Black and white photography helped save my Nikon D800 from the scrapheap!

Ever since the first color film cartridge rolled off the production line, people have wondered whether black and white is more timeless than color. If you had asked me that question ten years ago, when I was immersed in several of the best Nikon cameras of the day and shooting only in color, I would have answered, “Of course not, we all see in color.”

But now that I’m a little older, and maybe wiser? I’ve fallen in love with black and white photography for its “timeless look” and it gives something different in a world full of color. I now shoot 95% of my work in black and white. Through this process, I was able to save my best DSLR in my kit, the Nikon D800, from being scrapped and it has become a camera that I really enjoy using again.

Before I begin, I understand that this is not a “true” monochrome shooting experience, where a camera removes its Bayer filter. My black and white settings are just a jpeg preset, but with a twist!

I’ve always been a big believer in using Kelvin white balance settings to get the sharpest images possible, but I’ve always set my own picture profile settings on the camera – and these two combined give me a look I really wanted for my black and white photography.

I understand that these are just JPEG settings, but if you do them correctly in the camera, you won’t have to make any changes later. It’s a win-win in my opinion. It also gave me an incentive to bring this now 12 year old camera out of retirement rather than end up in the scrapyard, or worse, on the dreaded display shelf! Sorry about my first Nikon D2H which currently sits on said shelf, all battered and bruised, like a display trophy of my photography career.

Since switching to the Leica M system, my trusty Nikon D800 that accompanied me around the world had not been used for over two years.

Even though I say it was saved from the junkyard, I have a habit of keeping all my old cameras until they no longer turn on. Like the Nikon D1 I have. Yes, I still have the very first Nikon digital camera ever made. I can’t even use it because I no longer have a battery charger to charge the battery. It’s 25 years old and I still haven’t thrown it away!

But switching from my D800 to a black-and-white image preset of my own creation (adjusting contrast, grain, saturation, and sharpness from the Nikon D800’s stock Mochochrome setting) made me want to get my hands on this bulky DSLR even more. I’m now happy to say that it’s part of a constant rotation of cameras I use every week.

So let this be a lesson to all: if you have any old cameras lying around, why not bring them out of retirement and use them for something you’ve never used them for, or just start shooting in black and white like I did. It’s a very surreal experience to take a piece of equipment you’ve long forgotten about and find a new use for it.

I highly recommend it. It kept my Nikon D800 alive for 12 years and sparked a new interest in my photography, winning all round in my book, and the best part is it didn’t cost me a dime!