Olympus OM-1 meter

[rafikrkamel]

Hello there everyone, i have posted a question before regarding the

right battery to be used for the OM-1 light meter, and the reply that

i got was either zin air hearing cells size 675 or CRIS adapter. now

i discovered another problem with my light meter that i want your

feedback on it. when i put the 625 akaline bettery (1.55V) in the

compartment and i turn the meter to on i have to hit the camera so

that the needle starts moving!!!!!!!!! pretty weird huh? not just

that if i turn the meter switch off and i put the shutter speed to a

very low speed like 8, 4, 2, 1 and B and i hit the camera the meter

moves just a little bit as well, it doeasnt reach half way but it

still moves. i get the same result ( of the meter moving slightly)

if i take the battery off as well, can u people beleive this??????

please give me some feed back please is the meter not working like

this coz this is not just a matter of the meter not reading

accurately i think. even there are time when i am shooting with the

camera and the needle is half way between the + and - signs and all

of a sudden i find that it had taken a dip to the bottom of the

indicator and i have to hit the camera body with my finger again. i

am really annoyed at this, i have calibrated the light meter for the

olympus OM-1 with the nikon f65 that i have like a month ago and it

was ok (the olympus was ahead 1/2 an f stop of the nikon f65) which

is ok. when i tried calibrating again today i found it ahead by like

3-4 f stops!!!!!!. can anyone please tell me what is gonig on with my

camera? i dont want to let it go, i just want to know if the meter is

working with these symptoms or not? if yes i will get the zinc air

cells. if not i will see, as i live in Egypt and i am coming over to

the USA next month, so i may have someone check it(but honestly dont

wanna spend too much money on it)

 

anyway thx for ut time and please provide me with feedback.

have a good day

Rafik Kamel

[henricus]

<a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0096It">Here is a decent thread on this subject.</a>

[lex_jenkins]

Stop hitting you camera. It only hurts your hand and makes the camera mad.

 

Seriously, the meter may need servicing. Those needle-type metering mechanisms are scarce these days so don't risk damaging yours by smacking it. A repair technician should be able to diagnose and correct the problem.

[rafikrkamel]

Yes but Lex the repair is too expensive it costs like $120 for the check up and service i checked a site that does this service. i will try buying zinc air cells today and see what happens.

[lex_jenkins]

I understand that spending $120 to repair a nearly 30-year-old camera may not seem cost effective. But consider that for the money spent you'll have one of the finest SLRs ever made that should last for many more years to come.

 

Let's say a used OM-1 in undetermined condition costs $100-$150. Even if we have to spend another $100-$150 to get the camera in fully functional condition we'll have a camera that costs, at most, $300. I can't think of a single brand new 35mm SLRs today costing $300 that is worth the money. They're flimsy, plasticky, battery dependent for everything (not just metering) and once the circuitry goes bad they're either not repairable or not worth repairing.

 

I'm not biased against modern autoeverything SLRs. I'm just biased in favor of a solidly made older camera that's worth preserving.

[rafikrkamel]

hi Lex thx for ur opinion, i know it is a very good camera, i just like loking at it,lol. it is one of the best SLRs ever made. u know i brought the zinc air batteries last night and the meter now is almost calibrated with the nikon f65 (only half and f stop ahead, more or less depending on the lighting), but still u have to hit the camera now slightly to make the needle go up. but u know what when u set the shutter ring to a very slow shutter speed (like 2, 4, 8 or even B) the meter needle will pop up without having to slight hit the camera, what do u think about that? i will stick to the way that i will resort to hitting the camera least. u know what i may pay that much ($120) for fixing it but not this year. i am coming over to the US do u know any other store that does it cheaper like $20-30 just for a check to tell me what is wrong (i mean a store other than www.zuiko.com). coz u know $120 dollar means like 900 pounds in my currency (too much ,huh?). but eventually i think i will do it. Thanks u again so much and take care,

Rafik...

[matthew_kerr]

Andersons in Brisbane Australia will only charge about $45 (Australian) to have a look at a camera and tell you exactly how much it will cost etc. If you were ever in Brisbane you can just rock up and they will probably take a look and tell you how much to fix that particular problem without even charging (which they did for me with my OM4T but that was a superficial problem). I do not know what they charge for anything with an OM1 but they are olympus certified and the chap that does the the OM work I believe has been there for many, many years.

http://www.andersoncamera.com.au/

Site is under repair but it may help.

 

Good luck!