357 battery

[Kim Coxon]

The Spot F was slightly different. With the Spot, the meter switch and stop down lever are the same. With the advent of open aperture metering, this was not practical so a third photo cell was added as a "switch" for the meter circuit. Although the main metering circuit is switched off when a lens cap is fitted, there is still a residual current drain unlike the Spot.

Kim

I recall taking a Spotmatic apart some time ago, to adjust the metering. Quite correct that it uses a bridge so it's not dependent on voltage. I don't know if an SRT would have the bridge but I'd be disappointed with Minolta if it didn't. The Spotmatic went about 5 years on one battery (625) and I changed it only because I thought I should, not because it was flat! That 5 years included accidentally leaving it on for two weeks once too.

 

[wolves3012]

The Spot F was slightly different. With the Spot, the meter switch and stop down lever are the same. With the advent of open aperture metering, this was not practical so a third photo cell was added as a "switch" for the meter circuit. Although the main metering circuit is switched off when a lens cap is fitted, there is still a residual current drain unlike the Spot.

Kim

Kim,

Mine wasn't the "F" so IIRC the meter was "on" when the switch was "on". I seem to recall that the circuit was so arranged that the drain was negligible when the cells were in darkness though, which probably accounts for it surviving a 2-week switch-on...

 

[Kim Coxon]

The same for most meters. The resistance of an LDR decreases as the light intensity increases which = higher current. As an aside, that is also what causes the shift in meters such as the Canonet and why you cannot just compensate using the ASA scale. 😉

Kim

Kim,

Mine wasn't the "F" so IIRC the meter was "on" when the switch was "on". I seem to recall that the circuit was so arranged that the drain was negligible when the cells were in darkness though, which probably accounts for it surviving a 2-week switch-on...

 

[Kim Coxon]

Lithiums can cause other prblems. IMHO, they don't last any longer than silver cells and not much longer than alkalines. Although, it doesn't affect the metering accuracy, their use does quite often cause false "low battery" warnings in the LX. The use of the larger ones in digital cameras is important but not so much in manual film cameras even with electronic shutters.

Once the use of silicon cells became widespread, the voltage problem largely became non existant. The circuitry in a silicon meter is more complex and normally will involve some form of voltage reference. It is the low impedance of CdS cells and the simple circuitry when only one cell is used that causes problems.

Kim

The drain of a camera battery is quite low if it's only powering the meter, watches would certainly be vastly lower though.

Lithiums perform far better than alkalines and cameras that use things like the DL1/3N cell are designed to allow for voltage drop. Such models tend to have LED meters and electronic shutters so they benefit from the power a Lithium can provide. The other area where the Lithium really scores is in the cold - they work to far lower temperatures than alkaline or silver oxide.

 

[Kim Coxon]

As long as you use SR44's and not LR44's, you shouldn't have a problem. You can use collars etc. I have some alloy ones that came from my friendly camera repairer. Another very good solution is to get hold of an old 625 and carefully scoop out the insides. (use gloves and dispose of the waste carefully. 😉 ) You can then use the shell as an adapter and just drop an SR44 in.

Kim

dang that stinks. I guess im just gonna get the 357/303 and see how long it lasts for me.

 

[Trius]

Chris: Thanks for the tip on the current 357/303s. The earlier iteration of the Energizer 357/303 did not exhibit this behaviour, as I recall.

FWIW, I got my last batch of 357s from 24hourbatteries.com. I bought 24 pieces for $13.20USD + $2 shipping ... March 2007. They service was quick and efficient.

 

[wolves3012]

Lithiums can cause other prblems. IMHO, they don't last any longer than silver cells and not much longer than alkalines. Although, it doesn't affect the metering accuracy, their use does quite often cause false "low battery" warnings in the LX. The use of the larger ones in digital cameras is important but not so much in manual film cameras even with electronic shutters.

Once the use of silicon cells became widespread, the voltage problem largely became non existant. The circuitry in a silicon meter is more complex and normally will involve some form of voltage reference. It is the low impedance of CdS cells and the simple circuitry when only one cell is used that causes problems.

Kim

Kim,

In my experience Lithiums last a lot longer and I've had no other issues with them (In a Minolta XD-7, XG-M and X-700). One definite advantage is that they have a long shelf-life (claimed to be 10 years) which is handy for infrequently-used cameras. Regarding how long they last, here's a quote from the X-700 manual:

"With fresh batteries, the maximum long-exposure is approx. 3 hours. At lower temperatures, exposure time may be shorter. Exposures up to 6 hours long are possible by using a fresh Lithium battery."

 

[btgc]

After research I discovered that many U.S. based shops don't ship internationally either set up rstriction on min. sum (24hourbatteries.com and sr44.com respectively).

Now I'm looking at batteriesinaflash.com - Energizer 357/303 go for roughly us$2 for a piece while Exell is about us$1.15. Do anyone has experience with "about a buck for one" 357 silver oxide batteries - do they last, are they worth money? Probably I should go for Varta high drain watch cells, as I have done before. They go for about us$2 with very little.

 

[btgc]

Let's bring up oldie! While using Ricoh XR-P with LCD display in VF and keeping power ON for extended time (say, 15-20min.) battery check started to flash. After sitting for some time, it works fine for occasional shots, and then flashes again as I go out and keep it switched on for longer time. This happens with V357 cells marked as high-drain.

I'm going to purchase CR1/3N lithium cells, Ricoh lists them as first choice in technical sheet.

 

[Dean Cho]

With regards to two sets of 357 batteries in my OM-4T and OM-PC, I noticed that when the batteries died, that only one of the batteries in each set was really dead, with the remaining battery showing plenty of juice left when using a battery tester. I don't know why that is, but I am glad that I tested the batteries as I would otherwise have thrown out two perfectly useable batteries. The OM-4T does not have excessive battery drain. While the OM-PC model is known for sometimes suffering from excessive battery drain, I really don't use mine (I bought used it for the focusing screen and prism).

 

[George S.]

With regards to two sets of 357 batteries in my OM-4T and OM-PC, I noticed that when the batteries died, that only one of the batteries in each set was really dead, with the remaining battery showing plenty of juice left when using a battery tester. I don't know why that is, but I am glad that I tested the batteries as I would otherwise have thrown out two perfectly useable batteries. The OM-4T does not have excessive battery drain. While the OM-PC model is known for sometimes suffering from excessive battery drain, I really don't use mine (I bought used it for the focusing screen and prism).

Be careful, as that battery may test as "OK", but once a load is put on it, it may fail quickly. Olympus cameras do need good, strong, fresh batteries, or they will seem to go bad in no time.

 

[George S.]

Jeremy and Chris: I have had very good experience getting Sony SR44W's from this seller on EBAY: http://tinyurl.com/2gsonx

These are genuine Sony's, I have been paying $14.95 for 10, with free shipping. These are done with a BIN.

Larry. Do you still have the seller's name? That link is no longer pointing to anything.