Raw Monochrome Is Color, Too - Olympus XZ-1 Tips And Tricks Manual

XZ-1 Tips page 25 of 29
of course, you'll want to 'develop' the B/W image on the PC in whatever program you
have that can work with the RAW data and output the B/W image. Of course. But what
I'm trying to get across is how exciting it is to see that B/W image on the LCD screen as
you compose it... and then later have the luxury of really post-processing it to either B/W
or color -- in your Adobe Lightroom or my Olympus Viewer software.
And, when I say 'see that B/W image on the LCD screen', yes, I know it's just a camera
simulation. But it sure is a great help! Because I know that later, when I open the RAW
file in Olympus Viewer, that's where I'll be starting from. Neat!
Now, if there's a fun argument here, it might go something like this: should photographers
shoot all their images using the monochrome LCD mode, and then convert to color later?
Would this result in better pictures with more interesting contrast, structure and form?

RAW Monochrome is color, too

Experimented this morning -- hoping that if I shot a RAW image in the Monochrome
picture mode, that, later, the Olympus Viewer XZ-1 software would let me pick a regular
picture mode, like Natural or Vivid, which would restore the color... but only if I wanted
to.
Well, guess what? It worked!!! Bear with me, I'm very excited about this. Because years
ago, I loved working with black-and-white film. B/W reduces the image to form, to tone
and shade. My favorite film was something called Kodak Panatomic (ASA/ISO 32)...
which was so 'slow', so fine-grain, that it made the most beautiful sharp prints. The only
problem was that it was hard to 'see', to visualize, in black-and-white... you had to
imagine how it would come out.
But now it's a new century! And thanks to RAW images, I can run around today and SEE
ON THE LCD SCREEN IN MONOCHROME! Try THAT on your old Speed Graphic
groundglass! WITHOUT LOSING THE COLOR, if I want it back later!
This is a wonderful feature. We all have strong opinions about photography, and mine