Zone Systemizer by Dowdell & Zakia Zone

[FM2N]

Hello,
Does anyone have any experience with this book and the wheel that comes with it? I have a few questions. One is after I have calibrated my meter for the wheel at asa64 I continue to keep my meter at asa64 no matter what the film speed is and just set the film speed on the wheel. take a spot reading for highlight and shadow and adjust the wheel for my f/stop and shutter speed. But the wheel is the only place I change the asa?
Thanks
Arthur

 

[Lee L]

Yes, you have it correct.

If you read page 21, point #13, it explains that any adjustment to exposure is made when you align the "textured shadow" pointer and change development to adjust for more or less development. That doesn't require changing the film speed on your light meter or on the Systemizer dial.

Try this. Set your Systemizer dial with the Shadow pointer on .1 c/ft^2 at any film speed you choose. Set it for N -4 development and look at the combination of shutter speeds and apertures. Now adjust for N +3 and look at the changes in the shutter speed and aperture relationships. You just got a change of more than a stop and a half in exposure adjustment, same as if you'd adjusted your film speed. The Systemizer dial makes this adjustment "automatically" as you dial in development "expansion" or "contraction".

Lee

 

[FM2N]

Lee,
Thanks. I understood the auto adjustment but I was unsure of the whole asa64. Whether or not to keep both the wheel and my meter set at asa64 or just the meter and set the wheel for the actual speed of my film, which is TRI-X 320 and then whatever my meter tells me I set the 2 pointers at there appropriate #'s. The shadow pointer is moved to zone 3 and the lower left corner is moved either up or down to allign the highlight with zone 7 when this is completed the window will tell me normal, +1 or -1 etc. plus my f/stop and shutter speed.

Arthur

 

[Lee L]

Arthur,

I think I see the problem. The ASA 64 used in the book is an example, not necessarily what you should use with your particular film. You should go through the procedures in the chapter on page 35 e.p. that deals with test procedures and film speed determination. Use the film speed that results from performing the tests in that chapter.

With TXP, depending on the developer you choose, you should be using ASA 320 to start (or perhaps as low as 160 or so once you've done some testing). Different developers and agitation routines yield different film speeds.

The book is laid out a bit "backwards" in this regard, showing you how to use the Systemizer dial before discussing the basics of film speed and development. It would probably help to read it all the way through at least once before using the system.

Lee

 

[FM2N]

Yes I know that it uses asa64 as an example, but on page 29 at the botom it states that "your light meter dial is not indicating the exposure" but the systemizer wheel is..."regardless of the asa of your film, your light meter dial is set at 64asa."
So this leads me to believe that the sytemizer wheel must be set for the actual speed of the film I use, or my tested and found EI. And that my meter regardless of the speed of my film is always set for 64asa. Since my wheel, with the stick on numbers found at he back of the book, has been ste up to match my meter. Which just lucky enough is a Soligor Spot Meter.
Arthur

 

[Lee L]

Yes I know that it uses asa64 as an example, but on page 29 at the bottom it states that "your light meter dial is not indicating the exposure" but the systemizer wheel is..."regardless of the asa of your film, your light meter dial is set at 64asa."
So this leads me to believe that the sytemizer wheel must be set for the actual speed of the film I use, or my tested and found EI. And that my meter regardless of the speed of my film is always set for 64asa. Since my wheel, with the stick on numbers found at he back of the book, has been set up to match my meter. Which just lucky enough is a Soligor Spot Meter.
Arthur

Arthur,

My mistake. I haven't used the Systemizer in nearly 30 years and failed to recall that part.

With the Zone Systemizer you do use 64 as the permanent setting for the light meter, which means you're using the light meter to indicate luminance values in c/ft^2 for use with the Systemizer dial, rather than the standard usage to find correct shutter speed and aperture combinations. Film speed is set on the Systemizer dial.

So yes, you're doing it correctly. My apologies for adding to the confusion.

Lee

 

[Easy Fixer]

Actually, you can use any ASA and its square root. However, to make this work for your Soligor light meter and the Pentax light meter use ASA 100, and the square root of 100 is F10. The candles per square foot will appear as the shutter speed opposite F10. The EV numbers will now work with the correct candles per square foot.

 

[Neil Poulsen]

I (still) have one of these. As I recall, I came to the conclusion that they're based on generic contrast levels and not on actual data from one's own process to determine N, N+1, etc. developments. Might be OK in a pinch; but, I prefer to collect my own data to determine developments.