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Alex Kinnan
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 03, 2005 - 08:39 pm: | 
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Howdy,
I just acquired something very cute... A Vivitar 24 lightmeter that seems designed to fit in a camera shoe!
I thought this would be the solution to my meterless camera problems, but alas! I opened the manual to find that it requires a dreaded PX675 mercury battery...
It actually has one in it right now that smells like it's on the verge of leaking and has a tiny bit of charge left on it. I suspect I will be tossing it soon...
Which leaves me with a dead meter.
There doesn't really seem to be any convenient place to drill an air hole in the thing for the use of Zinc-Air batteries, and the one place I found that has a 1.5v to 1.35v adapter in 675-size is out of stock, though if they weren't they want nearly fifty bucks for one anyway. Too much or, more to the point, too high a percentage of the price of a brand new Gossen Digisix...
SO...
Does anyone here know of the Vivitar 24 and whether or not it can run on a 1.5v battery?
Or...
If they can be easily and cheaply modified to take them?
Or...
If there exist any 675-sized battery adapters that don't cost anywhere near $50.00?
Sorry for the rambling nature of this post, I am caught up in the strange moment where my enthusiasm over getting the meter rapidly changes into annoyance at not getting to use it.
Thanks,
Alex |
rick oleson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 03, 2005 - 10:17 pm: |
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My recommendation would be to use a #675 Zinc/Air hearing aid battery. The voltage is correct and flat, no recalibration is needed, and the batteries sell in multipacks for less than a dollar a cell. They last pretty much indefinitely in storage until you activate them by removing a sticker.... after that my experience has been that they typcally last about 6-8 months. Other people report different results, maybe as short as 3 months. Other approaches are possible, but if you can stand to replace the cells as required, this is the most accurate, easiest and least expensive of them all.... which is not a bad combination of characteristics.
my further prattle on the subject is at http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-111.html
: ) = |
Mark Pearce
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 04, 2005 - 05:12 am: |
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I used a Vivitar 24 for several years untill I discovered the even smaller Sekonic Micro Junior. The only thing I didn't like about it was that the switch would often flip itself on when mounted on a camera worn around the neck.
I wouldn't worry about drilling holes to use the zinc-air cells, the casing isn't all that airtight.
MP |
Alex Kinnan
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 04, 2005 - 03:43 pm: |
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Thanks, so far. It didn't occur to me that the casing might be less than airtight... That's good to know, as I don't really want to scrounge around for the appropriate drilling equipment anyway.
Can't seem to find any info yet on the Micro Junior, though there are a couple of Micro Leaders on eBay right now. I assume those are also designed for 1.35v operation?
It's nice to know that this meter has been heard of and used by other people -- I was beginning to fear that it (and maybe the world itself) didn't really exist.
I suppose I'll try the Zinc-Air option first, though I'd still like to get the thing converted over to 1.5v silver capability someday, if possible.
I put it on a camera last night and it just looked so nifty sitting there, like something out of the original "Star Trek" broadcast television series. I almost expected the character "Mister Spock" to turn up so's that I could take his picture, which he would then show neither pleasure nor disdain for, regardless of quality. If the picture turned out poorly, then I would surely praise Vulcan logic.
Anywho, I digress. Thanks for the advice, so far. That illustration your page, Rick, is pretty cool -- did you do it? Very nice.
Alex |
Mark Pearce
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 10:29 am: |
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The Micro Junior (L-138) uses the dreaded PX13/625 1.35v mercury cell. They don't turn up on eBay too often.
There's also a nifty little Yashica clip-on Cds meter, YEM35 I think.It's a little smaller than the Vivitar 24, about the same size as the Micro Junior. |
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