Chateau de Pierrefonds ~ a Digital Zone System Black and White adventure II

After reviewing my Vienna in-camera generated jpgs I went in search of a way to further refine my understanding of what is possible using Sony mirrorless cameras.  In this case I wanted to find a way to "brighten up" the highlights while keeping a sense of open shadows.

 

Sony A6000, Sigma 30mm f/2.8 EX DN E

  

Normally Sony Creative Style Black and White with Contrast set to 0 (default) pushes the dark values down too low for my tastes.  This is why I'd chosen Contrast = -3 for the trip to Vienna.  The highlights weren't "blown out" and the darks didn't sink into "inky yuck."  Yet the images felt that in some cases they could use a slightly different tonal range to more exactly match what I was looking for.

Keep in mind that I come from large format film days.  120 format was miniature.  35mm nearly Minox.  4x5inch sheet film was "normal."  8x10inch was glorious.  and 12x20inch film was almost "over the top."  In all cases I worked to keep a sense of "open shadows" and found processing/printing techniques to make 120 film format and larger "work" in this way. 

 

Sony NEX-7, Sigma 19mm f/2.8 EX DN E

  

I'm not sure how I got to asking the question, but I found myself trying to understand Sony's "Dynamic Range Optimization" feature.  It's something I've avoided using because I didn't understand it and because images I've made using DRO had too much of an HDR "look" to them. 

Considering the feature a little differently I learned that DRO levels are selectable (not just automatic as I'd wrongly assumed) with the intention of "opening up the shadow areas."  This was exactly what was desired.  So I performed a number of "characterizations" using the Sony Creative Style Black and White, setting contrast levels, and selecting specific DRO settings (avoiding DRO automation).

 

Sony NEX-7, Sigma 19mm f/2.8 EX DN E

  

Here's something that I found supremely useful for generating in-camera jpgs in a black and white style I like. 

• Creative Style - Black and White
• Contrast 0
• Sharpness -3 (more about this below)
• DRO 1 enabled <- this is the trick right here 

• Expose -
• Meter = Spot
• Back-button AEL - Auto-Exposure Lock 
• +2.7EV bright light areas (for 80% of the images I took) ... 
  or...
• -2.3EV shadows (for photographing dark places - cathedral, tombs)
• +/-0.3EV bracket for 3 exposures

•  Technique -
• Bright/Normal situations - 
• +2.7EV exposure compensation (depending on how much texture I want to retain - remember Zone 8 / +3EV is "very light with a hint of texture" (edited 17 June 2025)
• AEL the lightest area of a scene
• Recompose
• Release the shutter
• Let the lower tones render as they will 
• Dark situations -
• -2.3EV exposure compensation
• AEL area to be expressed as Zone 3
• Recompose
• Release the shutter 
• Let the lighter tones render as they will

• Digital Zone System details -
• Zone 9 1/2 becomes pure white when using DRO 1
• In fact, +3.7EV is the precise point where we go from luminescence value 247 (usable information in white) to 255 (pure white) at +4EV on Sony from NEX7 mirrorless model on...
• Zones less than 3 often contain useful information (delivering that sense of "open shadows") 

 

 

Sony A6000, Sigma 30mm f/2.8 EX DN E

  

 

NOTE 1: DRO 1 raises Zone 5/0EV by exactly 0.3EV.  Zone 5 at -0.3EV is needed to compensate for the DRO 1 effect.

 

NOTE 2: Setting Zone 5 at -0.3EV when using DRO 1 expands the lightest Zones by 0.3EV.  Zone 9 1/3 / +4EV becomes pure white and thereby inching into Zone 10 film-era pure white definitions - in camera (edited 17 June, 2025)

 

NOTE 3: I find that _if_ I have time to properly meter a scene and find I need more contrast (due to a "flat" scene) that increasing this value in Creative Style Black and White brings the black point "in" and isn't all that "harsh" on the highlights (which I like to protect at the expense of the blacks if "push comes to shove").

