The Zone System for 35mm Photographers: A Basic Guide to Exposure Control

The author made an honest effort to do what the title says the book would do, explaining the zone system for today's cameras. In my opinion, not reading this book will prevent understanding of photography, even for those who later decide not to use the zone system.

I have been taking Black and Whites for about a year now, and every chapter I read my pictures improve. While the Zone system can be presented as hard core math, Grave uses Black and White images to define the Zones and help you think in grey scale. His book is extremely practical and is based on using the light meter in the camera. This means that you are not forced to buy extra equipment such as spot meter or hand held meters unless you want them for convience. The book really is good in making you think about the black and white print that will be produced. The proper exposure give you or your developer maximum latitiude in making prints. As well great effects can be made by adjusting your preceptions an adjusting the camera to capture what you precieve. The part on developing looks good also. There are film test and exposure test to determine if your camera is fuctioning normally or if needs work. If you are not getting good results then I suggest using these test to determine if your camera is functioing correctly the test seem unnecessary if you are getting good results. The Pictoral examples in this book are great. The text is about seeing a picture in your mind and then telling you how to create it on film for priinting. This book will greatly improve your black and white skills if you are a beginner without creating a great deal of confusion. Some of the lessons translate well to color photos. And there is a chapter onthe zone system for color.

If you intend to be serious about manual photography, you'll need to have an understanding of the zone system, and if you intend to have an understanding of the zone system, this book is for you.While not circumventing the science of the zone system, Carson Graves prudently focuses more on application of its principles. Basically, this book will give you a clear understanding of what the zones are, how to relate them to real-life objects, how to understand what your light meter is telling you, and a lot more...Do ya like pictures, Sonny? This book is full of 'em! The technical points about previsualization, judging contrast, etc. are really driven home by informative photos, drawings, and graphs.On top of the basics, Mr. Graves "takes it to the hole" when he deftly explains advanced stuff like finding your exposure index and adjusting your development times...This book is an easy (and educational) read with just enough seriously technical stuff in it to warrant flaunting it in front of all the ladies (or guys) to show them what a brainiac you are. But YOU would never do that, you're way too cool...All jokes aside - this book will give you knowledge, and through knowledge, control. Don't miss it.

A great way to understand how to control not only brigth, but also contrast, when taking and developing b & w photographs

Great book. I went from a "4" to a "9" (on a scale of 1 to 10) in terms of my ability to control exposure and get the results I wanted after reading this book. It's clearly written and a person can cover the major topics in just one day. A+