In a message dated 6/9/2003 8:45:30 AM Eastern Standard Time,
fgnzalez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> It is useful to know that in Manual mode the OM2(n) reads
> center weighted, but in Auto reads average.
I'm not so sure this is true. I distinctly remember reading somewhere (Shipman,
maybe? - I'll have to check my copy when I get home) that when the switch was
made, on the original OM-2, from the center weighted curtain to the averaging
curtain, that there was still center weighting applied which approximated the
center weighting applied by the CdS metering system in the finder. I'm guessing
this would have been accomplished through a change in the photocell or related
optics, or perhaps just their mechanical positioning. The original curtain
pattern resulted in a center weighting that would vary depending on shutter
speed - the longer the exposure the more of the reading that is done off the
film as opposed to the shutter curtain.
I also recall that in the '70s a major Olympus customer (Associated Press or
National Geographic, probably) placed a special order for OM-2s with the old
curtain but the new metering pattern, which resulted in "super-center-weighted"
metering, at least at the faster shutter speeds. I wonder how many of these
cameras still exist, and if there is a way to identify them (high serial
numbers with the old curtain pattern, maybe?)
Paul Schings
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