Customer Reviews

Zone System: Step by Step Guide for Photographers

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The Zone System is a system for getting "perfect" negatives and development of black-and-white photographs. For those of you who are familiar with the work of Ansel Adams and his remarkable black-and-white photographs, they are fine examples of the use of the zone system and he was a proponent of the system.
Basically it details how to get the right lighting exposure for a photograph. By dividing the gray scale into eleven segments that are related to f-stops and shutter speeds it teaches how to place your subject in the right zone. In addition it teaches where the darkest areas should fall, how to determine where the highlights fall, how to compress or expand the zones in development, etc.
If you want to rise above the average photographer then knowing how to use the zone system is a requirement. This is an excellent book on the system and details it's use in an very user friendly manner.

I have been studying zone system off and on for over twenty years. I have read numerous!!! articles on how to perfect you own personal zone system. I have always wanted to sit down and write my own personal "guide" to that system. "Zone System", by Brian Lav has created my guide for me; at least the first half. Brian's book is consise and steps right through and simplifies the calibration process. Thank-you, Brian.
Hopefully Brian will step up to the plate and take us into an advanced guide. With his writing style I am sure it will be a hit.

I have read several books on zone system over the years, and have practiced the art as time has allowed. "The Zone System", by Brian Lav, takes all of the literature that I have read over the years, and condenses them all down into a simple and easy to follow format.
I started out several times to write my own guide on the complete zone system process, taken from all of the multitude of articles I have read, fortunately Brian has written the first half of my guide.
If I were to start out in the zone system or needing to start out again, Brian's book would be the one I would turn to first. The book from start to finish, steps you through the way of establishing your own zone system.
Great work Brian, now for the second half of my guide please.

The text is very easy to read, understand and apply. There are more technical options such as using a densitometer to dial in results maybe a little faster especially when determining your EI (exposure index) for your film, but the method does work as described in this book. Many photographers may not want to use tools like densitometers or maybe they can't afford to spend the money. In the end photography is about making the print you visualize and I find this book to be a great reference and introduction to the zone system. If you want a much deeper read then you will want to get the Ansel Adams book, The Negative and also Schaefer's book "The Ansel Adams Guide Book 1". Bottom line, if you want to produce better black and white fine art prints you will be able to do that as a result of applying the knowledge learned in this book. I highly recommend it.

i purchased this book for a class i was taking. This is one of the few "textbooks" that i refer back to for clarification on the basics of the zone system. easy to understand and deep enough to improve you film and print quality constantly for years.

Read the stuff by A. Adams. This is an insult.