Metering on OM-10

This may be a very basic question. How does metering work in an

Olympus OM10? I need to know what kind of metering it does(center-

weighted, average, spot, multi-spot etc) and how to actually meter

on the camera? I've read that in some cameras, the meter reading is

taken when the shutter release is depressed half-way.

If it helps, I have a Manual Adapter fitted on the camera.

Please let me know...

Thanks,

Rahul

It's centre weighted averaging. It's old, but the advantage is that it's predictable. You know when it will let you down, and can compensate accordingly. The camera meters continuously whatever it's pointed at. You set the aperture, and the camera picks the appropriate shutter speed. This is shown is whole stops, but the actual shutter speed is variable.

The viewfinder readout comes from a sensor at the focussing screen, but once the shutter is activated the actual exposure is controlled off the film by a sensor under the mirror. It's a very accurate system, but actual shutter speed may differ slightly from the viewfinder display. For manual exposures you are relying on the viewfinder meter and setting the shutter speed and aperture accordingly.

Modern systems try to pre-analyse the scene and do the compensating for you in auto mode. They will get it right more often than centreweighted averaging, but you lose the ability to know where and when. No camera actually knows what it is pointing at, so you may still need to compensate for light or dark clothing, high contrast etc etc whatever the metering system, so a predicatable one is actually better in my opinion. You may have a higher failure rate to begin with, but will get much closer to 100% success once you've mastered it. If you want 100%, buy a good incident meter and learn how to use it.