Cameras and batteries...What? Me worry?

What next, cameras needing film?

I'm quite sure there are people who have never had the need to change a roll of film when out on the field, and that of those, very few of them would ever understand the need to change a roll in the middle of shooting.

What a silly world with different needs and perspectives...
 
No Fair Roger, but I do recall the days fondly when I had some help in the back up department.

I also recall losing 30 rolls of film on a five week trip shooting with a new Nikon SLR AF that underexposed my negatives with a faulty shutter. Nikon piled on voiding the warranty because I scratched the bottom of the camera.

I had a friend, and was shooting slides in my duplicate Nikon that was exposing a bit hot, but after a sample roll, I had those pulled a bit.

Being old, I still have a built in distrust of things that are too automatic.

Had to accept part blame, I did not shoot test rolls on two new cameras before I left.

I had early rolls souped, but thought the faulty camera was my friend's and adjusted that one.

J
 
Something that may make a difference is how well a camera performs when it's very cold outside. What is your experience in that area, when it comes to battery powered vs fully mechanical cameras?

Once I used a Nikon F3 with seemingly good batteries that stopped working in only a few degrees minus (C). I also had a Kowa Super 66 (mf slr) that was slow as syrup, but that was in -25 C, so I can't really blame it.

My M3 doesn't seem to care what temperature it is and I hope the ZI will function this winter just as well. I've only had it since late spring, so I don't know yet. But the fact that it's battery dependant hasn't bothered me so far.
 
Batteries are fine and dandy when the weather is reasonably warm. Once it gets colder than, say, -15 Celsius, you start to see a lot of weird stuff. And with cold-numbed fingers, rotating dead batteries from camera to warm up in interior pockets and new ones back in is a major annoyance.

OTOH, mechanical shutters can have a tendency of malfunctioning in cold due to lubricants thickening. So it's kind of a draw.

And still, there's nothing quite like the light near sunset on a really cold winter day 😉.
 
Joakim Målare said:
Something that may make a difference is how well a camera performs when it's very cold outside. What is your experience in that area, when it comes to battery powered vs fully mechanical cameras?

Once I used a Nikon F3 with seemingly good batteries that stopped working in only a few degrees minus (C). I also had a Kowa Super 66 (mf slr) that was slow as syrup, but that was in -25 C, so I can't really blame it.

My M3 doesn't seem to care what temperature it is and I hope the ZI will function this winter just as well. I've only had it since late spring, so I don't know yet. But the fact that it's battery dependant hasn't bothered me so far.
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ottluuk said:
Batteries are fine and dandy when the weather is reasonably warm. Once it gets colder than, say, -15 Celsius, you start to see a lot of weird stuff. And with cold-numbed fingers, rotating dead batteries from camera to warm up in interior pockets and new ones back in is a major annoyance.

OTOH, mechanical shutters can have a tendency of malfunctioning in cold due to lubricants thickening. So it's kind of a draw.

And still, there's nothing quite like the light near sunset on a really cold winter day 😉.
Click to expand...

Early 60s. 1963 to be exact. American Everest Expedition. The second expedition to summit Everest.

Lugging heavy camera equipment with his bulky climbing gear, Bishop would take pictures for National Geographic magazine.
Click to expand...

Working from memory, always a dicey proposition, the heavy camera equipment was based on off the shelf Nikon F cameras. Nikon USA reworked the cameras for cold weather use. Low temperature lubricants and verifying tolerances were the main changes to otherwise stock cameras.

Thread drift! 😀 😎

Wayne
 
For the price, size and weigth of spare batteries for a camera and lightmeter I prefer having one of each around and don't care if I have to change it. How long does it take to change a battery? Won't be much different from a changing a film.

Now on size and weight...I don't understand why people seem to think that it has to be light and small. I'm fine with light but there is something as too small. I would like my M645 to loose a bit of weigth but the size is fine for me.
 
Spanik said:
For the price, size and weigth of spare batteries for a camera and lightmeter I prefer having one of each around and don't care if I have to change it. How long does it take to change a battery? Won't be much different from a changing a film.

Now on size and weight...I don't understand why people seem to think that it has to be light and small. I'm fine with light but there is something as too small. I would like my M645 to loose a bit of weigth but the size is fine for me.
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Conversely, I'm happier with small but prefer small and solid. Very few cameras have ever struck me as too small. Quite a few have struck me as light and flimsy.

Cheers,

R.
 
venchka said:
Just an old Geezer making an observation re: Battery dependent, big, ugly, heavy cameras & lenses.

