Bricks and Beams

Note: This article assumes a film-based photography class.  If you are taking a digital photography class, much of this does not apply.

You want a Non-Automatic Camera?

Your instructor for your photography class has indicated that you need a "Non-Automatic Camera" to use for the class.  What does this mean and what should you get?

"Non-Automatic" is not a common term in the photography world, it could mean many things.  This article attempts to explain some of the options so you can make a proper choice.

Taking a picture is about capturing light.  Capturing light is what cameras do.  To do this, they have adjustable aperture and shutter speeds (and ISO speed, but that doesn't come into play here).

Sometimes the camera controls the adjustments, sometimes the photographer controls them.  There are 3 different ways this is
usually handled:

1.      The photographer controls everything
2.      The photographer controls some things and the camera controls the others
3.      The camera controls everything

#1 is known as Manual Control.  If you're taking a photography class that's anything beyond "How to use your point & shoot" you should be required to have Manual Control.  With Manual Control, you set both the aperture and the shutter speed.

#2 is known as Automatic Control.  You pick one setting, the camera Automatically picks the other setting.  This is handy once you
understand what the settings do.  There are two basic Automatic Control methods, Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority.  With Aperture Priority the photographer sets the aperture and the camera
picks the shutter speed.  With Shutter Priority the photographer sets the shutter speed and the camera picks the aperture.

#3 is generally known as Program Mode or Program Control.  Most point & shoot cameras use this.  It can be handy, but you have to understand what the camera is going to do in order to take advantage of it best.

With Program Control, the camera picks both the Aperture and the Shutter Speed.

Different cameras have different Modes that include these control methods.  Some cameras have multiple modes, some only have one.

A good example of a Manual-Only (type 1) camera is the Pentax K1000.  Introduced in 1976, it has long been a favorite of photography students.  It is built like a tank and can survive dropping and abuse.  It has a wide variety of inexpensive high-quality lenses available.  And its manual-only control forces the student to consider the settings and learn what they do.  If you're taking a photography course, a K1000 is a great camera.  And when you move beyond it, you can probably resell it for about what you paid for it.

There are some Automatic-only (type 2) cameras out there.  One very common automatic-only is the Pentax ME.  For a photography class you don't want an Automatic-only camera.

Program-only (type 3) cameras are somewhat less common.  Program-only cameras are useless for learning photography.

Much more common than any single-mode or single-type are cameras capable of multiple modes.  Cameras are available with every combination of Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program, and Manual Controls.

So what is a "Non-Automatic" camera?  Well, that depends on your instructor.  It may be that you are required to have a manual-only (type 1) camera.  Or your instructor may allow you to use a camera with a combination of modes, one of which is full manual (type 1) control.  Regardless of definition, if you want to get the most out of your photography class you will need full control of your camera.

How to visually tell if a camera has full manual control:

Here is a full manual control camera that also has a program option:

You can see that it has an aperture adjustment to manually control the aperture as well as a green 'A' for automatic or program aperture control

Also it has a dial on the top to control the exposure time.  It also has a green 'Program' setting for automatic shutter setting.  If you don't see a dial like this on the camera you are looking at, it probably isn't a full manual control camera.  They usually have settings that range from "B" to 1000.

This Sears KS Super camera is Aperture Priority.

It has settings to control the aperture but not the shutter speed.  There is a dial to set the film speed but where the shutter speed dial would usually be there is one with only 4 settings, and one of those is LOCK.