Why do manufacturers include a b&w and sepia mode in their cameras? Is that doing photographers a disservice?

I mean just about any photo manipulator can turn a color photograph in to a b&w image.

If it stored in camera as B&W then the color information, that could be useful at some point, is lost.

Does anyone disagree with mywaphel? I haven't heard that before. Photoshop allows some really nice saturation control. Interesting thought. Thanks mywaphel!

It is a gimmick by manufacturers who think that this is 'value added' and will help them steal a march on rivals. It is no more and no less than a marketing device Once one manufacturer used them, all others had to follow suit. No one with an ounce of common sense uses these 'modes' for, as you so rightly point out the effects can be far better obtained in an imagining program.

However the only way their inclusion can be said to be a 'disservice' is if they markedly increase the price of a camera - and on that point I have no information.

Sepia & Black and White modes are for beginners.

Re: black and white in camera--when converted from RAW in Adobe Lightroom, there are so many options: see the arrow on "Grayscale Mix" to the right.

http://flickr.com/photos/little_pooky/25...

It works as if you use a real filter. Very useful!

The whole point of BW is to capture the Shadow, contrast.

This cannot be done without the photography eye and a good camera.

its for ppl who are too stupid to take the color out themselves

My old Nikon Coolpix 5400 manual says:

"Black-and-white images require the same amount of memory as color images, but show a higher level of detail."

So does the even older CP 885 manual.

I can't say that this is significant, though. Maybe slightly...

I do not see mention of this in any SLR manuals that I have. (D50, D70s, D200, D300) The D300 lets you convert to B&W, sepia or cyanotype, but this is saved as a new image, preserving the original.

If some lower level cameras have this, it might be for people who only make prints by going to WalMart or the mall kiosk and do not have access to Photoshop and similar programs.

In the olod days we used to take photos,drop off the film then come back and pick up 24-38 prints...........no messing around on the computer

So the reason to have these "features" is so people can do the cheesy effect in the camera and dont have to get to a PC to turn flying discs a colour ---------- handy if say one is one holiday and dont have a laptop handy but want to get some prints done.

Yes the quality of in camera processing is inferiour to a trained/skilled person ------ but some people just dont want to have to mess on a computer to get prints

poersonally i dont trust in camera processing to do anything - RAW then do the playing in the PC......

a

Digital Cameras - Sony Cybershot DSC-P72 Digital Camera Review ...
Picture Effects menu with Black-and-White, Sepia, Negative Art, and Solarize effects. .... Movie mode options include 640 x 480 and 160 x 120 pixels. ...
www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/P72/P72... -
http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&clien...

In most cameras, taking the picture as black and white in camera will produce better quality grays and better contrast than manipulation outside the camera.