If one were to believe all of the rants on the internet wherein folks cast aspersions upon the above mentioned "faults" of many perfectly good cameras, cameras with built in electric meters in general & the Nikon F Photomic in particular, one particular Leica model, TLR's in general, medium format SLRs, etc. would never have been built. The fact that all of the above are very useful and have generated countless quality images tends to disprove some "internet facts" regarding size & complexity of photographic hardware.

I totally understand that many people like and use small, light, all mechanical cameras. I own and use a few myself. What I fail to understand is the dismissal of any hardware that doesn't fit the small, light, mechanical mold.

Crawling back under my rock.

Wayne
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Well, in the immortal words of Rodney King: "Can't we all just get along?"
 
Gabriel M.A. said:
What next, cameras needing film?

I'm quite sure there are people who have never had the need to change a roll of film when out on the field, and that of those, very few of them would ever understand the need to change a roll in the middle of shooting.
Click to expand...

Changing a roll of film? Awwww, man, that sounds like too much work! Just take one photo, and be done! Then you only have to change rolls after 36 pictures....

Although in all seriousness, that sounds just like my parents, way back when I was occasionally entrusted with their Minolta SR-1 (with its clip-on lightmeter mechanically connected to the shutter speed dial) - "Why are you taking another picture - didn't you take one already?"
 
Of course the matter of battery dependancy (as many other camera 'issues') is totally blown out of proportion by online discussions and articles. On the other hand, if you consider the thousands of people spending several hours a day on camera forums just too talk about old gear, you just have to make stuff up and create problems where there are none to keep the whole thing going. Just like this thread. And this reply...
 
css9450 said:
Changing a roll of film? Awwww, man, that sounds like too much work! Just take one photo, and be done! Then you only have to change rolls after 36 pictures....

Although in all seriousness, that sounds just like my parents, way back when I was occasionally entrusted with their Minolta SR-1 (with its clip-on lightmeter mechanically connected to the shutter speed dial) - "Why are you taking another picture - didn't you take one already?"
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At the shop, we would get "four season" rolls, a whole year's photos on one roll.

I've changed rolls after shooting a Bride in the aisle, on the fly while walking around the side to the front to shoot the give away.

Before the event, always asked the bridal party to walk slowly and not look at their feet.

Had a fear of the exposed roll unrolling before I got it licked and sealed. I avoided this when possible, you could break the back on a Rollei when you released the bottom latch, rotating the body up to swap out the film with the bottom still attached to the flash bracket.

The studio would give you grief if you returned a roll with fewer than 12 exposures on a roll. They once complained I was wearing jeans when I dropped off the film at the studio on a Monday-- they said a client might see one of their photographers not dressed properly. Talk about old school.

Split wedding days, 510 v batteries, 120 film, back up equipment, everything manual, and they wanted you to carry a candle holder with candle -- good experience, but a lot of work for the pay.

Have a friend who shoots low resolution on his digital, so he can shoot and keep hundreds of shots on his original SD card.

J
 
Roger Hicks said:
[...]The truth is, it rarely matters much. Unlike, as you say, digi. Digi is why I wear Levis with a watch pocket (and transfer batteries when I change trousers) and carry a spare SD card in my wallet (where, when I was younger, I'd have carried a 'packet of three'). The very unimportance of batteries that power only meters is why I suggested that it's more obsessive-compulsive to worry about it, than not to worry about it.

Cheers,

R.
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Using more and more digital equipment alongside film cameras, the battery discussion appears to be very laboured, because no digicam will work without batteries. The discharge rate of the battery packs is so much annoying with today's technology, I feel very comfortable with the battery drain rate of electronic film cameras, lasting for weeks or months instead of hours.

I like the committed debate on an non-existing issue anyway 🙂
 
venchka said:
Early 60s. 1963 to be exact. American Everest Expedition. The second expedition to summit Everest.

Working from memory, always a dicey proposition, the heavy camera equipment was based on off the shelf Nikon F cameras. Nikon USA reworked the cameras for cold weather use. Low temperature lubricants and verifying tolerances were the main changes to otherwise stock cameras.

Thread drift! 😀 😎

Wayne
Click to expand...
Thread drift, maybe, but a useful pointer to the way to go 😎.
 
Not much to add to this discussion apart from my own 'obsession' over batteries stems from an incident in Rome a few years ago when my Yashica GT's battery failed - I only had very limited time and my search for a replacement was somewhat frantic to say the least! 😱

I'm now the most relaxed, especially when out in the back of beyond in the field (literally and metaphorically) with my Leica M2, Pentax S1a and Sekonic L-398A 😀

As an aside, when I do use metered cameras such as my Pentax Super-A, even if I'm visiting a major European city, I always carry at least two spare batteries - definately OCD.....😀
 
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