Yes, the Zone System is a pain to understand, and I think has far less relevance with today's thin-emulsion, short-toed films. I usually just take a few spotmeter readings with my Minolta Autometer, including the highlight and shadow areas, throw in some Kentucky Windage, and bracket like crazy. I don't think you can achieve the same effects in the darkroom developing modern films (the +1, -1 stuff) that you could in the old days. If you read Ansel Adams' books, he commented often about how difficult it was to print many of his early negatives because the exposures or contrast ranges were way off, leading to blocked highlights or empty shadow areas. I think that's why he became such a fanatic about the Zone System (more so than Minor White, even). And yes, try medium format if you can, you'll be amazed at the increase in quality over 35mm, especially using T-MAX 100 film (if you're a b&w junkie). Sorry to wander so far off topic, but there you are....
