Response to loss of shadow detail - Xtol

I would be very careful taking a meter reading off of any Z8+ scenes and thinking most scenes will be 4 stops or less so it would be ok to develope normally. You can't move the low values with development as readily as high values because low values don't have much exposed silver halides to develope as opposed to high values. Therefore the highlights become denser faster and more completely than the shadows and most papers can't hold that much density subject brightness range. High values have lots of exposed silver so the high values become dense much faster than low values. Simple physics. I have never had an explanation of Freds zone system that satisfies my understanding of how exposure and development works. I see the work of some of Fred's practitioners but they all seem to have very dark shadows with little detail in areas (thin shadow areas in neg) that should be full of detail. I followed Fred's methods in his first edition but was not satisfied with the results. I feel if it was a valid method many more people would use it. The old saying "expose for the shadows and develope for the highlights" is a pretty foolproof method to go by. James

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