Color neg as 'universal' film for B&W as well as color?

[Chuck S.]

Just finished disposing of the last of my 8x10 equipment (for physical & fiscal reasons), which leaves me with only my Fuji 690WII for high quality image making. I know it'll never come close to 8x10, but it's a compromise I've decided to live with. I've shot some really nice stuff with it over the past 25+ years, and it's still damn near mint.

Here's the question: Since I can't switch up film types as with sheet film, I'm wondering if keeping the camera loaded only with color neg - Ektar 100 or Portra 400 - will still give me high quality black and white when scanned and converted in Lightroom or PS - as compared to TMAX 100 or 400 (or other). And I mean images that are pre-visualized and intended to be printed black and white from the get-go.

This allows the same post-exposure "filtering" as digital, but what about tonal range and detail? The hybrid work flow affords so much more control than printing B&W on Panalure (anyone else remember that?), and I'm sorely tempted to stick with just one film. What would I be giving up?

(I should add that I no longer have a darkroom, so no extensive development control would be possible with B&W film anyway. And I've hardly ever done that with 120, since I was seldom inclined to sacrifice most of a roll to salvage one or two wayward frames.)

Thoughts and comments?

[vinny]

this weeks discussion on the subject:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?91788-For-BW-project-shoot-color-or-BW&highlight=shooting+color+w%2Bw+prints

[Frank Petronio]

Yep, I shoot only Portra 400. Real B&W has a different grain/texture but it's not better or worse, just different.

[BetterSense]

I actually use color slide film when I think I might want to choose between color/B&W in post. Because I like to print B&W in the darkroom, I like the fact that I can easily make an interneg on TMX, including playing all the filter tricks. I have to print color digitally, whether slide or negative, but slide gives an easier path back to the darkroom.

[Drew Wiley]

You'll sacrifice a lot of range and gradation in the shot, esp in the high and low values, probably sharpness too; but it's obviously been done before.

[Frank Petronio]

I'm suffering!

[Drew Wiley]

Way back when I'd make contact b&w negs from chromes myself just for fun. One of those
phases. But nowadays I frequently make silver contrast control masks for color neg printing, and it's fun to view these interpositives as if they were b&w prints.

[jonreid]

If you do go down that path I would thoroughly research converting to monochrome in Photoshop via the channel mixer, rather than just convert to greyscale.

Jon