Zone System practicality with roll film?

[photophorous]

With full zone system you can go to n-1, n-2, n-3, etc. With roll film, if you shoot an entire roll in one outing, where most frames are close in contrast range (not necessarily exact), it's best to just do n-1 or n+1. IOW, don't stray too far from N, and always expose for the shadows. This way the majority of your shots will look better than they would had you developed at N, and the rest won't be too far off. The difference between N and N-1 is not going to ruin a shot.

This is pretty much my strategy for 35mm. The majority of the time, I slightly underdevelop to reduce contrast, which make the negative scan better. And it's easier to add contrast than it is to remove it. If I shoot in flat lighting, I'll develop normally, but I rarely over develop.

With 120, this works even better. When you find that perfect scene, you will probably want to bracket a few exposures to make sure you place the shadows where you want them. Then you will probably want to try a few different compositions. That will eat up 12 frames pretty fast. A single good frame from a roll of 120 is a success in my book. A single excellent frame is even better.

[Xia_Ke]

With 120, this works even better. When you find that perfect scene, you will probably want to bracket a few exposures to make sure you place the shadows where you want them. Then you will probably want to try a few different compositions. That will eat up 12 frames pretty fast. A single good frame from a roll of 120 is a success in my book. A single excellent frame is even better.

Good point, hadn't really thought about it like that.

I have to be honest with you, I don't fully understand the whole n, n-1, n-2, etc. thing yet. I just started reading about it and right off the bat was wondering how practical it really is when you're not shooting on a frame by frame basis. Man, I have bunch of reading to do