 

NOTE 4: I like to use +/-0.3EV exposure bracketing since I seldom (or better said: never) have the time to fully meter a scene before hitting the shutter release and moving on to the "next thing."  

 

NOTE 5: Having a copy of the RAW output allows me to re-process images later, particularly if the in-camera generated jpg "isn't quite right."  Shooting RAW+jpg tends to chew up memory, but SD cards are cheap these days so I don't worry too much about it.

 

NOTE 6: Turning down Sharpness to -3 helps retain a certain sense of balance between sharpness and large format film style "smoothness."  The images seen here had sharpness set to +1.  Even when downsizing for the 'net, something doesn't "feel" entirely correct.  Later I tested different sharpness settings and found that the APS-C Sony sensors coupled with their in-camera jpg engine create something that feels much better to my way of "seeing" when Creative Style Black and White Sharpness is set to -3.

 

 

 

 

Sony A6000, Sigma 30mm f/2.8 EX DN E 

  

 

Vienna ~ a Digital Zone System Black and White adventure

We needed to "get out of Dodge" for a few days so my wife and I visited Vienna.

 

I wanted to post images of our wanderings in near real time.  To do that I'd need to rely on the in-camera jpg processor since there was no way I'd be taking computer while on vacation.  I wanted to be out having fun and not sitting around the apartment processing RAW images.

Further, I had in mind shooting a film simulation recipe in the "big camera" that has a nice Zeiss zoom and shoot black and white in the "small" camera that has Sigma fixed focal length lens.  Things got off to a good start, but it was a rather/shockingly/absurdly large effort to download and post both the color film simulations and anything that happened to catch my eye in black and white.  Soon I realized I was very much enjoying exploring the city in black and white and decided to post works only in this style. 

A photographer friend says  "Photography is like music. You need good instruments, good technique, and, above all, artistry. When a picture sings, you've got it right!".

 

Looking at the shear volume of images I was trying to share, I realized I was like that annoying kid with an artless kazoo marching around making all manner of noise. There was no peace.  There was no rest.  It was somewhat difficult to get it right! in camera, but there was no stopping me once I got rolling.

*snap*click*post*whee* goes the annoying kid with an ungovernable rude kazoo

After characterizing my Sony systems to adapt the old film Zone System of exposure (see St. Ansel, Brothers M.White and P.Davis, et al) for this trip I settled on the following process.

• Creative Style - Black and White
• Contrast -3
• Sharpness +1

• Expose -
• Meter = Spot
• Back-button AEL - Auto-Exposure Lock 
• +2.5EV bright highlights (for 80% of the images I took) 
• -2EV shadows (for photographing dark places - cathedral, tombs)
• +/-0.5EV bracket - 3 or 5 exposures

•  Technique -
• Light/Normal situations - 
• +2.5EV exposure compensation
• AEL the lightest area of a scene
• Recompose
• Release the shutter
• Let the lower tones render as they will 
• Dark situations -
• -2EV exposure compensation
• AEL area to be expressed as Zone 3
• Recompose
• Release the shutter 
• Let the lighter tones render as they will

• Digital Zone System details -
• Zone 9 is pure white (this is crucial: _not_ Zone 10 as defined for film)
• In fact, +3.7EV is the precise point where we go from luminescence value 247 (usable information in white) to 255 at +4EV (pure white) (edited 17 June 2025)
• Zones less than 3 often contain useful information (where film seldom ever did) 

 

What I ended up with were minimally three exposures per image with 3 or 5 jpgs to choose from and post while on the road and 3 or 5 RAW to work on at my leisure after I returned home.  I "copped out" by bracketing because I seldom had the time to carefully meter a scene.  So off went the kazoo sending photons of light in three or five different directions with the hope something would "stick."

In general I think the approach "works."  I've only worked a handful of RAW images after the fact.  What I would like to do differently next time is to use 0.3EV bracketing in place of the rather coarse 0.5EV steps.  And I would like to see if I can make the highlights "sparkle" a bit better, while retaining a sense of "richness" of tone that comes with B&W contrast set to -3.