Film Cameras for Beginners

You can never turn the clock back, no matter how much you wish to, how you long to go back to your childhood days, your wedding day, your child's first step, graduation day, etc. But still, sometimes, when the craving for going back to those days becomes intolerable, we can have a peek into them thanks to the camera. Camera, really is a boon in disguise. Without it, all our precious memories would have been lost forever. Even though this is the age of digital cameras and video cameras, some people still use the 35mm film camera, as they believe that they capture a picture better than the digital cameras. Sadly, some people, used to handling the digital cameras, do not know how to handle a film camera and what are the various film camera techniques. For them, here are some tips to use film cameras for beginners.

Tips to use a Film Camera

Step 1
First thing to do is to know the basic controls of your camera. Here's a list of some basic controls, that will help you navigate with ease.

Shutter Speed Dial	Sets the shutter speed, or the time for which the film is exposed. In the new film cameras, the shutter speed is written as 1/500, 1/250, etc. The shutter controls the length of the time the light takes to strike the film. There are mainly two types of shutters; the leaf shutter, which is located just behind the lens elements, and the focal plane shutter, which is located in front of the film plane.
Aperture Ring	A small opening, present near the front of the lens. Dilates and contracts to control the amount of light which passes through. Aperture is controlled by the aperture ring. This ring is marked in the standard increment and nearly all lens have the settings marked - f/8, f/11. This ring is usually present on the lens, but not always. The larger your aperture, more light will be let into the film, hence, that would mean less depth in the field, or, in other words, a small part of your scene will be in focus. On the other hand, if your aperture size is small, then less light will enter the film, due to which the depth of the field will be more, i.e. more of your scene will be in focus.
Lens	Light falls on the lens, which helps it to focus on the film plane.
Viewfinder	It is the small window like structure, through which you look at the subject that is to be captured.
Mode Dial	Sets the various automatic exposure mode. Different cameras however call it by different names.
Focusing Ring	It focuses the lens to the distance to your subject. The distance maybe marked in both feet or meters, and sometimes it may also be marked as infinity.
Rewind Release	While shooting, the film is locked, i.e. it can only move forward, but not back into the canister. The rewind release button only unlocks the safety mechanism. It allows you to rewind your film. It is usually a small button located at the base of the camera body.
Rewind Crank	It winds your film back to the canister, located usually on the left hand side of the camera. Some cameras do not have this mechanism as they do it automatically, or has a separate switch.

The table above, will make it easier to identify the various basic parts of the film camera for beginners.

Step 2
Change the batteries of your camera, if you have one. Batteries of film camera, comes very cheap. The film cameras usually use disposable batteries.

Step 3
Check beforehand whether or not the film is there in the camera. If the camera is already loaded and you, unknowingly pop open the back, you ruin a part of the film. Try winding the camera on. Push the shutter button first, if it refuses to open. If there is rewind crank, you will be able to see it turning. This will show whether the camera is already loaded or not.

Step 4
The next tip is - be careful while loading your camera. Load it indoors and not under the direct sunlight. You can come across two kinds of cameras while loading the film. Rear-loading cameras are easy to load. They have hinged back, which opens to expose the film chamber. Just put in the film canister into the chamber and pull out the film leader. Sometimes, in certain cameras, you may need to slide the film leader into a slot, present in the take-up spool; while in other cameras, you just need to pull out the leader, till the tip of it lines up with a colored mark in your camera. Now close the back of the camera. If the facility is there in your camera, then automatically it will wind on to the first frame. Otherwise, you have to take two three shots of nothing in particular, and wind your camera on. If your frame counter reads above '0', then keep winding it until the frame counter reaches '0'. Some of the older cameras might even count down, hence you will have to set the frame counter manually to the number of exposure that your film has. Make sure that your film is loaded properly. Bottom-loading cameras are not that common, and it's difficult to load these cameras. You have to cut your film physically, so that you get a longer and thinner film leader.

Step 5
Set the film speed. Some cameras might consistently over or under-expose by just a certain amount. To determine this experimentally, shoot slide film.

Capture a Subject

Now comes the major part of learning how to shoot or capture a picture with your film camera. Here are some tips to use film camera for shooting.

Step 1
Your camera will be the auto-focus cameras, as they have been a common thing since the mid 1980s. They are easy to use. If your camera does not have a focusing ring or a manual or auto focus on either side of the lens, then you have an auto-focus camera. Just press the shutter half way, gently to focus on your subject. When you get the focus, which you get to know by the beeping sound, then take the shot. On the other hand, if you are unfortunate enough to have a camera with a manual-focus single lens reflex cameras, then keep turning the focusing ring until the image in the view finder is sharp.

Step 2
Next, you set your exposure. the fully automatic exposure cameras are the easiest to handle. If your camera has no shutter speed and aperture, then your camera is the fully automatic exposure camera. Some cameras will also have the aperture-priority automatic exposure, which allows you to set an aperture and then choose a shutter speed for you. Set the aperture according to the light you need for the depth of the field, and leave the rest to the camera. There are cameras with shutter-priority automatic exposure, which allows you to choose the shutter speed and then it sets the aperture automatically. For the fully manual cameras, you need to set the shutter speed and even the aperture speed yourself.

Step 3
Keep taking pictures till your roll or film is over. You get to know that when either the camera refuses to wind on or when winding the film becomes difficult. Once your roll is over, you take it out by pressing your release button and then turn the rewind crank in the directions indicated on your camera. When you are reaching the end of your film, the crank gets stiffer and then it becomes very easier to turn it. When you reach this situation, you stop winding and then open the back of your camera and take out the film.

Step 4
Give your film for developing in a good photography shop. Then reload your camera again and capture more memories. If you want, then you can even buy some beginners photography guides, which will help to learn more about handling a film camera.

List of Cameras

• Nikon d90
• Nikon d30
• Canon EOS Rebel
• Canon K2 Date

Using these cameras is easy, even for a beginner.

These tips are sure to help you when next time you are in a dilemma, as to how to use a film camera and how to click good pictures with it. For more help regarding your photography skills, there are some great photography books offering help to the beginners like you. Go through them and learn more. So, take out that camera and click some good pictures now, for your future generation to see. [Click]