Example ~ Sony "Black and White Print" Picture Profile recipe

There are ways to process beautiful BW images from RAW files using RawTherapee (and many RentWare).  When I'm on the road I no longer carry the Big Computer with RT and I really don't want to spend the time processing images when I could be out and about doing other things.

Looking at Picture Profile color-grading leads naturally to the exploration of BW and what might be possible using in-camera tools. So, carefully reading the Sony Picture Profile guide, I wanted to see if I could accomplish three things:

1. Raise the mid-tones.  
   
2. Make sure the dark regions were "open".  
3. Retain a hint of tone to the highlights.  

Each of these goals are what we printed for working professional photographers back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and well before simple digital color image desaturation came to pass for black and white imaging.  Anything less than deep, rich, well expressed tonal ranges were unacceptable back in the day and prints could fail to be approved by customers unless "properly" made.  The lessons were deeply ingrained in how I see the black and white world.

To begin with, I took a look at an "AI generated" recipe.  There is _no_ magic in "AI", but it seemed as good a point departure as anything else.

Starting Recipe ~

Sony "Tri-X" (by Andrea Pizzini using an AI - YouTube video)

Picture Profile -

Black level: -5
Gamma: Cine2
Black Gamma: Middle -2
Knee: Auto, Max Point 100%
Color Mode: Black and White
Saturation: -5 <- not sure why this is the value the AI chose
Colour Phase: 0
Colour Dept: R 0, G 0, B 0, C , M 0, Y 0
Detail: Level -5

I find for the environments I photograph in that this recipe is simply too flat and "mushy" due to the soft rendering of "Cine2."  The results remind me of the vast majority of digital "BW film" emulations.  There is no pop and the BW is all too often dreck.  However, maybe people who've never professionally printed B&W film might find the above recipe acceptable.

I realize times have changed and many people don't know nor don't care about BW images that express rich tonal gradations.  Me being me, and yes, still being stuck in the past, I kept my fingers crossed and hoped I could find something in the little Sony A6300 camera/lens/minilab tool kit.

Here is what I came up with.

Black and White Raised Mid-Tones Recipe ~

Sony B&W Print (hand rolled)

Picture Profile -

Black level: 0
Gamma: Movie
Black Gamma: Middle 0
Knee: Auto, Max Point 100%, Sensitivity High
Color Mode: Black and White
Saturation: 0
Colour Phase: 0
Colour Dept: R 0, G 0, B 0, C 0, M 0, Y 0
Detail: Level 0

Additional Camera Settings - 

variable EV <- depending on scene brightness

AWB

---------------- Additional Information ---------------

Sony Picture Profile Help Guide - essential for understanding this Sony in-camera image processing tool

"Film Emulation" recipes - found on Reddit (which I don't care for, but this was the only place I've found these) 

"Kodak Portra 400 film emulation" recipe - Gered Hickey provides clear explanations for the choices made in creating this Picture Profile

"Tri-X film emulation" - Andrea Pizzini's AI generated B&W recipe (I prefer my version)

 #SonyPictureProfiles #FilmEmulations