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Wayne_diduch
Tinkerer
Username: Wayne_diduch
Post Number: 4
Registered: 05-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 05, 2011 - 02:39 pm: | 
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I just got back into Photography after a long absence. My two Canon F1's and my FTB take 1.35 volt mercury Batteries that, as you know are no longer available. The closet thing i can find are Zinc Air 675 batteries 1.4 vots. Can someone recommend a good replacement or can i use the 675, and will the higher voltage effect my meter readings? Thanks so much..any help will be greatly appreciated!!! Wayne |
Old_school
Tinkerer
Username: Old_school
Post Number: 69
Registered: 04-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 06, 2011 - 06:17 am: |
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W:
Welcome to the form!
Lets see, for a starter check out the articles below as this is a circle issue that is all ways open for comments & recommendations.
Canon FTb Mod.
http://www.ihagee.org/batt-adapt-us.pdf
This will give you some references & a starting place, then your call, or toss it back out for more input.
The Best Mike.... |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 104
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 08, 2011 - 07:19 pm: |
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Hey Wayne,
I've been using 675s in my Canon F-1 and FTb's now for over a year. I like the 675s because they have the same discharge profile as the original 1.35v mercury batteries. They work just fine, and while they would fit better with a piece of 18 ga. wire or an o-ring, I just drop them in the compartment and let the pressure of the spring hold the battery in place.
The only drawback I've found to them so far is they don't handle cold weather very well, so when I'm out in the cold, I bring along a hand-held meter for a backup. That or keep the equipment warm until you gotta use it.
I buy mine at Costco -- $10 for a pack of 30 of 'em.
Old school mentioned to me in a recent similar thread that these batteries are not sealed as well as the old ones and the user should keep a closer eye out for a battery leaking. Well, I haven't run into that problem yet. I change mine once they drop down to about 1.2v or so, and if a camera's gonna sit for a while, I store it without a battery. |
Wayne_diduch
Tinkerer
Username: Wayne_diduch
Post Number: 5
Registered: 05-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 09, 2011 - 02:25 pm: |
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Old School [ Mike ] and Cooltouch..Thanks Fella's greatly appreciate the info on replacemet Batteries...any need to compensate for Meter Readigs with the 675's?? Thanks Again so much!!!...Wayne |
Old_school
Tinkerer
Username: Old_school
Post Number: 76
Registered: 04-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 11, 2011 - 08:27 am: |
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Ha!
I found it, the article about energy cells:
http://www.lungster.com/l/photography/canon-camera-battery-test.shtml
Conclusions
This began as an exercise in determining how a change in meter supply voltage to an F-series Canon camera would affect the meter's linearity. The prevailing belief is that the increased voltage not only changes the exposure but is also non-linear thus the difference can not be compensated with a linear exposure adjustment (such as with the ASA dial). After I looked over the Group1 data, it became clear to me that the numbers were all over the map. Even the zinc-air hearing aid battery which is supposed to be very much like the old mercury battery both in voltage and decay curve showed a wide variation in meter reading when compared to the A-1. This led me to perform Group2 tests to see if the A-1 readings were consistent enough to be considered accurate.
The Group2 data shows decent corrolation (+/- 0.5 EV) between the A-1, EF, AL-1, AV-1, T-70 and T-90. In fact, the T-90 was identical to the A-1. The remaining cameras in this group fell within +/- 1 EV. The obvious exception is the AT-1, which is unlike the other A-series cameras in its use of a CdS sensor. Overall, I feel pretty good in treating the A-1 as a reasonable reference meter. Therefore, for these cameras, I conclude the following:
Suggest reading his article as he did a lot of research & the documentation is great....
The Best Mike.....
There is a lot of information here & he sums it up: |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 107
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 11, 2011 - 10:21 pm: |
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Hooboy. Well it's nice that this fellow went to all the trouble to perform these exhaustive tests. But frankly I don't care about them. All I care about are the results I get, and my results with my F-1 and FTbs and Nikon F with the 675s have all been excellent. I have checked each of these cameras' meters against a good reference meter of known accuracy -- my Luna Pro SBC -- and they all agree with it almost exactly.
That's good enough for me. I suspect one reason for this guy's "all over the map" results is because he isn't taking into account the differences in metering patterns. I =do= take this into account, so when I check my cameras' meters against the Luna Pro, I check them by metering an empty expanse of blue sky or green grass. An 18% gray card will also work. If there is any clutter in the frame, different cameras' meters will respond differently.
But most importantly, I've taken these cameras out and shot with them using their onboard meters and the results I've had have been as good as they were when I was using the old 625 mercury batteries. In fact, just today, I had the F-1 out and ran a roll of B&W through it. Developed it and scanning it earlier. All images are correctly exposed. Hey that's all I can ask for. |
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