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John Small Photography | profile | all galleries >> Photo Talk >> Exposure >> The Zone System >> Nikon D300 tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Canon 40D | Canon 400D | Nikon D200 | Nikon D300 | Olympus E-1 | Olympus E-510

Nikon D300

Based on the book by Ansel Adams, The Negative, Little, Brown and Company, 1981, Ch 4.
See Table 2, page 60 for a full description of each zone and Figure 4-4, page 54 for a B&W visual.
Spot reading taken in the Zone V image below as per page 51, NEF 12 bit RAW developed in
Lightroom 1.3. Nikon D300 with Tokina 50-135mm f/2.8 AT-X Pro DX

The first set of images were taken inside under controlled lighting allowing ISO 200.
We can note 11-12 Zones or steps of DR starting at Zone 0 - 2 and extending into zone IX.

For the second set of images (gray concrete plaque) conditions were optimal given overcast sky with even lighting.
However neither Zone 0 or I went to black as anticipated and, likewise,
detail extended past Zone VIII into Zone IX. The result is 10-11 zones of DR at ISO 400!

The third second set of images (tan hot pad) were taken inside under controlled lighting at ISO 1600. Zone 0 did go to black.
Zone I had more detail than expected. The highlights did not extend past Zone VIII. This is a DR of 7-8 zones of tt ISO 1600.
Thus the ISO increase of 2 stops from 400 to 1600 is offset by a DR decrease of 2-3 stops. These results can be
compared to the first test at ISO 200 where the anticiapted 3 stops of DR is seen over ISO 1600, or one stop over ISO 400.

Read 'A Digital Zone System?' by Chuck Gardner here http://super.nova.org/DPR/ZoneSystem/DigitalZoneSystem.pdf
Zone 0 - 3   DSC_0903.jpg
Zone 0 - 3 DSC_0903.jpg
Zone 0 - 2   DSC_0902.jpg
Zone 0 - 2 DSC_0902.jpg
Zone 0 - 1   DSC_0901.jpg
Zone 0 - 1 DSC_0901.jpg
Zone 0   DSC_0900.jpg
Zone 0 DSC_0900.jpg
Zone I   DSC_0899.jpg
Zone I DSC_0899.jpg
Zone II   DSC_0898.jpg
Zone II DSC_0898.jpg
Zone III   DSC_0897.jpg
Zone III DSC_0897.jpg
Zone IV   DSC_0896.jpg
Zone IV DSC_0896.jpg
Zone V   DSC_0888.jpg
Zone V DSC_0888.jpg
Zone VI   DSC_0889.jpg
Zone VI DSC_0889.jpg
Zone VII   DSC_0890.jpg
Zone VII DSC_0890.jpg
Zone VIII   DSC_0891.jpg
Zone VIII DSC_0891.jpg
Zone IX   DSC_0892.jpg
Zone IX DSC_0892.jpg
Zone X   DSC_0893.jpg
Zone X DSC_0893.jpg
Zone X + 1   DSC_0894.jpg
Zone X + 1 DSC_0894.jpg
DSC_0885.jpg
DSC_0885.jpg
DSC_0886.jpg
DSC_0886.jpg
DSC_0887.jpg
DSC_0887.jpg
Zone 0 - 1    DSC_0718.jpg
Zone 0 - 1 DSC_0718.jpg
Zone 0   DSC_0717.jpg
Zone 0 DSC_0717.jpg
Zone I   DSC_0716.jpg
Zone I DSC_0716.jpg
Zone II   DSC_0715.jpg
Zone II DSC_0715.jpg
Zone III   DSC_0714.jpg
Zone III DSC_0714.jpg
Zone IV   DSC_0713.jpg
Zone IV DSC_0713.jpg
Zone V   DSC_0712.jpg
Zone V DSC_0712.jpg
Zone VI   DSC_0711.jpg
Zone VI DSC_0711.jpg
Zone VII   DSC_0710.jpg
Zone VII DSC_0710.jpg
Zone VIII   DSC_0709.jpg
Zone VIII DSC_0709.jpg
Zone IX   DSC_0708.jpg
Zone IX DSC_0708.jpg
Zone X   DSC_0707.jpg
Zone X DSC_0707.jpg
Tilley Hat
Tilley Hat
Tilley Hat 100% Crop.JPG
Tilley Hat 100% Crop.JPG
Zone VI  Exposure Developed in Lightroom with WB set by the 18% gray card
Zone VI Exposure Developed in Lightroom with WB set by the 18% gray card
Plaque 100% Crop.JPG
Plaque 100% Crop.JPG
Zone 0
Zone 0
Zone I
Zone I
Zone II
Zone II
Zone III
Zone III
Zone IV
Zone IV
Zone V
Zone V
Zone VI
Zone VI
Zone VII
Zone VII
Zone VIII
Zone VIII
Zone IX
Zone IX
Zone X
Zone X
18% Gray Card  DSC_0884.jpg
18% Gray Card DSC_0884.jpg