Spot metering - What film body

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Ive got a growing collection of old manual focus 35mm film bodies but none with spot metering. What can I get with it for a reasonably cheap price? I've mainly got Olympus OM/Zuiko gear but don't mind getting into a new system. I was thinking Canon Eos - if I go back to digital at some point that's what I'll be buying - but I'm not sure which body.

Another question is if I buy a digital Eos body in the future, how usable will my Oly manual focus lenses be? Im presuming there's an adapter available? But obviously there's no split screen or prism on a dslr, so how easy is focusing?
 
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I cannot answer about spot metering but manual focusing on a Canon EOS digital camera with legacy lenses should not be a problem. No, you do not get micro-prisms or split centre but neither did a lot of film cameras - my Zenit E did not and I had no problem focusing it. The problem with manually focusing modern autofocus digital cameras is not the body but rather the lens. On many of my digital camera lenses, the focus ring only turns through less than 45 degrees from near focus to infinity so critical focus involves moving the focus ring so small an amount your muscles cannot cope. Older manual focus lenses have a focus throw in excess of 180 degrees making critical focus easy.
 
For a spot metering body OM2spot program OM4 OM3 or maybe a Canon T90?
I’m using Olympus omd and Fuji X manual focus lenses with adapter are easy to focus using highlight peaking or even split image on the Fuji X :)
 
Hmm if you want to stay with Olympus then the least expensive would be the Olympus OM2 Spot, which had one spot that could be used as well as the usual centre weighted.

Want to spend a little more then the early Olympus OM4 is create, has 8 spot readings and will average them out for you, plus ordinary metering as well. Yes they have a reputation for getting through batteries, but there are ways around that, I have had mine from New bought in 1985 and would not be parted from it.

A fair bit more money and your into the Olympus OM4Ti with a revamped electronics but essential the same machine as the OM4.

Beyond that are the OM3's but from what you said out of budget.

As for Canon there is the T90 which again has 8 spot readings, average and centre weighted meter readings, they are a little larger because they have a built in motor wind, but can be picked up for not much money.

Other than that on the Canon front I am not sure would have to go do the Google, having done so I now find that the EOS 1n had spot, and partial spot metering, it also had 45 segment evaluative metering as well.

Not sure about using manual focus lens on a newer digital EOS, there are certainly adaptors out there but most of the ones I have seen are for sticking various lens onto mirror less bodies, again you'd have Google.

As for focusing, the only comparison I have was that I used to use manual focus Nikon Ai S lens on Nikon D700 and that also had no split screen. It was OK but when using long telephotoes then I began to struggle. But that could just be me.
 
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On the spot metering issue, if you have Olympus OM kit, wouldn't your best bet be to pick up a secondhand OM2SP, 3 or 4? All of them have spot metering, and on the 3 and 4 it was pretty sophisticated I believe.

I don't know anything about using old MF lenses on DSLR bodies, but it's dead easy to use old lenses on my m43 mirrorless camera so it must be doable.

Gavin
 
Back in the 1980-90s I was using an Olympus OM4Ti which had spot metering. as did the OM2SP. The difference with the OM4Ti was that it could take up to 9 readings on different parts of the intended shot and average them out. This was extrememly useful for what I was doing at the time and enabled me to get excellent shots that would have otherwise been very difficult. The OM2SP could only take a single spot meter reading. Still have an OM2SP, but traded in another one + the OM4Ti for some new Canon equipment in 1995 as my eyesight needed an autofocus system which those two did not provide.

I am still using some of my old Canon EF lens, which were autofocus, with my EOS-D equipment, and have also managed to adapt some of the older Olympus fit lenses to work as well, but with no autofocus, which, given my appallingly bad eyesight, does not give the best of results! I hasten to add that that is not the fault of the lenses but much more a user problem.

You can still pick up a secondhand OM4Ti from around £200 on eBay but I haven't seen any advertised by any retailers. An OM2SP appears to come in at around £110+.

Hope this helps a bit.
 
