A manual camera can be anything for a bellows-and-lens contraption on a tripod to a 35mm film camera to an Instamatic. Unlike digital cameras, manual cameras require photographers to compose the photo and make all the necessary settings to get the right exposure for a good finished photo. That means you will need to focus the lens, set the shutter speed, configure the aperture setting and advance the film manually. All of this serves beginning photographers as the groundwork for modern cameras and gives all photographers more control over their art.
Basics
Get to know the camera and how it works first. Learn remove and attach the lens so you can make changes in the field quickly. Most manual 35mm single-lens reflex cameras built since the 1960s have a bayonet-mount, which means you lean up dots on the camera and the lens, insert the lens and turn it clockwise or counterclockwise until it locks. Older cameras may have screw-mount lenses which require screwing the lens into the camera. It's also important to be able to change film quickly. In a 35mm camera, open the back door, place the film cartridge in the empty side, thread the film across the shutter curtain and insert it into the take-up reel. In some cameras, there are quick take-up slots that "grab" the film, but in most you need to find the slot, insert the film's end, hold it there and crank the film wind knob until it catches. Wind the film until you're sure it catches, then close the back door and keep winding until the film counter is set to the first exposure.
Film
Once you've got the film loaded, you need to set the film speed. On older cameras, the speed will be in either ASA or DIN. Newer cameras use the ISO standard. ISO is equal to the ASA number. In other words, a slow film of 100 ASA or ISO is good for bright daylight shooting, but won't collect enough light for indoor work without a flash. Film comes in a variety of speeds with the most common in black and white or color being 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1,600. The best compromise for shooting a variety of subjects in a variety of lighting conditions is 400. The film speed is set in the shutter speed dial or another dial. New cameras set it automatically from a bar code on the film cartridge.
Light
Assuming the camera has a built-in light meter, you will not need to guess at exposure or use a hand-held meter. An in-camera meter will be either a "match needle" type in which needle moves up and down according to how much light is coming in through the lens, or it will be a series of lights. The Pentax MX manual camera, for example, uses red, yellow and green lights in place of the needle with green being the correct exposure. Focus the camera using the focusing ring on the lens. Set the shutter speed to a standard. For example, if you are shooting outside on a sunny day, set the speed to the highest number possible, say 1/1000 or 1/500 of a second. Then, while observing the meter through the viewfinder, turn the aperture dial on the lens until the meter indicates a correct exposure. The aperture ring will have a series of f stops with a possible range from about f/2 to f/32. The bigger number indicates less light is coming through the lens. Take the photo and wind the film advance knob for the next frame.
Tags: shutter speed, back door, coming through, coming through lens, correct exposure
