
Just remove the CFA, and your monochrome camera is ready. * Because a color camera differs from a BW camera due to the presence of a color filter array (CFA, Bayer mosaics) over the sensor, converting a color camera to BW looks (theoretically) simple. E-Mail: and a little bit more about CFA removal.

Darktable vs acr update#
V0.8.5: Just version update to extend beta expiration time to Sept 1, 2018 V0.8.4: Better handling of file names in non-default system locale/language. V0.8.3: Fixed font size auto-selection on 1st run. V0.8.2: DefaultCrop* tags are written in DNG even if crop margins are not set. V0.8.1: Preferences - Override black level added.

However, during such conversion, the firmware of the camera doesn’t change, and the camera doesn’t know that it’s become monochrome, which leads to the following:

This, in turn, leads to higher resolution and a decrease in the number of processing artefacts (see the Bayer Moiré article), which is, essentially, why people perform the conversions of color cameras to monochrome. Since a color camera differs from a BW camera due to the existence of color filter array (CFA, Bayer mosaics) over the sensor, converting a color camera to BW is done by removing the CFA*.Īfter the CFA is removed, the demosaicking process that is done during RAW file processing becomes unnecessary. Nevertheless, there is demand for BW (Black and White) cameras (for reasons explained in detail below), and many photographers want BW cameras with the same lens mount as their main (color) camera, so that they can use the lenses they already own. Several Leica and PhaseOne models are rare exceptions, but these cameras are even more of a niche product than the color cameras or digital backs made by those same companies. Almost all digital cameras that are released today are color cameras.
