In this lesson, I'll describe all the basic parts of your average black and white film camera, and other photography jargon you'll need to know to understand future lessons.
Links Make The Internet Go 'Round
- My Art
- This is where you can look at my personal art, which I sometimes use as examples in my explanations. You can also buy photos there, and support even more great content.
- Student Photography Home
- From here, you can return to the directory lense, and discover more lenses to read and explore.
Jargon
Blah blah blah....
Here are a list of common photography terms that might be advantageous to familiarize yourself with.
- F-Stop: Controls the ammount of light let into the camera. You can set your F-stop on your F-stop wheel, and remember, the larger the F-stop the LESS light you get in, and visa versa. What the F-stop actually is is how open the shutter is when it snaps the picture. F-stops go in a semi-pattern, and the most common are: 2.8 (biggest), 3.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, and 22 (smallest).
- Depth of Field: The depth of field is how close an object(s) is to the camera. If an object is closer, the depth of field is less, but if it's farther away, then there is more depth of field. Things with a smaller depth of field are more prominent in the picture, and are considered to be in the "foreground" while things with more depth of field are "background."
Parts of the Camera
The F-stop wheel is connected to the; camera lens! And the...
Here are the different parts of the camera you will need to know, a video will be posted here later. Use that to understand the lesson, and use the below list as a reference.
- Camera Casing: The casing is all around your camera, its that plastic body. It protects the camera's iner workings, and also helps keep light away from the film. If your casing is broken, light could be seeping into your camera, and exposing your film!
- Lens: Obviously, located on the front of the camera. The lens lets the light into the camera, and then onto the film.
- Shutter button: Generally located on the top right of the camera, it's the button that opens the shutter, and lets you expose your film to get your picture.
- Shutter: You can find it tucked behind the lense, and it controls the ammount and duration that the light enters the camera. If your shutter gets stuck, ask your teacher, its usually a quick fix, but it could be a serious problem.
- F-stop Wheel: It's the spinning wheel you can find located on the part of the camera where the lense sticks out. You can spin it, and line it up with a little diamond or dot on the wheel in front of it, to find out what f-stop you are on.
- Flash Shoe: The flash shoe is on top of the camera, and has two little grooves in it for you to slide a flash box into. Without a flash box, your camera has no flash!
- Shutter Speed Dial: This little dial can be found in different places, depending on your camera model and type. You can determine which dial it is by the numbers on it, it should have the numbers of the shutter speeds, explained above. If you set it to an "infinity" sign, the shutter speed is as long as you hold down the shutter button.
- Frame Advance Box: It's found Displays the number of pictures you have taken, try to keep in mind how long your role is, then you can judge how many pictures you have left. Nothing is worse than framing the perfect shot and then realizing you ran out of film.
- Rewind Button: It's hiding under the bottom of the camera, and when you press and hold it, it loosens the film for you to rewind into the film cylinder.
- Rewind Lever: Usually found on the right side of the camera on the top, it is used to rewind the film once it has been loosened by the rewind button. You flip it up, then turn the lever the direction that is hardest to turn, and stop once it becomes really really easy. If you hear a ripping sound when you do it, chances are your film is getting ripped apart!
- View Finder: You can see it near the middle of the camera on it's back. It lets you see what you're taking a picture of.
- Lightmeter: Little meter you can see when you look through the view finder. It shows how much light is going into the camera. If it's up high, too much light; way down, too little. I like to keep it slightly below the middle, thats just a personal preference.
- Tripod Mount: You can see it on the camera's underside, and it looks like a little screw-hole, because it is one. Most tripods are the same size, so any camera can hold any tripod, without worry.
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Amazon has what you Need
If you want to explore photography more, check out these great books from your friend and mine, Amazon.
Camera Maintenance & Repair, Book 1: Fundamental Techniques: A Comprehensive, Fully Illustrated Guide (Camera Maintenance & Repair)
Amazon Price: $30.36 (as of 10/10/2008)
Leica Camera Repair Handbook
Amazon Price: $30.36 (as of 10/10/2008)
Nikon Camera Repair Handbook
Amazon Price: $30.36 (as of 10/10/2008)