If you use a non-Olympus body with your existing lenses, then as well as the lack of focus aids, you'll also be stuck with stop-down metering, which is less than ideal for spot metering. Of course the Canon makes sense if you want to buy some AF lenses you can also use on digital.
 
spark303 said:
I don't know anything about using old MF lenses on DSLR bodies, but it's dead easy to use old lenses on my m43 mirrorless camera so it must be doable.
Gavin
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The difference between mirrorless and DSLR camera bodies is that the latter have a mirror - which takes up space, resulting in a thick body, at least in the area of the mirror box where the lens sits. Which means that the lens is held further from the sensor by this extra amount, and lenses on mirrorless cameras are closer to the sensor. This means that when you attach an SLR lens to a mirrorless camera, you actually need to supply an extra spacing to achieve infinity focus, let alone focus closer than infinity. Going the other way, the problem is making an adaptor sufficiently thin to ensure that it isn't working as an extension tube. Hence it was generally easy(ish) to adapt other lenses to Canon, because Canon had a shorter flange to film distance than most cameras, and the extra thickness of the adaptor was needed. I have an adapter to fit Exakta lenses to Canon FD cameras, and it is very thin - I have glass filters with thicker glass! So it is undoubtedly possible to physically attach a lens, but it may be effectively sitting in front of an extension tube making it close up only. Unless the adapter contains a supplementary lens to fix things up. I don't know without looking it up whether the modern Canon lens mount has changed the flange to sensor distance - the easy adaptation applies to FD, I don't know about later ones.

On the body front, several cameras had spot metering facilities, but if the lenses are mainly OM, then the OM2-SP is the least expensive body. I skipped this one in my OM system, and have the OM4 and OM4-Ti which aren't cheap (comparatively).
 
Thanks for the replies. I should've probably said that I was aware of the OM4/ti and OM3 and have ruled them out based on cost - I'd rather spend the money on film! They seem pretty pricey (at least currently). Also the OM4ti looks a bit fiddly to use (although i have no personal experience of it). The OM2 spot is certainly an option which I'd forgotten about.

As for using the mf Zuikos on digital, I think I'll forget about it and start from scratch (if I do go back to digital).
 
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Only thing I will say against the OM2SP is the battery drain problem. Going back to it after not using it for a few weeks to find the battery forever flat was enough to put me off the camera & replace it with an OM1.

OM2SP has since developed a film advance fault Was going to scrap it but have decided to get it fixed. Really like the viewfinder display for shooting at night.
 
DNH said:
Only thing I will say against the OM2SP is the battery drain problem. Going back to it after not using it for a few weeks to find the battery forever flat was enough to put me off the camera & replace it with an OM1.

OM2SP has since developed a film advance fault Was going to scrap it but have decided to get it fixed. Really like the viewfinder display for shooting at night.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, that kind of puts me off somewhat. Considering also that I have an om2n already I might give it a miss.
 
Another option would be to buy a separate spot meter which you will then be able to use with any camera. I have a Sekonic L758 which was not cheap, but then neither is buying a new camera system. There are older Minolta and Pentax spotmeters which might be acquired more cheaply.

When buying older cameras, the metering function may not be working and cameras can be kept in use longer if you don't rely on their internal metering.
 
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Tricky one Jim... the Canon T90 mentioned will not except OM lenses..the T90 is a fantastic camera and goes cheap because buyers are scared off with the possibility of the sticking shutter, but I would guess with the arrival of digi the T90s were shoved in a cupboard unused for years and when the owner decided to sell, found the shutter had stuck, , well I've had mine for 5 years with no problem and just fire it once a month if not used....anyway if it did go wrong it was cheap enough to throw away or sell for spares.
But if you go Canon that would mean a set of Canon fd lenses although if you have any M42 screw lenses it would take them with an adapter..I would assume? spot metering works with them but have never tried it o_O :(
Which way to go? Well it depends on the money you want to spend and the Canon EOS should be on the short list...
 
Thanks for the replies and info.

The solution I've come up with so far is to thin out my Olympus bodies (I've sold the om2n, a 50mm and an OM10 and 50mm) and buy a Canon eos 35mm body (looking at the eos1) and a 50mm f1.8 for starters. I'll keep my remaining OM gear, a) for a 2nd body for different film and b) I'll be able to use the lenses later hopefully if I go digital, obviously the Canon 50 will work.
 
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