| Author | Message | ||
     M Currie Rating: N/A |
I think there's a difference between obsolescence and absolute lack of support. Nobody expects Minolta to keep carrying parts for old cameras, but I cannot believe, for example, that a company as big as Minolta or Nikon could not afford the web space to mount all its old manuals back to the first one as a service to owners and collectors. Nor is it beyond possibility that a large company like that could hire one person for a short time to figure out what batteries to use for an old SRT, and even, perhaps, what adjustments to make internally. I have seen the same problem with cars. Go to a Jeep dealer for a part for your '87 Cherokee, and you'll be told they don't have it. Even if in fact it's the same, unchanged part listed for a later year that's still supported, they've thrown out the books, apparently. Not supported. Throw it away. And yet they expect you to buy a new one from them! Of course they figure it isn't worth their time to do this, but I think they're underestimating the good will and customer loyalty they could generate, at least in a few of us, by convincing us that not only the products but the company itself will last after the shine wears off. Some of those old meters will work well on newer batteries if you just offset the ASA dial to compensate. It might be worth trying an alkaline just to see if you can get it into the right range that way. Despite the bad reputation for voltage change, the alkaline will work for quite a while closely enough. Remember that this camera uses stepped shutter speeds and probably full or at most half stop aperture settings. You'll rarely get better than +/- one-stop accuracy anyway. If an alkaline cell works well, replace it the next time with the same size silver-oxide cell. SO cells hold their voltage well, and last much longer than Alkalines. |