Practice question · Numerical answer
A spot meter reads a dark jacket. To place that jacket on Zone III, how many stops less exposure than the meter indicates must you give?
Hints
- The meter renders whatever it reads as Zone V.
- Count the zones from V down to III.
Show the answer
2
Why
Two stops less. The meter proposes Zone V; Zone III is two zones darker, and one zone is one stop. Note the direction, which trips everybody once: to make something darker in the print you give it less exposure, moving down the scale rather than up.
Practise The Zone System and Previsualisation
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