How to Shoot B&W in SONY HD camcorder?

I dont know this camcorder. So i dont know if you can do it in camera or not. Check the manual.

But yes, you can do it in your editing software.

But be aware, even when shooting in color and turning it into b&w in post, you have to make sure you shoot in such a way in color so that it looks its best in b&w in post. means learning what kind of environments and lighting etc etc are conducive to a good b&w look.

u dont want to end up with a pale gray look.

Shoot in color, light for higher contrast, then; desaturate, play with the mix of the color channels and tweak the levels in post.

Thnx a lot for helping guys! I guess it will be the hard way then. The easy way isn't always fun anyways.

sohan_777 said:

Thnx a lot for helping guys! I guess it will be the hard way then. The easy way isn't always fun anyways.

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Yeah, I agree with Will. It's always better to leave yourself with more options -- shoot in color, and you can always change your mind; shoot in B/W, and you're stuck with it. Who knows - maybe you'll end up wanting something in-between. Not quite B/W, but barely any saturation at all (a look I personally am fond of).

Also, I wouldn't think of this method as the "hard way". Sure, it'll be more steps, but it won't be huge. I don't know what editing software you're using, but all the good ones allow you to copy/paste effects. So, you play with your saturation, copy the effect, and then on every other clip, all you have to do is paste the effect -- it can be done in mere minutes.

With camcorder style devices it's better to desaturate in post than in-camera anyway. And this is coming from a guy that would rather do everything in camera.

As mentioned, light for higher contrast, and if possible, read up on the types of colors used in sets and costumes during the b/w era. For example, most of those "white" shirts you saw in 1940s b/w films were actually a very very light blue, because old silver-nitrate b/w film was more sensitive to that part of the light spectrum, thus those appeared brighter in the finished shot.

Video won't necessarily respond the same way, but if you can determine what colors your camera sees as brighter than others, then you will have a shot at messing with those channels in post to tweak for the b/w look you want.

The only time I would go directly to B/W is if I were shooting film. Not to avoid "being stuck with it," (although I understand the logic, I don't think in those sorts of terms. It's a fault of mine) but because in-camera desaturation is pretty bad looking on camcorders.

The best method is to monitor in B&W. You are shooting color, but use an external monitor and pull all the color out of that, then you have a much better idea how the lighting will look in B&W.

Following on from what David was saying about colours, make sure you read up on makeup for black and white photography too, and do some tests if you can't monitor in black and white on set.

Some colours come out much darker than you'd expect (reds, blues and purples if I remember correctly) and others much lighter (yellows and oranges) - you won't be popular if the beautiful leading lady ends up looking like Marilyn Manson.

Shooting in color, then posting in B/W will be more like shooting in B/W film as they saw everything in the viewfinder in color -- but in their heads in B/W.