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The Digital Zone System: Taking Control from Capture to Print 1st Edition

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Robert Fisher (Author)
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Robert Fisher (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 37 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-1937538132
ISBN-10: 1937538133
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Rocky Nook; 1 edition (December 31, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1937538133
  • ISBN-13: 978-1937538132
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.4 x 10 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsNot really about zone system but about luminance masks
By Les Sparks on July 4, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
In spite of what the title says, this book is about luminance masks not the zone system. The author provides a set of Photoshop actions to generate a set of masks that cover the various zones of the zone system. In keeping with the ideas of the zone system the masks are separated by a factor of 2 in exposure. The masks area combined with adjustment layers in Photoshop to fine tune an image by confining the effect of the adjustment to a limited area.
The author provides a nice color image showing the advantages of using the masks. The demonstration would have had more instructional value if the author had provided the same same kind of detailed descriptions that are used in Oz to Kansas.
The color chapter is followed by a chapter on black and white conversions. The best part about this chapter is the discussion of the importance of color in the black and white conversion. This is a valuable discussion. The color image used in the color chapter is used to demonstrate the author's black and white conversion method. This is followed by a second demonstration using red peppers. Then a comparison between the zone system system conversion and a Lightroom conversion.
One drawback to the demonstrations is that the author doesn't provide sample images that you can use to follow along.
The black and white discussion is followed by a discussion about using the digital zone system in high dynamic range (HDR) applications. I don't know enough about HDR to comment on this chapter.
The book concludes with a discussion of printing and the importance of soft proofing and color management. This is a clear and useful discussion.
This is one of the few books where the screen shoots showing layers/etc. are printed large enough to read. The reproduction of the the photos is good.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsImproving your photos is easy
By Mark Mattson on April 8, 2013
Format: Paperback
For those of you who grew up in the black and white film photography days, the phrase `Zone System' should ring a bell for you. For those of you that have never heard of it until now, this book should be on your reading list, especially if you want to improve your photography skills.

The Zone System was developed by Ansel Adams
In an effort to allow the capture of the widest possible tonal range in images possible. It is a ten step (eleven, actually, counting zero) exposure system, where exposures are separated into zones, with zero being pure black and zone 10 being pure white.

The concept and use of the Zone System is to give photographers a guide to allowing their photos to be properly exposed across the entire tonal range. In the simplest terms, to make use of the Zone System, you expose for the shadows, and develop for the highlights. In other words, you want to make your exposure such that there is sufficient detail in the shadows, but you also will need to develop the image so that the highlights also retain detail, and do not burn out.

This was oftentimes a long involved process I the old wet darkroom days. Adams would make countless prints to arrive at the desired look and feel he wanted, and he set out to make it easier on not only himself, but countless other photographers. The result was the Zone System.

The digital darkroom is a much different place than the old wet one. Computers, software and digital imaging have made the production of outstanding prints even easier than before. One would think that the Zone System would therefore be outdated and not much use any longer.

Nothing could be further from the truth.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsFisher: The DIgital Zone System
By Marshal Shlafer on December 19, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
So many books on the Zone system, most rightfully targeted on black and white sheet film (where each neg can be exposed AND processed individually to optimize the exposure and print); and most giving an extraordinarily complex description of Adams' methods. Applying the zone system to digital isn't as straightforward as one might like, but Fisher does a fine job of showing where exposure technique for BW film and digital color do -- and don't -- overlap. I've purchased (or read samples) of many current books on zone system/digital and concluded that this book provided the best and clearest explanations and guidance. In addition, there are no pages wasted on bare-bones basic stuff like "what is an f-stop," or "1/2 sec at f8 gives the same exposure as 1/4 sec at f5.6" and so on.
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2.0 out of 5 starsTonal Control the Hard Way
By Conrad J. Obregon VINE VOICE on January 6, 2013
Format: Paperback
Ansel Adams and Fred Archer designed the original Zone System to extend the range of light of film and to better control tonalities within the print.

The Adobe Corporation, over time, designed Photoshop and related raw converters, like Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) and Lightroom, to extend the range of light of digital images and better control tonalities in a variety of output media,

Now Robert Fisher offers what he calls the Digital Zone System (DZS) which applies the tools in Photoshop and related raw converters in ways never contemplated by the designers to fit into the schema of the original zone system.

In reviewing books concerned with image post processing, I usually consider the effectiveness in the explanation of the use of the software, but in the case of Fisher's work I wonder if the underlying concept is worth the work. Essentially, Fisher constructs a number of masks, each of a zone of tonality and then adjusts them, claiming this method creates better images. It appears to me that the DZS adds unnecessary complexity to the use of post processing software with no advantage.

Even with DZS it appears that one must still recover the data at the extremes of a digital image's tonal range by manipulating the image with ACR or Lightroom's basic sliders, and manipulation of tonality within a zone must still be accomplished by using a curve function. Although he alleges that DZS can be more precise, nothing convinces me that careful use of, say, the curves panel can't achieve the same thing. Moreover, one will not be fighting against the design of the software, which I conclude one is doing when Photoshop repeatedly warns that no pixels are more than 50% selected, a warning which Fisher tells us to just ignore.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Valuable addition to my workflow!

Published 23 days ago by David Schwartz
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Reminds me of the god times with black and white film.

Published 3 months ago by Gloria J. Yukavetsky
5.0 out of 5 starsgood book

very well written plenty of teck information but Cleary explained

Published 7 months ago by Graham.Taarnby
3.0 out of 5 starswell explained the system but lack of a step by step exmple.

The book covers the Zone System and its variation very well, but I personally miss a step by step example fully detailed in order to put in practice the system.

Published 14 months ago by Norberto Padin
5.0 out of 5 starsOpens up a whole new way of processing images in ...

Opens up a whole new way of processing images in Photoshop!

Published 15 months ago by Dean H.
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Very nice for inlaying a knife and fork set I was making.
Dick Campbell, knifemaker

Published 16 months ago by DickC
2.0 out of 5 starsWhile there is some great info, there is almost nothing about how to...

While there is some great info, there is almost nothing about how to actually adjust an image using the Zone System.

Published 16 months ago by GB
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great book!

Published 17 months ago by gdeal
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

tres bon produit .A recommander

Published 17 months ago by poisseroux claude
5.0 out of 5 starsTHE book to read AFTER your camera manual...

Excellent book. Some may want to read Ansel's series of books to further understand WHY and HOW one can fine tune his/her before pressing the shutter button. Read more

Published 21 months ago by Sloshooter

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