Nikon  FM-­‐10  Parts  of  the  Camera  

and  Procedures  for  Camera  Use  

“Nikon”  is  a  brand  name,  and  “FM-­‐10”  is  a  model  designa@on.    Most  of  our  school  cameras,  available  for  student  borrowing  and  use,  are  Nikon  FM-­‐10s.    Therefore,  it  is  important  to  learn  how  this  par@cular  camera  works.    But  the  Nikon  FM-­‐10  is  just  one  example  of  a  type  of  camera  that  was  very  widely  used  for  decades:  the  35mm  SLR  camera  with  manual  controls.    This  designa@on  means:  

-­‐ The  camera  uses  film  of  a  par@cular  size  (35mm  tall).    This  size  is  small  enough  to  allow  for  fairly  economical  shoo@ng  and  large  enough  to  provide  good  image  quality  when  making  enlargements  up  to  reasonable  sizes  such  as  8  x  10  or  11  x  14.  

-­‐ The  camera  uses  a  viewing  system  called  “single  lens  reflex”  (SLR)  that  reflects  the  image  from  the  lens  into  the  viewfinder  by  means  of  a  mirror  (hence  “reflex”).    This  means  that,  when  you  look  through  the  viewfinder,  you  are  looking  through  the  lens.  

-­‐ The  camera  allows  the  user  to  set  the  shuXer  speed  and  the  aperture  manually.    Being  able  to  do  so  gives  you  control  over  two  important  controls  that  affect  how  your  camera  will  interpret  and  represent  what  it  photographs.      

There  are  dozens  of  other  models  and  many  other  brands  of  this  general  type  of  camera.    Some  have  very  similar  layouts  of  the  various  camera  parts.    Others  are  a  bit  more  different,  but  are  s@ll  comparable  in  terms  of  the  func@ons  of  the  parts.    Gaining  a  good  working  knowledge  of  the  Nikon  FM-­‐10  should  allow  you  to  learn  how  to  use  virtually  any  other  35  mm  SLR  with  manual  controls.  

Basics of Camera Operation

- Make sure film is advancing through the camera by noting whether the rewind knob turns (counterclockwise) as you pull the film advance lever. If the knob does turn, film is advancing.

- Double check that the film speed remains set at the proper ISO number. If you don’t know the ISO designation of the film you are using, ask. Generally, we will be using film with an ISO 400 rating. When you change the shutter speed, make sure to press down slightly on the shutter speed dial. This is to avoid accidentally lifting up the outer ring of this dial, which would actually change the film speed setting. NOTE THAT SHUTTER SPEED AND FILM SPEED ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS!

- Avoid using shutter speeds slower than 1/60th of a second. Slow shutter speeds often lead to blur from camera motion.

- Hold the camera steady and squeeze the shutter release button smoothly when making an exposure.

- Use the depth of field preview lever if you need to check how much depth of field your shot will have.

- Always focus carefully.

- Check the light meter setting for every single shot you take to make sure you are making a good exposure. There are two ways to turn on the light meter:

- depress the shutter button halfway while having the film advance lever slightly away from the camera body - press the light meter button on the camera body near the lens mount

-To see the light meter reading, look through the viewfinder. On the left side of the viewfinder, when the meter is on, you will see one of the following:

-a red plus, indicating overexposure (meaning too much light will hit the film) -a red minus, indicating underexposure (meaning too little light will hit the film) -a green dot, indicating proper exposure (meaning the amount of light that will hit the film will produce a good negative with detail in shadows and highlights)

Naturally, you’ll want to set the shutter speed and aperture such that you get a green dot (proper exposure) for each shot. Note that you may get an in-between reading: a green dot along with a red plus, or a green dot along with a red minus. Such readings mean your exposure will be close to normal. If possible, make slight adjustments to the aperture to fix the reading. (Do NOT try to set the shutter speed to in-between settings. Cameras do not allow for this.) If you still have a “mixed” reading, with a green dot along with a red plus or minus, don’t worry: exposures made with such “almost-right” readings will create very usable negatives, and you can go ahead and take the picture.

Loading, Photographing, & Rewinding Film

1.  Loading the film:

-Lift up the rewind knob by the whole knob (not by the delicate little rewind lever)) to open the back of the camera.

-Place the film cassette in the film cassette compartment, with the protruding end of the film cassette (the end where the spool is sticking out) facing down, and with the felt light trap of the cassette facing left: see photos with this demonstration).

-Push to rewind knob back down. It may be necessary to jiggle and turn the knob slightly as you push in order to accomplish this. (Basically, you’ve got to get the end of the metal rod attached to this rewind knob oriented properly so that it will engage with the inner part of the cassette, the spool-end.)

-Pull sufficient film out of the cassette and insert the “leader” of the film (the end that has a cutaway: see photo) into one of the slits in the take up spool. Pull the film advance lever to advance the film one frame. If you cannot pull the lever, depress the shutter release button and try again. After pulling, depress the shutter release button again and pull the film advance lever one more time: you are advancing the film two frames, which is basically to the point where the film has wrapped one complete turn around the take-up spool.

-Close the back of the camera. At this point, you can be relatively confident that your film is loading on to the take up spool: that was the reason you advanced the film twice while the camera back was still open.

2. Advancing the film to the first frame.

-Flip up the film rewind lever and use the lever to turn the rewind knob clockwise. Do this gently! Keep turning until you feel a bit of tension in the leverl/knob. What’s happening is that you are taking up any slack that may exist inside the cassette, where the film may have been wound loosely.

-When you feel some tension, stop turning!

