Zone Description
The following description is obtained from the book, The Negative by Ansel Adams.
| Zone | Description |
| 0 | Total black in print. No useful density in the negative other than film base + fog. |
| I | Effective threshold. First step above complete black in print, with slight tonality but no texture. |
| II | First suggestion of texture. Deep tonalities, representing the darkest part of the image in which some slight detail is required. |
| III | Average dark materials and low values showing adequate texture. This is a very important zone in determining the exposure. |
| IV | Average dark foliage, dark stone, or landscape shadow. Normal shadow value for Caucasian skin portraits in sunlight. |
| V | Middle gray (18% reflectance). Clear north sky as rendered by panchromatic film, dark skin gray stone, average weathered wood. |
| VI | Average Caucasian skin value in sunlight, diffuse skylight or artificial light. Light stone, shadows on snow in sunlit landscapes, clear north sky on panchromatic film with light blue filter. |
| VII | Very light skin, light gray objects; average snow with acute side lighting. |
| VIII | Whites with texture and delicate values; textured snow; highlights on Caucasian skin. This is another important zone in determining the development time. |
| IX | White without texture approaching pure white, thus comparable to Zone I in its slight tonality without true texture. Snow in flat sunlight. With small-format negatives printed with condenser enlarger, Zone IX may print as pure white not distinguishable from Zone X. |
| X | Pure white of the printing paper base; specular glare or light sources in the picture area. |