I agree 100% on both points. One problem I've seen frequently is that the quality of the color image has not been maximized before the conversion is begun.
I've yet to try your technique. It certainly looks like it has some good possibilities. Shel ---- Original Message ---- from Godfrey DiGiorgi > All of them work ... the key is knowing what you're after in B&W > rendering and seeing the manifold ways of achieving it. > - Perform RAW conversion to maximise and window data with as many > tonal values expressed as possible. Adjust Exposure, Brightness, > Contrast, Color Temp & Tint, Shadows in that order. Output to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] RGB file (TIFF or Photoshop).