-Begin to advance the film, but make sure that, while you are pulling the film advance lever, you also look to make sure that the rewind knob is now turning counterclockwise. It should turn in this direction as film is pulled out of the cassette. If that knob is not turning, stop advancing the film. The lack of turning

indicates that your film is not advancing properly. Likely cause: The film has come out of the take-up spool (despite your best efforts at loading!). Next step if this happens: Open the back of the camera and reinsert the film into the take-up spool even more carefully. Repeat all the earlier steps.

-Note that if you don’t see the rewind knob turning counterclockwise while you are advancing the film (by pulling the film advance lever), the film is NOT moving through your camera and you are NOT really taking photographs!

-If/when the rewind knob is turning as it should, and you are rightly confident that the film is truly advancing, check (between pulls of the advance lever) the frame counter. Advance the film to #1 on the frame counter before making your first real exposure. Any exposure you make prior to that point may be on the black (exposed) end of the film, which means . . . no usable picture!

3. Check that the ISO (film sensitivity rating) is set properly. Usually, I will be giving you film that is rated at ISO 400, so you will usually want to set this number (400) in the “film speed” window (see labeled photos on the earlier sheets, especially the one with the top view). There can be exceptions, but unless you know of a good reason to set the number differently, a reason we have discussed, use 400.

4. Think ahead: How many frames can I shoot?

-Make sure you know, before you begin, how many useable frames of film are in your cassette. Refer to the frame counter often enough to make sure that you don’t take more shots than the film will hold. Here’s an example of potential trouble: Let’s say you have a cassette with fifteen useable frames. You may be able to keep advancing the film to about 17 or 18 on the frame counter, but it’s likely that this end part of the film will have been exposed to light (in the process of loading the film into your cassette: an unavoidable part of bulk-loading film). This means your final two or three frames past #15 would not actually “turn out”: no pictures!

5. Take your pictures/make your photographs. See the checklist on the next page/slide.

6. Rewind your film and remove your cassette of film from the camera.

-Press the rewind button (small, black, located on the bottom of the camera).

-Flip out the rewind lever and use it to turn the rewind knob CLOCKWISE. Continue to turn the knob until you feel the resistance suddenly lessen. Go a few more turns. Open the camera back, lift up the rewind knob (by the whole knob!) and carefully take out your film.

Checklist for making exposures/taking photographs

Before making each exposure, be sure to:

-Check the light meter reading and adjust the shutter speed and f-stop settings so as to get the green light that indicates “good exposure”

-Check your shutter speed to see that it is not too slow: remember that speeds slower than 1/60th of a second can often produce blur from camera motion. If you are within several feet of your subject, even this shutter speed may not be safe: relative motion between your camera (and film) and your subject increases greatly as you get closer to your subject. Also think about whether you need a faster or slower shutter speed to create certain visual effects, such as a freezing of action or the allowing of a fast-moving object to blur to some degree.

-Check your f-stop (aka aperture) to make sure that it is appropriate in terms of the amount of depth of field you’ll get. If you want maximum depth of field, use the smallest actual aperture (represented by the highest f-stop number!). You can check the depth of field you’ll get in any given situation by setting the f-stop and then looking through the viewfinder while depressing the depth of field preview lever (see labeled photographs on earlier pages/slides). If nothing in your field of view is at all close to you (let’s say, within fifteen feet or so), depth of field is not likely to be an issue.

-Remember that there are three (interrelated) issues to consider when setting the shutter speed and f-stop:

1. What shutter speed do I want for a certain visual effect? 2. What f-stop do I want for a certain visual effect? 3. Does my combination of shutter speed and f-stop, given the brightness of the scene I’m photographing and the light sensitivity of the film I’m using, allow for a good exposure? (That is, can I get the green dot?)

One must often compromise, and use a shutter speed and/or an f-stop that is not quite the one you might have wanted to use. Less that optimal settings can be better than settings that are simply “wrong.” For example, a photograph with slightly less depth of field than what you hoped for, but properly exposed, can be preferable to a photograph that is so underexposed that you cannot even make a print from it! Keep in mind, too, that there are some situations, for example with poor lighting, where you simply cannot make good exposures unless you have additional equipment, such as a tripod and or auxiliary lighting.

-Decide on the focal length you wish to use. Our cameras are equipped with zoom lens. Be aware that the camera will record and describe space differently when you set this zoom to different focal lengths. “Zooming in” will magnify objects, working somewhat like a (very weak!) telescope). “Zooming out” (using a shorter focal length) will reduce the size of objects, seemingly pushing you back and away from the scene. But each of these actions will also have somewhat more subtle effects. Longer focal lengths tend to compress our sense of space, for example. Remember that you can often change your own position, and that the

best choice sometimes involves both altering where you are standing and making a specific choice about the focal length to use. Take nothing for granted.

-Focus each shot carefully. Which elements in the scene should be sharpest? The choice of where to focus is always obvious automatic: it may require some consideration. As you get closer to correct focus, you should make very tiny back and forth adjustments of the focusing ring. Be patient and exacting!

-Compose each photograph thoughtfully. Place the viewfinder right up to one of your eyes, so you see the entire composition. Scan the viewfinder thoroughly, paying attention not only to what objects you’ve included, but to what sort of composition and design you’ve created by this framing of the subject/scene.

-Cradle the camera in the palm of your left hand so that you can use your left index finger and thumb in combination to readily turn: the f-stop ring, the zoom ring, and/or the focusing ring. Remember, too, that you can hold the camera vertically as well as horizontally (and you can tilt it in other directions as well!).

-Be steady and calm as you squeeze the shutter release button. Don’t bounce back off the button; instead, hold the shutter release button down for a moment past the instant when you hear the shutter open and close.

-The only time when you may not need to re-check your meter and your f-stop and shutter speed settings is when you are taking two or more shots in a row such that you are aiming your camera at virtually the same subject with same lighting. Don’t be overconfident in thinking that you are in that situation when, in fact, you will usually not be!