Problems understanding the Zone System

[DannL]

The Practical Zone System - Chris Johnson - Third Edition, starting at $1.99

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prac...=9780240803289

ISBN: 0240803280
ISBN-13: 9780240803289
Edition: 3
Pub. Date: 1999
Publisher: Focal Press

[Brian Ellis]

Yes, each to his/her own and all that. It's also a matter of subjective perception. I find silvergelatin prints much more appealing than digital gelatin prints. But that's not the topic of the conversation here. . . .

I thought it became a permissible topic of conversation when you informed us that digital prints "can't even come close to analog in tones."

[Fredrick]

I have now aquired "The Negative" and I have been scimming through it. It's a really good book and I am much wiser now. I have also purchased a spotmeter. Something really interesting I read about was pre-exposure. Ingenious idea for slides. I'll have to try this out!

[Bill Burk]

As you intend to use the Zone System, you have the right reference. And for your spotmeter, you will want to add a Zone Sticker. Notice the Zone Sticker is simple, just a piece of paper with roman numerals written on it. You don't "have" to have actual shades of gray, the roman numerals are meant to be memorized as "things" that are normally seen in certain shades of gray symbolized by the Zones.

[Fredrick]

Yes, I have understood the meaning of the sticker. The zone system is not complicated at all and Adams does a good job of explaining it. The figure 4-14 on page 72 of the book is especially enlightening. I feel quite confident now. Can't wait for my supplies to arrive from Germany!

[Heroique]

The figure 4-14 on page 72 of the book is especially enlightening. I feel quite confident now.

That figure is a fine ideal, worthy to inspire confidence in most anyone, but you do realize (don’t you?) that you have a lot of personal testing ahead of you to use the zone system with the precise, reliable results that Figure 4-14 implies.

For example, just take a look at Appendix 1! (Better brace yourself first.)

But don’t let all this paralyze you – exhaustive testing, of course, is not a requirement to use the zone system for the first time. But the more testing you do, the closer you’ll come to using it at its fullest potential. More important for now – just get out there and shoot, and into the darkroom to develop, and start building on practical experiences with the quirks of personal equipment.

[Joseph Dickerson]

Fredrick,

The Negative (the whole series for that matter) is probably the best resource for the zone system out there, and God knows there are plenty to choose from. But, you knew there would be a but right (?), as Heroique points out, they're not for the faint of heart, or the even only-occasionally-faint-of heart.

Ansel's approach also requires the use of a densitometer, not an insignificant investment.

If you get Fred Picker's book, you can get started very simply, minimal testing required, albeit exactly what's required to get started and understand what you're doing.

Then when you move on to The Negatve you'll be building on a firm foundation. I have been teaching the zone system at the college level for twenty or so years and strongly believe that starting with a simple approach and then building on that is the way to go. Many of our students discover that the simpler approach is all they really need to achieve the amount of control that they want/need. Others choose to refine their technique and will go through the whole process using the Adams books.

JD

[Drew Wiley]

There's no need to go out an buy a densitometer to learn the Zone System. One can simply buy a labeled step tablet and then take a hole punch to a couple
of pieces of black cardboard. You compare your image densities to specific densities on the step tablet, looking at limited areas of each thru the holes. It's called
visual densitometry and is plenty accurate for the Zone System learning curve. If you want to actual plot film curves, that's a different story. If you do buy Ansel's
Basic series, it really helps to have a copy of his Examples too. But if you want to learn true densitomety, Ansels books aren't much help. They are very elementary
and practical. I don't know what all the fuss is about. The Zone System is really a tool kit rather than some complicated machine. You pick and choose from it
what you actually need to know to get good results. After that, it's just practice shooting and printing. No substitute for that!

[Ed Bray]

You don't need Fred Picker's book, his method is adapted slightly here: http://www.celluloidandsilver.com/zo...em-testing.htm

[Joseph Dickerson]

You don't need Fred Picker's book, his method is adapted slightly here: http://www.celluloidandsilver.com/zo...em-testing.htm

Ed,

That's a good resource that I was unfamiliar with...thanks.

JD