Zone system tutorials?

[Atracksler]

Is there a good/easy to understand "zone system for dummies" kind of tutorial? I'm new to it, and need some practical how to's. I'm using the pocket light meter app until I can get a proper light meter.

Thanks in advance.
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[ic-racer]

Is there a good/easy to understand "zone system for dummies" kind of tutorial? I'm new to it, and need some practical how to's. I'm using the pocket light meter app until I can get a proper light meter.

Thanks in advance.
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I always recommend learning basic film and paper sensitometry. Many 'Zone Systems' treat parts of the tone reproduction cycle like a black box. This can lead to confusion and misunderstanding.

http://motion.kodak.com/motion/uploadedFiles/US_plugins_acrobat_en_motion_education_sensitometry_workbook.pdf

[neil poulsen]

The best resource of which I'm aware for black and white exposure and development are the Ansel Adams classics, Camera, Negative, and Print.

I first learned about the zone system from Minor, Zakia, & Lorenz's The New Zone System Manual. It provides a good, readable explanation of zone system methodologies.

I've found it best to read Minor et.al., and then return to the Ansel Adams books, when learning about the zone system.

There are many books that discuss the zone system. Few of them do a credible job. A lot of them include shortcuts and inaccuracies that compromise the end product.

[Peter De Smidt]

I always recommend learning basic film and paper sensitometry. Many 'Zone Systems' treat parts of the tone reproduction cycle like a black box. This can lead to confusion and misunderstanding.

http://motion.kodak.com/motion/uploadedFiles/US_plugins_acrobat_en_motion_education_sensitometry_workbook.pdf

Great link. Thanks!

[peter schrager]

Fred picker book

[Keith Pitman]

I concur with the recommendation for Picker's book, but also check out You Tube: View Camera Store/Fred Newman.

[Peter De Smidt]

Fred's book is fine. For the film testing, use 1/3 stops, though, instead of 1/2 stops if you can.

[Atracksler]

Ok, my question is about zone placement.

Lets say I meter a scene, the meter will show me Zone 5 for whatever I'm metering, right?

So lets say I meter a plant in my studio. My meter says F8 1 Second

If I want to put that into zone 6, for example, do I change the entire exposure (to 1.5 Sec at F11) or do I move just the Aperture and keep the speed the same, and or vice versa....????

Sorry, if this is an idiot question.....

[Peter De Smidt]

Ignoring things like the film's reciprocity failure, to place the plant on zone VI you'd either open the lens 1 stop, e.g. moving from F/8 to F/5.6 which would give less depth of field, or you would give twice the time, in this case two seconds. Adding time doesn't affect the depth-of-field, but it can lead to reciprocity failure or subject movement.

[Old-N-Feeble]

Exposure adjustments are either/or... or both depending on what works best for the subject matter. However, going from Z5 to Z6 is a full step, not half. Also, you went backwards toward less exposure. You could use 1 sec at f/5.6 or 2 sec at f/8 but you may have to correct a bit for reciprocity failure. Or you could expose for 1.5 sec at f/6.8... or any combination that exposes one step more than Z5.

[Atracksler]

Ok. That clears up a whole heck of a lot!

[Lenny Eiger]

Ok, my question is about zone placement.

Lets say I meter a scene, the meter will show me Zone 5 for whatever I'm metering, right?

So lets say I meter a plant in my studio. My meter says F8 1 Second

If I want to put that into zone 6, for example, do I change the entire exposure (to 1.5 Sec at F11) or do I move just the Aperture and keep the speed the same, and or vice versa....????

Sorry, if this is an idiot question.....

I don't see this as the purpose of the Zone System. I use it to get a rich, delicious negative. If I want something to move up on the tonal range, I just print it lighter. There is plenty of time for super complexity later...

