> This topic has been hinted at, yet it seems like nobody wants to jump into
> the void. So I'll broach the subject. How do you get the most out of the
> sophisticated metering controls on your OM4, OM4ti etc. ???
Actually, the topic makes the rounds, but it hasn't come up in a while.
I'm a bad boy, so don't listen to me because I think the OM-4 spotmeter may
be overkill and is probably overused. I bought an OM-4T for one reason:
memory of a spot reading (or two or three) that can be used to control an
auto exposure lasting for multiple seconds. It is wonderful for this kind
of thing and well worth having for those admittedly rare situations when it
is needed. I used this feature extensively in the Antelope Canyon slots
last spring (although I got more keepers with my OM-2S -- but that probably
had more to do with the type of film I was using). Otherwise the OM-4 is
just slightly more useful than the spot on a OM-2S because it does the
averaging of spots for you. It is also dangerous in this regard to the
degree that it relieves your mind of thinking about what it is averaging and
how. "Smart" cameras rarely make photographers smart. [Duck flying objects]
I've done numerous comparisons between using multiple spot averaged readings
against the straight auto reading. The difference is almost always within a
1/2 - 1/3 of a stop under normal circumstances, usually less than would be
covered by the 2/3 stop brackets I routinely shoot with slide film anyway.
(And why anyone would need multispot averaged readings normally to shoot
print film is beyond me; I only shoot slide film in the OM-4T.) The only
example I've seen Olympus officially put forth to illustrate the usefulness
of multispot is a girl in a backlit situation. (There may be others; I'm
poorly read in Olympus official writings.) The manual recommends two spots
on different parts of the subject and one on the background. I'm sure this
works well, but it hardly represents a breakthrough. OM-4 partisans
sometimes lead you to believe that multispot averaging *forces* the scene
into the film's exposure latitude. I do think multispot averaging is
useful, but in the exceptional situation, not the normal one. I suppose one
way of looking at it is that if you do use it all the time, you'll get good
exposures because it will give you results which are nearly identical to the
center-weighted auto reading. It's just easier to use the auto reading in
the first place.
The bad thing about never consulting the auto reading is that you may not
actively process when the circumstances really warrant using multispot
averaging and when they don't. The ease with which one can make such
comparisons is an exceptional quality of the OM-2S interface IMHO.
In any case, that's my rant. I'm expecting this will be viewed as heresy,
but I hope I'll maybe learn something from the thread. I'm not itching to
get rid of my OM-4T BTW. It's a great, rugged camera, which I believe I use
reasonably intelligently from what I've learned in using both the OM-1 and
OM-2S.
Joel Wilcox
Iowa City, Iowa USA
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|