monochrome, you will have lost the color information, and that is KEY to PPing B&W.

+1

I've never shot B&W with my 60D.

However, I have converted to B&W in the beginning of the PP.

I found it wanting to the choice of doing all the PP in color and then going to B&W via full desaturation (in essence I have a color space photo in B&W).

Your Mileage May Vary...

Agreed with the above - I would only add, that I sometimes will turn the camera to BW while shooting, so that I can see my shots in BW while I'm taking them. This is only the preview JPG that is actually B/W, as the raw files are still capture in full color. This helps to at least visualize what you're getting without having to commit to it while you're shooting. Of course you need to be shooting in RAW for this, but in my opinion you should be anyways.

One of my older MF lenses has less contrast than modern lenses. This has great possibilities for portrits and B&W conversion later. Shot with lower contrast equals more shades of grey perhaps. Yes, shoot in color and do the B&W conversion in PP. Don't just take out the color - there are some great softwares for B&W conversion. Gene

hes gone wrote in post #15965798
=he's gone;15965798]these.


the best lens for B/W is also the best for color.

Dont understand me wrong, shoot monochrome but keep raws for editing...

The only twist is that a lens not very good for color photography (because of too much chromatic aberration - either longitudinal or lateral) can prove to be perfectly fine for B&W photography. So you can save money, by buying cheeper lenses.

Yes, B&W is in some ways easier than color but I doubt I'd tell someone to buy "cheeper" lenses.

pulsar123 wrote in post #15966391
The only twist is that a lens not very good for color photography (because of too much chromatic aberration - either longitudinal or lateral) can prove to be perfectly fine for B&W photography. So you can save money, by buying cheeper lenses.

gasrocks wrote in post #15966596
Yes, B&W is in some ways easier than color but I doubt I'd tell someone to buy "cheeper" lenses.

Are those lenses specifically for photographing chickens?

Wasn't that a famous clip from the Lucy show: Ethel and Lucy working with some baby chickens and Ethel saying - they remind me of Fred - Ceehp, cheep?

Well, even expensive lenses (think 85L) have substantial longitudinal CA, which cannot be easily fixed in PP, so going B&W will definitely help...