How Does a Manual Camera Work?
The Manual Camera: The Basics
The basic manual camera functions by refracting light through a lens where it refocuses the image on a flat surface, usually a piece of film or, originally, glass. The film contains light-sensitive emulsion that reacts to the light pattern and creates a negative of the image. Chemicals then wash away parts of the emulsion and stabilize it for daylight viewing. Project light through the film onto a photo-sensitive paper. This is immersed in chemicals and turns into a positive image, creating a photo.
No Frills
Manual cameras were the norm for many years. They are simple mechanical devices without electronics, built-in light meters or exposure control. They great thing about them is that they don't stop working without batteries or in cold conditions. They have either leaf shutters in the lens, such as Zeiss lenses for the Hasselblad,or focal-plane shutters, which are curtains or blades just in front of the film. This is the standard for most 35mm cameras. The in-lens shutter tends to have speeds of between 1 second and 1/500th of a second and sync with flash units at every speed. The focal-plane shutter can run from 1 second to 1/5000th of a second, the latter of which can stop the wings on a hummingbird.
More Skills
Manual cameras require more knowledge on the part of the photographer. The photographer must know set the aperture, which determines how much light reaches the film, and the shutter speed, which determines how much motion you can stop, based on either experience, charts or an external light meter. A manual camera really can teach a person be a photographer.
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