Books on the Zone System; any recommendations??

[Benjamin]

Hello, can anyone recommend any books on the ins and outs of the Zone System? From what I understand it relates to everything from the capture to printing stages, but I don't fully understand how it is used in practise, i.e. instead of an incident meter..

Thankyou, and all the best

Benjamin



P.s, Sorry if anything like this thread has been posted before..

 

[snowblink]

Have you read the three Ansel Adams books?
The Camera, The Negative, The Print

 

[Benjamin]

No I haven't as of yet, I'm currently using a college libary and I've got a number of books on order. They're pretty good so I'm pretty sure I'd be able to get hold of them. Do they cover much in the way of the System? I understand he used it soley, and developed it perhaps?

 

[gb hill]

I don't know what format you shoot but here is a book I picked up in the library a couple of years age by Carson Graves titled The zone system for 35mm. Here is a link on amazon. Read the reviews and see what you think. It was a good book. I found that the zone system is mainly for larger format photography, but the author adapts it to work using 35mm.
http://www.amazon.com/Zone-System-3...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222036662&sr=1-1

 

[Benjamin]

Yep, I pretty much soley use 35mm. The results seem to be to good to be ignored, though perhaps as you say, this relates mainly to the larger formats.

Thanks a lot for the information and your time.

All the best,

Benjamin

 

[jmcd]

Chris Johnson also has a book, which covers practical application of the Zone System for roll film, The Practical Zone System.

In a nutshell, expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights.

The zone system as Ansel Adams laid it out, worked very well with older emulsions. It works with modern films, but not in the true linear fashion as it did with old-style emulsions such as the recently discontinued Forte films, in my experience.

At any rate, it is very handy useful information, knowing how to expose film and why, and how to develop to control your contrast.

 

[john_s]

The zone system originally is about tailoring each sheet film negative to:

the range of luminance in the scene, and
the contrast needed to print it on the particular paper envisaged,

all according to the pre-visualized wishes of the photographer.

(In practice even Ansel Adams ended up with some difficult negatives)

I think his books are worth reading for the basic idea and the history, and then you need a more modern book/article for methods of adapting it to help with rolls of film that have varying types of scene brightness ranges.

 

[rhogg]

I agree with the recommendations. Read The Negative to understand the zone system, and then the Carson Graves book. The later really lets you apply the system in a roll versus sheet environment. I still use his trick of measuring basic exposure on your shaded hand.

There are lots of books on the zone system, but these two are the best I have read (out of about a dozen).

 

[dof]

I've got to agree with all that's been posted here. My only further input is that Adams', The Negative is a great read for the theory of the system and Chris Johnson's book provides a working methodology that benefits both roll and sheet film users.


-J.

 

[Benjamin]

So does anyone here use this system as a 'standard'?

It would be interesting to see the results anyone working this way has achieved with 35mm or roll films in other formats.

Thank you all for your recemmendations by the way, much appreciated

Benjamion

 

[dof]

I use the system as outlined by Chris Johnson, however he (and Adams) stresses that there is no "standard", but rather that predictable and consistent results are obtainable by regular testing of your choice of materials.

Specialized processing across a set of images is of course easier to achieve when shooting sheet film, and a twelve exposure roll of 120 is more likely to include images with similar contrast than is a 35mm roll with 36 exposures. But that being said, the key is to understand the relationship between the contrast range of the scene, and match it to your materials at each step of the image chain. For me that means scene - film/developer - paper/developer.


-j.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I use it in 35mm and medium format. See my website for results....nothing there is large format. Mostly 645, some 35mm and 6x6. I am not as faithful to it for quick candid work, but I always use it for my landscape, old buildings, and portraits.

Some people claim the Zone System is a "religion" and use that as an excuse not to use it. It isn't a religion or a cult, just a way to determine exposure and it works.

 

[bsdunek]

I would recommend the Zone System Manual by Minor White. White took Ansel Adams Zone System and did a good job of explaining it for us average guys and gals.

http://www.amazon.com/Zone-System-M...r_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222043230&sr=8-10

 

[gb hill]

Roger Hicks, who is a member here also has a free module on his site sharing 10 reasons why they don't recommend the zone system. You can find it in their index. You might find it interesting. http://www.rogerandfrances.com/

 

[peterc]

The New Zone System Manual by White/Zakia/Lorenz is aimed at photographers wanting to use the Zone System with 35mm.
I have no idea if it's still available. My copy is from 1978.

 

[Beemermark]

I think Adams three books are a "first" read to understand the system. BTW did Adams invent it? Anyway I think it helps to have a good understanding of it, as it helps understand how film and developing work. That said it's not really workable IMHO with 35mm. I do use it with 4x5 and 5x7 sheet film.

 

[RObert Budding]

Bit of a Stretch

Bit of a Stretch

Roger Hicks, who is a member here also has a free module on his site sharing 10 reasons why they don't recommend the zone system. You can find it in their index. You might find it interesting. http://www.rogerandfrances.com/

Sorry, but that list is a bit of a stretch. It really seems that he's tossing out a list trying to get to'10'. I mean, come on, the fact that non-zone system photographers have made good photos is a criticism? Testing takes too much time? I spend about 3 hours to figure out how I want to expose and develop a new-to-me film. And my favorite is that people who use the zone system are difficult to deal with! Gee, maybe it's Roger who's difficult!

 

[dof]

I think Adams three books are a "first" read to understand the system. BTW did Adams invent it?

He and Fred Archer are accredited with having codified it as a system, although AA was also known to have said that he "was just trying to make prints as good as Weston's."

 

[tmfabian]

i used a book by the person I learned zone system from...Nick Johnson http://www.nickjohnsonphotography.com/

 

[gb hill]

Sorry, but that list is a bit of a stretch. It really seems that he's tossing out a list trying to get to'10'. I mean, come on, the fact that non-zone system photographers have made good photos is a criticism? Testing takes too much time? I spend about 3 hours to figure out how I want to expose and develop a new-to-me film. And my favorite is that people who use the zone system are difficult to deal with! Gee, maybe it's Roger who's difficult!

I just threw it into the mix. Not saying I agree with Roger or not. Thought it might be interesting to read and let the reader draw there own conclusion. I'll have to go back & read it again.