B&W processing software

My understanding is you can do a lot with PS itself, but I don't have any experience with that. But if you want more, I'm 99% sure you can use Silver Efex Pro with PS alone and I absolutely LOVE Silver Efex Pro. Topaz has a B&W plug in that's pretty well thought of, but I think Silver Efex is sort of the gold standard...

-Ray
 
Another thumbs up for SilverEfex. In fact the whole Niks Suite. I find myself using ColorEfex, Define (for noise control) and SharpenerPro quite often. Viveza is a good tool as well, especially for creating quick edits using luminosity masks, but one can have more precise control in PS, even from a single image (Luminosity Masks—Original Tutorial).
 
And sometimes I don't even want to bother with plugins. ACR works just fine. Plenty to play with, right there.

acrworks.jpg


Finished. And, of course, there are also lots of plugins which are for ACR itself.

done.jpg
 
Of course $150 for Silver Efex also buys you the entire Nik software suite. There is also a 15 day free trial for it as well. Assuming that you want to invest the time in processing, a software bundle like this gives you more bang for your buck than a camera upgrade.
 
The NIK suite is really excellent value - a suite of great plugins that play very nicely together. Particularly for people like me who do want local adustments but are too lazy to sit there brushing things, it's an ideal package. I prefer using it in Photoshop due to the fact you get a new layer per adjustment/plugin you use..
 
I also have SEP and like it a lot. If I had/liked Mac products I would probably have Macphuns Tonality Pro. That program looks pretty sweet. But here lately since getting OnOne's Perfect Effects Suite I've found myself using their B&W quite a bit. So that's another one to look into if you want to.
 
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