Hi,
I have a question regarding the zonesystem testing. It is necessary to estimate especially the proper ASA and normal development time for the film in certain developer. But all these values seem too relative and dependent on each other, so what to choose as a starting point? Steve Simmons in his book recommends choosing a scene with normal contrast, place the dark area where we want detail on zone III and make 3-5 exposures, each with different ASA. O.K., but how can I find out now what the real ASA is when I donīt know the normal development time yet. I may develop it according to the manufacturers recommendation but as I could read the real normal development times for various films in the same developer vary widely. And Iīm not talking about the proper estimating where zone III really is. What if I estimate it wrongly and put it by mistake on zone II or IV? In this case, isnīt for the tests more precise to take reading from the grey card? Chris Johnson in his book about zonesystem recommends: "Expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights". I think this is because in this way we can give the picture the contrast as we want, and we can make things darker or lighter according to our wish. So when he says "put shadow on zone III", does he mean I put it where I WANT to have it, not where it REALLY is? I suppose so. But for the tests, should it not be where it REALLY is?
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