4.10 Section 4: Next-Gen Zone System & AR Mapping

Protect highlights / shadows chips

Scene-aware safety net. Catches blown highlights and crushed shadows.

Where to find it

Viewfinder Metering Mode icon Options tab Protect highlights shadows chips

Summary

Master switch for the protect-chips workflow: every measurement scans the scene for the darkest and brightest spots and surfaces a one-tap chip when either would clip, so you can shift the meter to save the detail before you take the shot.

Tap to zoom — actual screenshot from the app

Detail

How it works

What it does

Every time you measure light, the app also looks at the rest of the scene for the very darkest and very brightest spots. When the darkest would land at Zone II or below (deep shadow with no detail), or the brightest at Zone VIII or above (highlight with no detail), it surfaces a chip above the preview that lets you shift the meter one or two stops to save that detail before you take the shot.

When to turn this on

Always, unless you find the chips distracting on busy scenes. They're a passive safety net: they only appear when something is actually at risk, and they never change the meter on their own. Tapping a chip applies the shift; doing nothing leaves the reading exactly as the metering mode produced it.

What's the trade-off

There's a small detection pass after every measurement that runs in the background. It can add a beat before the chip appears on tricky scenes. Otherwise, no cost.

Recommended for

Everyday film shooting. Especially helpful on slide film (clipped highlights are unrecoverable) and negative film (shadow detail you want to print).

Implementation notes (for developers)
Master switch in MeteringSwitchesTabContent. State in Profile.protectChipsEnabled. Detection runs in the background after every measurement using ZoneAnalysis.clipHigh / clipLow on a 5x5 patch sweep. Off = chips never appear; metering modes always work normally either way.

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