Can anyone tell me how use a manual exposure film camera?

my exposure is coming out very poor

Thanks for all the awesome answers! I thank you all for your time. I have an inexpensive Vivitar F3800N and I found out my mistake from a teacher. I was looking at the aperture ring when I was moving it instead of looking through the viewfinder. That made all the difference in getting the right exposure. Thanks again for all the help.

A lot of it depends on your film and camera's light meter.

Most manual cameras have a dial that must be set to your film's speed (light sensitivity). This is the 400, 800, 1600, etc on the film box.

Also, the light meter is controlled by your shutter speed and aperture (F-Stop). This article (http://photography.about.com/od/cameraba... will show you how to read your light meter. If your camera does not have a built-in light meter you will need to purchase a hand held model or use an exposure table.

Well, you're either going to have to memorize an EV index chart, or learn to use the cameras light meter. I know, real simple right? Well yeah, it is that simple. There are three things that control exposure, those being aperture, shutter speed, and film speed (or ISO) on a manual exposure film camera. Learn the relation of those and you will know what exposure to use. I can't help you because I don't know, A) what kind of camrea you have, B) whether it even has a light meter, C) what kind of light your dealing with, or D) what speed film you're using. Perhaps learning to word your questions better will yield better answers, you think?

What I can give you is a link to a wiki page that has an EV table you can reference. I recommend reading the page, finding a user's manual for your camera, learning how to use your camera, printing the EV table, laminating it, and keeping it in your camera bag. Problem solved. But you do need to put in the work, my friend.

Make sure your camera is set for the correct speed of film you are using...if you are using slide film you must get your exposure right as there is less room for error as there is with print film.
Most fixed Instamatics were set at around 1/60th @ f11 or the equivalent for 100 asa/iso colour print film so use that as a starting point to check you exposure before you take the picture.
If your camera has a meter remember that it is trying to average out a reading to give mid-grey....so a predominantly black image would be over-exposed and a predominantly white image would be under-exposed. You have to allow for that sometimes by increasing or decreasing the exposure by about 1.5 - 2 stops.
If you are metering from a hand held meter or using a film scale don't forget to factor in an allowance for light loss if you are using filters.
Filter factor 2 = allow 1 stop
Filter factor 4 = allow 2 stops
Filter factor 8 = allow 3 stops....etc
Good luck

If you would simply READ & STUDY the Owner's Manual for your camera you could answer this yourself.

After you set the ISO (formerly known as ASA) just point your camera at your subject and adjust either the aperture or shutter speed until A) the pointer at the right of your viewfinder is trapped in the little circle; B) the pointer is centered in a bracket ]; C) you see a green diode light up.

Its much easier to simply set your shutter speed and make adjustments with your aperture. Using this method assures you of a shutter speed you can easily hand-hold with the lens you are using. Just remember the old rule that your slowest shutter speed should be the reciprocal of the focal length you are using. If using a 50mm lens then your slowest hand-held shutter speed would be 1/60 sec.; with a 300mm lens it would be 1/250 sec.

With a through the lens meter you don't need to worry about "filter factors". The meter takes care of them since its reading the light entering the lens. Your only concern will be for the shutter speed, as noted above.

buy a sekonic light meter
model 398

check ebay. it will tell you the right exposures, and then you will just start to "get it" on your own, knowing the lighting you are in. i love my light meter.