OPERATING THE 35MM SLR CAMERA

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Determine the proper operating procedures for the 35mm SLR camera.

The components of a 35mm SLR camera are of little consequence if you do not know how to use them together. In this section, you will learn how to perform the following functions:

l Loading

l Holding the camera

l Focusing the camera

l Setting the film speed

l Activating the light meter

l Setting the shutter speed

l Setting the aperture control

l Shooting the picture

l Unloading the film

LOADING

You should load the camera in subdued light (not direct sunlight) and use the following method:

1. Place the film in the chamber, grasp the beginning of the film (called the leader) and feed it onto the sprockets of the take-up spool.

2.- Move the film advance lever forward, depress the shutter release button, and again advance the film one frame.

3. Close the back of the camera carefully and depress the shutter release button.

4. Advance the film another frame and watch the rewind knob to make sure it moves.

If the rewind knob does not move, either you loaded the film incorrectly or there is still some slack in the film cassette. The latter situation can be checked by your gently rotating the rewinding knob clockwise without depressing the rewind button on the bottom of the camera (as is usually done when rewinding film).

HOLDING THE CAMERA

Although you may hold the camera in any manner that best suits you, give serious consideration to the method described in the following text. It will give you a steady platform for the camera that will help you reduce camera movement.

Grasp the camera on the right side with your right hand (fig. 11-6). Use the index finger of your right hand

Figure 11-6. - Holding the camera.

to depress the shutter release button and the thumb of your right hand to advance the film. Adjust the shutter speed control with the index finger and thumb of the right hand.

Use the index finger and thumb of your left hand to adjust the aperture and focus. For horizontal shots, place both of your elbows against your body for support. When you take vertical format shots, your left elbow should be placed against the body for support. Cradle telephoto lenses in your left hand.

FOCUSING THE CAMERA

A camera is focused by moving the lens closer or farther from the film (focal) plane. The two basic methods of focusing are scale focusing and SLR focusing. Both types of focusing are covered in the following text.

Scale Focusing

In scale focusing, you use a scale of distances to which the lens is set. This scale maybe inscribed on the lens barrel or on the camera frame (fig. 11-7), depending on the camera design.

Scale focusing is used primarily with small aperture lenses that have sufficient depth of field to overcome small camera-to-subject distance estimate or measurement errors. To use the focusing scale, you must estimate in most cases, the camera-to-subject distance.

Figure 11-7. - Focusing scale on a camera lens.

Figure 11-8. - Split image focusing in a SLR camera.

This estimated distance is then set to the focus index mark on the lens or other focus index on the camera. The most accurate way to use focusing scales, of course, is to measure the camera-to-subject distance with a tape measure.

SLR Focusing

The SLR camera has a focusing and viewing system that shows you the image formed by the taking lens. It is designed so the distance between the focusing screen and lens is exactly the same as that between the lens and the film. Therefore, whatever appears in focus on the focusing screen also will be recorded in focus on the film.

Sometimes two small prisms or a split screen is included in the central area of a SLR camera viewing screen. When the image is out of focus, it appears split in this area. Some screens have a central grid of minute prisms that produce a shimmering effect when the image is out of focus (fig. 11-8).

You focus a SLR camera by rotating the focusing ring on the lens until the image seen on the viewing screen is in sharp focus.