[sonygoup]

Okay so since purchasing my k1000 I found most of my photos were dark and looked werid. After doing some reading it seems that the camera underexposed the photos. So I'd have to over exposure them in the view finder to get properly exposed shots.

I checked the battery (set it to B iso 100 the light goes straight up) is it any chance my battery is bad or something. Battery area is clean btw. Or does the light meter need to be adjusted some how?

[Not a Number]

If the battery is bad the meter usually will not respond at all. The meter probably needs adjustment. A hokey way to do this is to figure out how many EVs the meter is off and adjust the ASA setting. You could even take the ASA knob apart and readjust the positioning.

If you don't have a hand held meter or another camera to check the metering you can always try the Sunny 16 rule. Set the ASA to 125, the shutter to 125 and the f-stop to f/16. Now meter on a landscape scene on a bright cloudless sunny day. The meter needle should be in the ballpark of centered.

[sonygoup]

If the battery is bad the meter usually will not respond at all. The meter probably needs adjustment. A hokey way to do this is to figure out how many EVs the meter is off and adjust the ASA setting. You could even take the ASA knob apart and readjust the positioning.

If you don't have a hand held meter or another camera to check the metering you can always try the Sunny 16 rule. Set the ASA to 125, the shutter to 125 and the f-stop to f/16. Now meter on a landscape scene on a bright cloudless sunny day. The meter needle should be in the ballpark of centered.

Lol so I so there is no easy fix for it than to just over expose my photo. Oh well of to get a CLA. I guess

[paulh]

You could try one of the many smartphone lightmeter apps out there. Haven't tried them so can't recommend one.

[sonygoup]

You could try one of the many smartphone lightmeter apps out there. Haven't tried them so can't recommend one.

Yes I use one for my rollei ATM but I already prefer having an working metering as I'm always in the car shootimg

[dms]

On a clear sunny day with the sun fairly high in the sky, if you meter the blue sky, but not near the sun, your reading will be the sunny 16 rule (1/iso in sec at f/16--e.g., at iso 100, it should be f/16 at 1/100 sec, or f/11 at 1/200 sec, etc.). This method (metering blue sky) is both reliable and easy to do.

If you don't get this result adjust the iso (ASA) number so it does give you this result. (E.g., if setting iso = 100, the camera says 1/400 sec at f/16, that means you should divide the iso by 4--i.e., whatever the film iso is, set the camera iso 1/4 of that value.

[womble]

Personally I'd just bite the bullet and get it serviced. Not only would the meter get adjusted, but everything else would be nice and slick too and it'll work for the next 30 years...

[LesDMess]

Of course having a fully functional camera is always a pleasure to use so getting it fixed is the way to go.

BTW, are you usually shooting daylight? If so, what film(s) do you use? The reason I ask is that if you are using color negatives or b&w films, they have so much latitude that you don't even need to be in the ballpark - as far as the meter goes, to get very usable exposures. Meaning that if it is daylight, you simply take a meter reading of the shadow area - with an ap or something, and you won't need to change your setting for the rest of the day. Also, with color negatives and b&w, it is recommended to expose for the shadows as the film will handle the overexposed areas just fine.

If you are coming from the digital cameras, you may be aware that blown highlights are unrecoverable but no so with color negatives. Some more so then others. Below is an example of this overexposure latitude of Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak Ektar 100 compared to some digital cameras. You will notice that while the digital RAW files are completely unusable past +5 overexposure, the Portra 400 extends well beyond +10. I didn't take enough overexposures with Ektar as I did with the Portra but you can see it is unaffected at +5 compared to the digitals.


Click for larger version Films vs digitals overexposure range

[TwoUptons]

And how old is your film?

I've been shooting up a bunch of my old stuff, and it all needs at least an extra stop to look right, usually more.

-Eric

[sonygoup]

And how old is your film?

I've been shooting up a bunch of my old stuff, and it all needs at least an extra stop to look right, usually more.

-Eric

With fresh film is occurs as well.

Im shooting expired Kodak from 2006 I think. It shoot well in my OM-1

---------- Post added 02-22-18 at 08:43 PM ----------

Of course having a fully functional camera is always a pleasure to use so getting it fixed is the way to go.

BTW, are you usually shooting daylight? If so, what film(s) do you use? The reason I ask is that if you are using color negatives or b&w films, they have so much latitude that you don't even need to be in the ballpark - as far as the meter goes, to get very usable exposures. Meaning that if it is daylight, you simply take a meter reading of the shadow area - with an ap or something, and you won't need to change your setting for the rest of the day. Also, with color negatives and b&w, it is recommended to expose for the shadows as the film will handle the overexposed areas just fine.

If you are coming from the digital cameras, you may be aware that blown highlights are unrecoverable but no so with color negatives. Some more so then others. Below is an example of this overexposure latitude of Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak Ektar 100 compared to some digital cameras. You will notice that while the digital RAW files are completely unusable past +5 overexposure, the Portra 400 extends well beyond +10. I didn't take enough overexposures with Ektar as I did with the Portra but you can see it is unaffected at +5 compared to the digitals.


