Digital BW, The Print

Speaking of things zone, a quick and dirty that Fred Picker used to suggest
is to determine the most important highlight in the picture (excluding
specular highlights and the like) and set that highlight at zone VIII; Then
let the others fall where they may. His explanation was you can't get back a
blown highlight and the other values would generally take care of
themselves. If conditions warranted an extra at n-1 or n-2 might be shot as
well. I haven't tried that approach with my Minolta 7i (obviously without
the contractions) but its not that hard to use manually and spotmeter the
scene. I did use it a lot when I was shooting 4 X 5s and 120 6 X 7s  with
generally good results.

Roger
Roger L Sopher
rlsopher@...
http:\\deCorrales.com

  -----Original Message-----
  From: D. Hill [mailto:hill14701@...]
  Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 3:45 PM
  To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: [Digital BW] Specific Zone Placement


  I've had a few responses about my method of
  determining effective ISO for the digital realm - so
  here goes:

  This testing is very similar to that done with
  conventional photographic materials.  I use a
  hand-held meter, even toned card (white or grey), and
  a zone dial (the sticker from calumet that attaches to
  the pentax spotmeters).

  To determine effective ISO of the camera, read your
  cameras manual for the default ISO setting, and set
  your camera as such.  Most digital cameras default at
  100, but still check.

  Use a tripod and fill the viewfinder with the white
  card - I typically will make sure that the light is
  even across the card, and the sun is at a 45 degree
  angle to the card itself.  At this point, set the
  focus at infinity.

  Meter the card, and do a series of Zone V exposures.
  I shoot a series in 1/3 increments from 1 stop below
  to one stop over ASA 100.  This gives me a set of
  seven Zone V values from ASA 50 - 200.

  At this point, I convert all images to 16 bit
  greyscale files in photoshop as stated in my previous
  post.  Using the eyedropper tool, I choose the image
  that is closest in value to 50% (zone V value).

  If you have taken notes, you should be able to line up
  what image is the correct ISO for your equipment.  My
  equipment sets my ISO as 80 - but most likely your
  results will vary from mine.

  This is a very simple and quick method in determining
  ISO - and is extremely helpful when you want to place
  a specific zone for imaging.  As I stated before, this
  does not allow for any processing functions of the
  zone system (such as n-1, n+2, etc.) but does allow
  specific placement of the important values.

  Good luck,
  Don

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