I am planning to remove the meter circuit...

[Bill Burk]

Did you cover up the "San Francisco Bay"?

 

[baachitraka]

Bill, I do not understand (* ! *)...you meant...

 

[Bill Burk]

Sorry I was thinking Spotmatics. They have the needle area cut-away from the edge. In OM-1 it's an intruding + / - and it doesn't really even look like the map of the bay area.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

My first impression on reading this thread is that you are compromising a perfectly capable metering system on the slender justification of an "unobstructed view of the viewfinder".
If you are really keen do a 2-year intensive course in incident/spot/multispot/basal/shift/averaging metering. If not, leave metering to the OM system — I cut my teeth in early photography and study starting with the OM10, then OM1n, OM2n and the last, OM4 Ti (multispot metering on that camera was and still is a gem). Many more mistakes can be made by unskilled people using spot meters than those wielding an OM camera for the first time.

Metering-wise, there is no specific choice for landscape photography: reflected, spot, incident and complex variations of any, all have their specific uses in the right circumstances. Perhaps pick up a basic meter and hone your skills with that in tandem with the OM.

 

[wblynch]

Metering and exposure settings are a funny thing.

People work so hard to determine the perfect exposure, yet on most cameras you can't get closer than 1 stop anyway. Maybe you can swag it a little by trying to set your aperture between stop clicks.

Then you have to factor that the camera's shutter speeds might not be all that accurate and even if they were, you are back to that one stop thing.

Don't even need a meter. You can probably get within 1 stop, either way, just by using your senses and Sunny-16.

 

[John Hermanson]

The smart thing would be to just ignore the needle and not use it. If you go to the trouble of taking the meter out and removing the mask, well you might change something important like finder focus. Then you'll have loose meter strings all flopping around in there, getting tangled in shutter gears. John

 

[Bill Burk]

Convenient in-camera metering has "ruined" many of my shots.

Why? I didn't meter intelligently because I didn't have to.

So I get the idea of disabling the in-camera meter. Forces you to use another tool.

What other tool? Up to you. Thinking is one option.

As John implies, leaving out the battery is one very effective way to make the problem go away.

I did that with my OM-1 last summer. Without a battery the needle does not move. It was a non-issue - I had to use the meter that I was carrying on my belt.

Then, a couple weeks ago, the mood struck me to travel light for a day. I put a battery in and had a fully-functioning OM-1.

I faced some lighting challenges though, and wished for the meter I usually bring. But somehow I survived.

 

[baachitraka]

Nothing to worry, my wife is wiling to use that camera for flash(bounce) photography after I explained like, set the shutter to 1/60, f/(4.0 - 8.0), focus and shoot. She was very happy after few test shots. ;-)

 

[darkosaric]

If you really want to have just clear frame with no distractions whatsoever: get yourself original nikon F with meter-less prism .

 

[baachitraka]

Sadly, I learned much about film cameras after I had a partial system of Olmypus cameras and lenses.

It makes me sad after removing metering needle/bracket. :-( I will never think about any mods in the future except change in the battery circuit to accept 1.55v batteries.

 

[chuck94022]

I'm sorry, I'm just reading this whole thread in disbelief. I can't believe the presence of a needle in the viewfinder would destroy one's ability to compose a shot.

If you are doing landscape photography, you should be looking with your eyes, outside the viewfinder. Visualize your image. Look and think and imagine. Meter, etc., as you see it, think about your exposure (use zone system, etc., as you wish).

Then look through the viewfinder and do your final composition. At that point, you're just setting your vision in the rectangle and focusing. If the needle is hampering you at that point, perhaps you suffer from ADD or something, and should see a doctor for medication. You should already have your image in your mind.

On the other hand, if you are street shooting, moving fast, no time to do a full scene evaluation, then the in-finder meter may be a useful aid or not, depending on how you read scenes - maybe you're a Sunny 16 guy through and through, don't need any help. If the latter, do as Bill Burk said - just yank the batteries. Problem solved.

(But it sounds like this note is too late...)

 

[baachitraka]

Yeah...I am sad. Even though that metering values gave not so good exposure, I shouldn't have hurt it. :-(

 

[BrianL]

my son has a classmate who just bought an OM-1 and brought it over to show me and get some help as it is his forst film camera. I looked through the viewfinder and did not find the metering to be all that intrusiive but, I am maybe more used to look through the viewfinder information that can be distracting. I then had my son bring up the Ashahi S1a that does not have a meter and compared them. My conclusion is if looking for a veiwfinder with no distractions, the S1a is the way to go and maintain the OM-1s values. The pre-metering bodies have huge amazing viewfinders that impede nothing in viewing the subject matter and are bright. Complete systems using the body can be had for almost nothing and the M42 lenses from the company and others are plentiful and many including the stock 50mm 2.0 is considered to be one of the best standard lenses. Additionally, the camera required no battery and it seems from owners the shutters are all bout bulletproof even after all these years.

The kid who bought the OM-1 loves it and had researched for some time before buying it and spoken to David, my son, who knew I really like Olympus cameras and lenses. He was awed though when he looked through the viewfinder of the S1a so, we started discussing something like the Spotmatic as an alternative as he has a 30 day money back warrantee and he does want a camera with a built in meter. I did explaing the Spotmatic viewfinder is not as bright or large but still very good. We also discussed the stopdown metering that means a darkened finder and I showed him on the S1a but, it seemed not to bother him.

should be interesting but, maybe an alternative for you also.

 

[baachitraka]

I will never go for mod again. Even though it is not so expensive but I feel like that I have hurt someone who is very dear to me.

 

[wblynch]

The OM1 meter needle is almost invisible unless you go looking for it. I can't imagine it to be distracting.