Click for larger version Films vs digitals overexposure range

Never oven a DSLR just smart phone cameras. And I'm shooting most Kodak 400 expired, Fuju film fresh 200. And I always try to take my pics in the sun light to avoid that shadow reading. I've been reading alot of film book since I started shooting so I'm learning a few things to help me avoid improper exposure

---------- Post added 02-22-18 at 08:45 PM ----------

Personally I'd just bite the bullet and get it serviced. Not only would the meter get adjusted, but everything else would be nice and slick too and it'll work for the next 30 years...

Lol correct, once I get cash I'll send it over to Eric the Pentax guy I keep hearing about. Because I bought this camera and the body was basically brand new and I damaged the bloody focusing screen 😫. Id hate to be shooting something that isn't working properly TBH. I'm only as good as my tools

[LesDMess]

With fresh film is occurs as well.

Im shooting expired Kodak from 2006 I think. It shoot well in my OM-1

Never oven a DSLR just smart phone cameras. And I'm shooting most Kodak 400 expired, Fuju film fresh 200. And I always try to take my pics in the sun light to avoid that shadow reading. I've been reading alot of film book since I started shooting so I'm learning a few things to help me avoid improper exposure

The OM-1s used the no longer available mercury batteries. If you are using a newer battery, hopefully your OM-1's meter has been corrected for it.

If you are shooting expired film, you need to take a few exposure shots to determine what the new speed is - if it has changed at all.
For instance I had a big box of grossly expired film that had been setting out in an uncovered Atlanta driveway for years so I took some test shots and determined that it only went from ISO125 to ISO64 or ISO32 as shown below.


Click for larger version expired Kodak Ektar 125 exposure test

Your expired film may or may not require an adjustment as you have to take into consideration how it was kept. My gross example above was outdoors in very hot weather but maybe yours was refrigerated?

Another component that may also affect your final exposure is of course the scanning. I have found that it is not unusual for minilabs to overexpose their scans - as well as over sharpen and over contrast.

Yeah, smartphones have even far less exposure latitude then their larger sensored brethrens.

The overexposure range of smartphones are much worst then DSLRs.

[sonygoup]

The OM-1s used the no longer available mercury batteries. If you are using a newer battery, hopefully your OM-1's meter has been corrected for it.

If you are shooting expired film, you need to take a few exposure shots to determine what the new speed is - if it has changed at all.
For instance I had a big box of grossly expired film that had been setting out in an uncovered Atlanta driveway for years so I took some test shots and determined that it only went from ISO125 to ISO64 or ISO32 as shown below.


Click for larger version expired Kodak Ektar 125 exposure test

Your expired film may or may not require an adjustment as you have to take into consideration how it was kept. My gross example above was outdoors in very hot weather but maybe yours was refrigerated?

Another component that may also affect your final exposure is of course the scanning. I have found that it is not unusual for minilabs to overexpose their scans - as well as over sharpen and over contrast.

Yeah, smartphones have even far less exposure latitude then their larger sensored brethrens.

The overexposure range of smartphones are much worst then DSLRs.

Well the thing is my Om light meter isn't working so im using a mix between sunny 16 and mobile light meter.
I have them in the fridge so I would usually shoot at 200 or just push the iso to 800 as I'm doing now .
Never took into account the scanning from the studio as I always thought they just scanned them and nothing else, I'd hate to know that they are actually editing it. I don't like editing my film photis. The purpose of me shooting film is to become a good photographer without the need for software editing

[LesDMess]

Never took into account the scanning from the studio as I always thought they just scanned them and nothing else, I'd hate to know that they are actually editing it. I don't like editing my film photis. The purpose of me shooting film is to become a good photographer without the need for software editing

Color negatives require interpretation by the scanner hardware and software to turn it into a positive color image. If you shot color slide film, then you can visually verify if the scan is correct. That's why it is not uncommon to see posts where people wonder why the colors don't seem right or their film exposure is blown out. From my examples it is clear it is nearly impossible to blow out film.

Below is an example of color results from a minilab so different from my own scans that you would think they were two different frames of film but in fact they are the same frame of Kodak Gold 100.



Below is an example of a minilab scan exposure different from my own scan. Again these scans are from the same frame of Kodak Ektar 100.



It isn't that they are "editing" your images, it is just that they run these scanners fully automatic with autocolor and sharpening turned on.

Now if they provide you scan results that are agreeable to you then that's great as it saves you time and effort.

[sonygoup]

Color negatives require interpretation by the scanner hardware and software to turn it into a positive color image. If you shot color slide film, then you can visually verify if the scan is correct. That's why it is not uncommon to see posts where people wonder why the colors don't seem right or their film exposure is blown out. From my examples it is clear it is nearly impossible to blow out film.

Below is an example of color results from a minilab so different from my own scans that you would think they were two different frames of film but in fact they are the same frame of Kodak Gold 100.



Below is an example of a minilab scan exposure different from my own scan. Again these scans are from the same frame of Kodak Ektar 100.



It isn't that they are "editing" your images, it is just that they run these scanners fully automatic with autocolor and sharpening turned on.

Now if they provide you scan results that are agreeable to you then that's great as it saves you time and effort.

Ah good info thanks I'll be looking into it