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as a neophyte photographer to large format for about 4 years, i first heard and learned the btz system from fred newman and the books by phil davis. my negatives are infinitely better, and as a consequence, my prints are superior in quality and very much easier to print. the film testing is really not that tedious if you don't get bogged down in doing many, many tests. i have so far only tested two developer/film combinations. it only takes about an hour of so to do the film test, and probably another 15-20 minutes to input the data in the winplotter software. i think it is inviting, but wrong, to spend all your time doing test after test, when really a good working knowledge of a small number of materials is all that is needed to expose and develope good negatives. the computer software is a breeze, and the information is very usable, and i think understandable. i might also add that the btz tube system of developement is great. no more working in the dark, and the developement is even across the entire negative. i still use the zone system and not the incident system as touted by phil, but on occasion, i use that system as well. after having read "beyond the zone system" (more than once!), i feel that i have a much better understanding of the exposure/developement/print process and photography in general. certainly, you can take and print excellent images without the btz system, but i would encourage everyone to give it try. it is really worth it! and the time well spent!!
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