Manual Camera
How Single Lens Reflex Cameras Work
If you’ve ever used a basic camera before, you know that all you really need to do is aim the camera, push the button and you’ve got your picture. But have you ever thought how that all happens? Unfortunately, many people never stop to understand the intricate way in which a camera actually works – knowing why and how your camera does what it does can make your photos stronger and increase your ability to adapt to changing situations. So, here is an overview of the basics of a camera and what goes on inside of it.
The Inner Workings of the Camera
The basics of camera technology hasn’t changed too much in the last 50 years – they’re all lightproof boxes that control the amount and timing of a piece of film’s exposure to light. Manual cameras these days are called “single lens reflex” or SLR for short. This simply means that they have one primary lens and some sort of mirror system that gets the actual lens image to our eye. Similar to the way in which our eyes work, a camera lens actually sees things upside down – this image is then reflected by a mirror on the front of the shutter into a prism that fires the image back to our eyes right-side-up.
The benefit of looking directly through the lens to see how your image will look (versus looking at a respresentation of what it would be) is a huge advantage because you’ll know exactly how your image will turn out. Behind the camera’s shutter there is a frame of film (or light sensitive cells) waiting to be exposed. Once you push the button to take the picture, the shutter lifts for a fraction of a second and the image hits the film (or cells) rather than hitting the mirror. It’s worth noting that new digital SLRs actually work in the exact same way, except instead of film being exposed it’s an array of light sensitive cells.
Operating Your Camera
Naturally, one size does not fit all in terms of how long the shutter stays open. If you leave the shutter open for too long it will over-expose the image or if you don’t open it long enough the image will be under exposed. That’s why cameras either calculate the appropriate speed automatically or let you adjust the shutter speed manually.
You can also adjust the amount of light that makes it through to the film by changing your camera’s aperture settings. Around the lens of an SLR camera, you’ll find a ring with a bunch of f stop numbers listed. These f stop numbers represent the size of the aperture opening. A high number denotes a small opening and very little light, whereas a low number means the aperture is wide-open and will allow more light to hit the film.
Getting all of these components working together to produce a quality picture can be more tricky as you expand your photographic skill. Luckily most modern cameras do this math for us, but adjusting the f-stop and shutter speeds manually to make the best possible issue is the hallmark of a great photographer. By learning how your camera functions, it gives you more insight into how you can better adjust your camera so you can ultimately get better pictures.
It’s always good to experiment with the individual settings on your camera and go through a roll of film or a memory card to get comfortable using your camera. Take a lot of pictures using different shutter speeds and then try adjusting only the f stop to see what kind of results you get. As you get more comfortable with how your camera works, you’ll be able to create better pictures by being able to adjust your camera to get exactly what you want.
About the Author
Autumn Lockwood is a writer for Your Picture Frames. Your Picture Frames offers a big selection of photo frames in unique sizes like our oval picture frames and antique square picture frames. Shop online and see our selection of antique oval picture frames or call 1-800-780-0699.
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