The basics of this are that the film will develop out the shadows, or the very light parts of the negative, in the first 3 minutes of development. If you develop longer, for 1/2 an hour for example, you won't get an increase in density in those areas. You might get some fog, but it won't be actual detail. This means that the effectiveness of reproduction in the shadow areas are based on the exposure.

The highlights, or dark areas of the negative can develop for quite a long time, and exceed the ability of your printing mechanisms to print with detail in those areas. This is also known as "blowing out the highlights". How far the highlights are from the shadows is what we all call contrast.

Therefore, the adage "expose for the shadows and develop for the highlights".

The trick comes with metering. This is the part that throws all the beginners a curve. When you point your meter at anything, it tells you what a Zone 5 reading would be. That's its standard. Period.

When you point your meter at something in Zone 3, you are going to get what a Zone 5 reading would be for that area. Since you are pointing your meter at something 2 stops away (by definition), you need to adjust what you do for the actual exposure by the same 2 stops. IN this case that means closing down 2 stop from the Zone 3 reading.

Personally, I wouldn't focus so much on placement as getting a great negative to work it - they are a real joy.

Steps:

Step 1) Read Zone 3
Step 2) Read Zone 7
Step 3) Add or Subtract to the Magic # for Development - I use 4, some like 5.
Step 4) Close down 2 stops from the Zone 3 reading to expose.

Do this about 15 times and it will sink in...

Step three is about getting to the N number... In my system, N is 4 stops, N+2 is 3, N-1 is 5, N-2 is 6, and so on. These relate to a chart on my darkroom wall for the different times of development that will adjust to that range.

Have fun,

Lenny

[DannL]

The Practical Zone System - by Chris Johnson

This is a must-have, in my opinion. A copy can be had for just a few dollars via Barnes & Noble and/or Amazon's used books.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/practical-zone-system-chris-johnson/1101447285?ean=9780240803289
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240803280/sr=8-1/qid=1140716198/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-1757857-3462219?_encoding=UTF8

[Andy Eads]

You may want to check out my treatise on exposure and development. It's located here on this site: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/articles/VIDEC.pdf

[Bill Burk]

I don't see this as the purpose of the Zone System. I use it to get a rich, delicious negative.

Lenny, Thanks...

Atracksler... Lenny has been promising to explain the Zone System in 15 minutes.

I think he just did it. This is good stuff.

Go over his post and if you have questions... run them by him.

You described how to base your exposure on a plant that you thought should be rendered light gray Zone VI, and so you looked at that (Zone V by definition) meter reading and opened up one stop... That is one approach.

The classic approach is to base exposure on a shadow. Lenny explained that: Take a Zone III reading and close down two stops.

Zone System gives you the vocabulary to be able to do either or both. Very often as I explore a scene I will hold my hand up and meter it, place that reading on Zone VI and then explore the rest of the scene to see where other readings fall.

If the "important" shadow falls around Zone III (or if I am "fine" with where the shadow is falling) after I adjusted the meter to place my hand in Zone VI, then I consider the entire scene "N" Normal.

In a true "N" Normal scene, each reading falls where it "belongs", and the meter reading is ready to use for the exposure.

If I have to spin the meter dial for other readings because they fall in the "wrong" place, then N- or N+ is needed depending which way you had to spin the dial. (Lenny caught me once counting the wrong direction... so I won't detail which is N+ and which is N- right now)... Just remember if you can't get everything to fall where you want it, you need to expand or contract depending...

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

I think the best thing you can do is befriend someone who knows the zone system and is willing to take phone calls from you and willing to look at your negatives and your prints. Actually talking to someone about it is going to go a long way toward you learning it the proper way. Perhaps there is someone in your area that still shoots black and white film and knows the zone system, and is willing to take your calls and look at your negs and prints. If not, look into Ken Lee's service. I don't think its that expensive. If I were just starting out trying to learn it that's the way I'd go, either with him, or someone else you can regularly talk to and show stuff to. I think it would be money well spent by saving years of headaches and lots of ruined film and paper.