Digital BW, The Print

>If you ever read anything by Phil Davis (had the privilege of going to his
>house once for a demo of his curve software/film tubes), you will
understand
>that the Zone System was technically flawed. . .

Actually, it goes beyond a criticism of the zone system. When we did 
workshops (I owned Darkroom Innovations) the issue was one of matching film 
and paper - hence the use of the software. The issues with digital are 
similar. The problem here (in the digital realm) is that there are so many 
controls and mutations between the beginning and the end that it can be 
tough to master. One must also remember that in the film/paper/chemical 
world that both ends of the curves (Dmin and Dmax) are tied together with 
modifications made to the middle of the material curves using developers and 
printing techniques. In Photoshop it is possible to take a mid value a 
completely change it.

I've been trying to match BTZS techniques to digital for a few years and I'm 
not sure a relationship is valid. The basic concepts hold - calibration and 
predictable outcomes but we all suffer from the same thing - a need to make 
art and not science. At some point, one must remember that a technically 
perfect print digital or film isn't always what we want.

Brian