Is the zone system now redundant because of box speed and MC papers?

[Bill Burk]

I don't think of hitting Grade 2 as a requirement. But it sure is nice to go through twice as much Grade 2 paper as anything else.

[Drew Wiley]

I standardized on Grade 3 paper for years, esp Seagull G3. Now that VC papers are the
cat's meow, there's no strict rule in play, because each paper/dev situation is somewhat
different. Same with the old silly adage to place shadows on Zone 3 - I never do that.
With some films, I place the shadows on Zone 2, 1, or even 0. It just depends what the
toe of the film looks like. Some films will allow clean gradation way down, some won't.
Same situation with the highlight the other direction. The Zone System can be applied to
any of these conditions, but don't expect everything to work the same way it did when
Ansel or Minor White taught it. Products have changed quite a bit.

[Robert Budding]

There's nothing wrong with understanding the materials with which you work.

[Pawlowski6132]

There's nothing wrong with understanding the materials with which you work.

But, I can understand my materials and not use the zone system right? I believe in making a flexible negative (over expose and reduce development) and use darkroom technique and materials to print however I want.

[Robert Budding]

But, I can understand my materials and not use the zone system right? I believe in making a flexible negative (over expose and reduce development) and use darkroom technique and materials to print however I want.

You should use what works for you. I do find it odd, though, that people who do not use the zone system often choose to mischaracterize it.

[Drew Wiley]

A flexible negative because you overexpose and underdevelop??? Well, it depends upon what you mean as flexible. You might sacrifice midtone and highlight microtonality doing that. And again, different film and developer combinations will respond differently. Maybe
you'll want higher contrast in the print, and will be unable to achieve it due to such a strategy. One shoe simply does not fit everyone or every exposure situation!!! And the Zone System does not dictate you do things one way or the other! It simply provides you
with a simple model to previsualize what is likely to happen, and to expose adn develop your film accordingly, that is, once you have already established the relevant parameters
through testing.

[Robert Budding]

A flexible negative because you overexpose and underdevelop??? Well, it depends upon what you mean as flexible. You might sacrifice midtone and highlight microtonality doing that. And again, different film and developer combinations will respond differently. Maybe
you'll want higher contrast in the print, and will be unable to achieve it due to such a strategy. One shoe simply does not fit everyone or every exposure situation!!! And the Zone System does not dictate you do things one way or the other! It simply provides you
with a simple model to previsualize what is likely to happen, and to expose adn develop your film accordingly, that is, once you have already established the relevant parameters
through testing.

Whatever makes people happy is fine with me . . . But the flip side is that they shouldn't complain when I do a bit of film testing.

[Nana Sousa Dias]

What I really care is about the negative. If the negative has all the shadows detail I wanted when I was shooting and the highlights are bright and printable, then, ZS worked well for me. If I'm gonna use a MC paper to print the negative, I have even a lot more of control, if I decide, for example print with split-contrast, so, modern film and MC papers are one more step beyhond ZS...