Simple Zone System testing?

Double film speed is a special purpose change to the incident metering for Zone System. When you do that you base exposure on the actual low / shade reading right off the meter.

I hope you understood that from the text. If that wasn't obvious to you... write back and I'll go over it with you.

That's not the same as considering the meter reading 2/3 stop lower than rated speed. That happens as an artifact of the distance from Zone V to Zone I being 4 whole stops and the metered point being 3 1/3 stops in the standards system.

Doremus Scudder said:

Here's what I'd do for "down-and-dirty" Zone-System testing.
I also have a method of making a full Zone-Ruler development test on two sheets of 4x5 film, which I'll attach. Still, if I can find a scene that has the tones I need, I prefer that method now, since it takes everything into account, from your meter and metering techniques through your printing paper, and is faster.

Click to expand...

Hey Doremus, I ran your Zone-Ruler test. Did three sets, then processed 8, 10 and 12 minutes in Pyrocat-M and made proper proofs on 8x10 sheets. Dang if that doesn't do the trick.

The times are almost perfect N-1, N, and N+1, and you can see how the Zones move up or down with the processing times. Very cool.

I'm going to dry mount these and keep them handy. Many thanks!

Parker Smith,

Glad to have helped out! When I started out, I carried the Zone Rulers for N-1, N and N+1 with me just to help visualize placements. It really helped me to get a feeling for tonalities. I've got them in my head now. I mounted mine on strips of board hinged in the middle so they folded into a compact pocket size.

Best,

Doremus