does color space selection matter for working in black and white?

[Wayne Fox]

I'm not sure of the current support situation, but what used to be Nik's/Google "SilverEfex Pro2" plugin was excellent for both general and localized B&W white work.

Silver Efex is now owned and sold by DxO.. 

that’s actually a good thing because Google dropped support of it some time ago (although the did give it away) so now it seem DxO is interested in updating and improving it

[vrkaya]

I keep mine in ProPhoto RGB because I find it valuable to retain the color version and because I apply some split-toning to just about all B&W photos I print out to sell. Opinions vary, but for my $ Luminosity Masking techniques in PS was a breakthrough for me in achieving the look I wanted for my finished photos. I use Tony Kuyper's TK plugin and love it. It gives extremely fine control of the tones in my images. Perhaps others would not agree in the investment of time into such technique but it's worth it to me for selling numbered prints.

I have tried Lightroom local adjustments, and all the other controls available in LR, but for the degree of processing I apply LR quickly slows on my system to the point it is unusable for me, plus I'm so much more at ease doing about the same thing in PS. I use a MacBookPro maxed out w memory, processor and SSD storage.

Best regards,
Ron