Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site peora.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!prls!amdimage!amdcad!decwrl!decvax!tektronix!uw-beaver!cornell!vax135!petsd!peora!jer From: jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) Newsgroups: net.rec.photo Subject: Re: Is OM-4 Junk? Message-ID: <1418@peora.UUCP> Date: Fri, 2-Aug-85 23:18:50 EDT Article-I.D.: peora.1418 Posted: Fri Aug 2 23:18:50 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 6-Aug-85 05:42:18 EDT References: <54600009@trsvax> <4088@alice.UUCP> Organization: Perkin-Elmer SDC, Orlando, Fl. Lines: 66 > No, he's not a snob. > > The Zone System is a methodology for controlling both exposure and > development in order to obtain a negative that will cover the full > contrast range of the subject and will produce a good print with > minimum manipulation on normal-grade paper. This is true; certainly a very technical definition of the Zone System. Here's what Ansel Adams says with respect to the original subject, though (whether or not the Zone System can be used with roll film): Full control using the Zone System requires individual processing of each negative, obviously not practical for roll films. It is a mistake, however, to assume the Zone System therefore ``does not work'' with roll-film cameras; since it is a practical expression of sensitometric principles, the Zone System remains valid, even though its use is somewhat different. ... We also learn to visualize images within the limits _imposed_by_the_process_, regardless of format. With roll films we usually must accept the requirement for uniform development of the entire roll, and we can adjust our procedure to accomodate this fact. [Ansel Adams, _The_Negative_, 1981, Little, Brown, and Co. (NYGS), p. 93.] The only effect of varying the development (of black and white films) is to change the slope of the film's characteristic curve; this varies the contrast. Although this is an important part of the Zone System, a great deal more is involved. The idea of "minimum manipulation" is a key concept, though, and a really important one. It's always bothered me that most introductory texts on darkroom technique put a lot of emphasis on manipulation of the print, particularly dodging and burning-in. These are techniques for newspaper photography, to make visible the face of a celebrity photographed under difficult situations in which the face is hidden in shadow; etc. But Adams was a realist (realism is a genre of art; sadly, in photography it is given the almost derogatory term of ``straight photography'' in many comparative texts -- although realism in drawing and painting is currently unpopular as well, despite the fact that it is an art form that America has made a major contribution to). I've always thought it a little ironic that he thinks nothing of using filters to bring about heightened contrasts, etc., given this extreme dedication to realism. Somewhere in _The_Print_, Adams makes one of his occasional allusions to his philosophical position with respect to photography as an art form, when he comments that a bad (I think it was too high-contrast) negative he had has problems that ``could only be corrected by a complicated masking process.'' There's a basic truth to this, though it is another problem with the small roll films: with larger formats, you can make ``silver masks'' to also correct problems of contrast. With 35mm film, this is very hard to do, because it is hard to keep the negatives in register. (At least, this is true with the low-cost equipment I have. I think with a negative carrier that had pins that fit the sprocket holes in the film, you would have an excellent pin-register that would probably work well for this even with the small-format film.) Nevertheless, if you can make it work, it's another way to make individual contrast-adjustments for roll film (albeit very hard). I think that the more commonly-described manipulations of the print should usually be avoided. -- Shyy-Anzr: J. Eric Roskos UUCP: ..!{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!vax135!petsd!peora!jer US Mail: MS 795; Perkin-Elmer SDC; 2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642 "Vg frrzf yvxr hc gb zr."