Is it easy/possible to take black and white shots on digital slr cameras?

yes.

If you have a computer software digital editing programme then yes...some of the lower end cameras you cannot choose B&W...on the higher spec slrs it will allow you to do this. Even with a good editing..(not proffesional) editing prog you don't get the contrast like you do with B&W film and a manual slr.

Most have a setting that allows you take or convert photos in colour, black and white and sepia

Some have black and white settings, if not, with the right software you can use your computer to remove the colour.

Mine does, but I wouldn't use it, as I can discard the colour information in photoshop. or play around with it to achieve different effects, but if you take the image in b and w you cannot then get the colour back if you change your mind.

I need a camera!

Yes, but it makes no sense! Why capture in B&W when you can capture in color and post process to B&W? I've had shots that I've changed to B&W that I like a lot more than the color version, but you can't add the color back if it was never there!

Some do and others do not. You can find "B&W" in the shotting menus under "white balance" in some cameras and "color options" in others. I am sure that there are other locations and terms with other cameras.

If you don't find this option with your camera, just remove the color with image processing software. In Photoshop, this is done easily by pressing [SHIFT]+[CTRL]+[U].

Yes, and it's easy.
Look for a setting called Black & White, Gray-scale, Monochrome - something like that.
It may be near the ISO setting or hidden in a menu.
You might even have to refer to the manual (I know - that's the last desperate step! ;) )

If the camera doesn't allow it, you can remove the color later.

If the camera does allow it, it will probably do a better translation of the colors to gray at the time.

For the first few, shoot both a B&W and a color of the same thing and decide for yourself what you like better.

Also see if there is a size difference between the color and black and white photos as stored in the camera. If there is, you may be able to take more photos per card - and/or at a faster intervals - as it has less data to store.

My Fuji E510 "point & shoot" offers B&W (and FujiChrome).
It saves a JPG which is the same size as a color image would be.

In "Picassa", you can change a photo to B&W OR B&W with filters!

If you chose B&W with filters, you can choose any color in any density from a pallette to apply - or click on a set of 8 common B&W filters and see the effect as it is applied.

It is easy if you shoot with an SLR that has B&W shooting capilblity, Such as A Nikon D200 D80 or Canon 30D XTi400. It is really easy to just take the image in color and then change it to B&W with a software program.

Either use a programme like Photoshop to convert your pictures to greyscale after you have teken them or look for functionality on your digital SLR that switches into black & white mode.
without knowing which camera you have I cant advise further.

you take the pics as normal, and convert later in post production software such as Adobe Photoshop.

here's how to do it in Photoshop...

Layer>new adjustment layer>channels>name it>tick the monochrome box in the bottom left of window>play with sliders until you get desired result.

You can of course just convert the image to Greyscale at the click of a button(image>mode>greyscale), but thats the amateur way.

Best of luck, check out some of my photography here...

http://www.steffanmacmillan.com