Zone Sytem

[Richard V Setchim/Tokyo <setchim@pwj.co.jp>]

Paul Young noted recently that he used a variation of the Zone system 
for color. He kindly sent me the following explanation in response to my 
request for further information. It is reproduced below with his 
permission. Do other LUG users have exposure tips they can share to help 
us bring out the best in Leica lenses?

Regards,
Richard Setchim
Tokyo

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From Paul Young:

In my experience, the important point 
in the zone system (B&W or color) is to KNOW your film
- -- what it can and cannot do. 
First, let me describe my B&W procedure, as it might
help as a starting point. I usually take a bunch of
photographs at 1 stop intervals of a gray card. These 
exposures range from about 8 stops under to 8 over the
nominal exposure. Examining the negatives/slides/prints
tells me a lot about the film; I can figure out what
the tonal range is and 'calibrate' the films speed for
what I want. For instance, I use Tri-X in HC110 1:32
for 4 1/2 minutes at 20C. This setup gets me 13 stops
of range. That means that taking a picture of the gray
card over a 13 stop range of exposures, I can see decided 
differences in density on the negative (it's almost 15,
but I look for marked differences). Now, I compare my
exposure settings for the various densities, since one
could simply say that each exposure corresponds with a 
doubling of the Exposure Index (film speed setting on
the meter). I find that the fifth darkest (= thinnest 
on the negative) corresponds to an EI of 200. For my
Tri-X setup, I set my (external!) meter to 200.
Now, taking pictures, I look in the scene for what I
want to meter on with this 200 setting. I might meter 
a bunch of things, bright and dark, to get an idea
of the tonal range of the scene. Usually I have enough
experience to just meter on that tone in the scene I
want to be on my 'fifth' density. I usually refer to
this as Zone 4. I spent a lot of time and film trying
out various films, developers, and settings, and
this is the one I settled on. BTW, the grain is quite
small, and 'soft', which makes for great 16x20s. 

Okay, so this is how I do the zone system fo B&W. How
do I apply it to color? Since I choose not to alter
the film processing, I simply characterize the color
print or slide film in the same manner using the Kodak
Color Separation Guide (has a range of hues and saturations
on it -- the color equivalent to the gray card). Knowing
my film allows me to meter appropriately with more
predictable results. I found that with VPS III I was
metering on zone 4 or 5 for best results with most
scenes. I have now gone to PRO 100 (PRN) for a bit
more color saturation. I find I need to meter at zone
4 for best results. I typically shoot at 1 full stop
more exposure than I did with VPS. With negative film, 
I am metering on the area in the scene that I want
decent shadow detail in.

For slide films, I meter on the *brightest* part of
the scene that I want to have saturated colors.
This different philosophy with slide vs negatives
is due to the nature of the two film types. It also
goes along with my film selection; I pick negative
films when I want good shadow detail, and I pick
slide film when shadow detail is not as important as
color saturation and contrast. There are, of course,
variations among film types too; EPD and EPN have
a wider range (less contrast) than E100. EPD and
EPN are more realistic and accurate, but that doesn't
make them the best choice -- sometimes I want a
zingy, contrasty image (humanoids tend to remember
scenes as having more color than they really did).
For negative films, VPS has great tonal range, but
I mostly use PRN now for its slightly deeper colors.

Hope the LUG finds some use from this. 

Paul.

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