CRISS adapter?

[FallisPhoto]

How long should one of those last?

You really need to go back and read my first post -- the long one.

A Wein cell is a zinc/air battery, but how long a zinc/air battery lasts has nothing to do with the solution I proposed. What I proposed was to dig the middle out of the battery, so you only have metal (it isn't a battery anymore, just a shell). Into the hole, where you dug the middle out, you put a #675 silver oxide battery. It is 1.5 volts and can last in a camera about as long as it can last in a wristwatch or anything else (about a year, with normal use). All the shell of the Wein cell does is make the smaller #675 battery fit right. However, one of the other posters says that there is a company that has started making #625 silver oxide batteries again (Duracell and Energizer stopped making them years ago). This means you don't have to gut a Wein cell to make an adapter but can just drop in a #625 silver oxide battery (it is already the right size). If your camera has been calibrated for 1.5 volts, this will be the perfect solution.

The Varta #625A battery, that the repairman recommended, is also a 1.5 volt battery, but it won't work right for more than a week or two. He has apparently only understood half of the problem (getting something in there that will fit and is close to the right voltage). He has failed to take voltage curves into account though. The reason it won't work right is because, as time goes by, an alkaline battery steadily loses voltage. After two weeks, it might have dropped to 1.3 volts. The next week, it might have dropped to 1.2 volts, and so on. Since the meter relies on a steady constant voltage for accuracy, your meter will become more and more innaccurate, and how inaccurate will depend on the light level. In low light, after about a month, it will be really wildly off, although it will maybe only be a little off in strong light.

Silver oxide batteries, unlike alkaline batteries, supply a steady, constant voltage right up until they abruptly die and that is what he should have put in there.

 

[JeremyLangford]

I understand all that completely now. Thank you.

I hope shipping costs aren't too bad to ship one of those #625 silver oxide batterys to the U.S. I don't live in the UK.

Ill probably end up ordering one with some money I get after christmas. Either that or Ill just make an adapter like you suggested. That doesn't seem too hard to do.

You really need to go back and read my first post -- the long one.

A Wein cell is a zinc/air battery, but how long a zinc/air battery lasts has nothing to do with the solution I proposed. What I proposed was to dig the middle out of the battery, so you only have metal (it isn't a battery anymore, just a shell). Into the hole, where you dug the middle out, you put a #675 silver oxide battery. It is 1.5 volts and can last in a camera about as long as it can last in a wristwatch or anything else (about a year, with normal use). All the shell of the Wein cell does is make the smaller #675 battery fit right. However, one of the other posters says that there is a company that has started making #625 silver oxide batteries again (Duracell and Energizer stopped making them years ago). This means you don't have to gut a Wein cell to make an adapter but can just drop in a #625 silver oxide battery (it is already the right size). If your camera has been calibrated for 1.5 volts, this will be the perfect solution.

The Varta #625A battery, that the repairman recommended, is also a 1.5 volt battery, but it won't work right for more than a week or two. He has apparently only understood half of the problem (getting something in there that will fit and is close to the right voltage). He has failed to take voltage curves into account though. The reason it won't work right is because, as time goes by, an alkaline battery steadily loses voltage. After two weeks, it might have dropped to 1.3 volts. The next week, it might have dropped to 1.2 volts, and so on. Since the meter relies on a steady constant voltage for accuracy, your meter will become more and more innaccurate, and how inaccurate will depend on the light level. In low light, after about a month, it will be really wildly off, although it will maybe only be a little off in strong light.

Silver oxide batteries, unlike alkaline batteries, supply a steady, constant voltage right up until they abruptly die and that is what he should have put in there.

 

[kuzano]

Here is an analogy for you

Here is an analogy for you

Jeremy,

Your problem, and the solutions, do not explain well when related in this type of format.

Let me create a bit of an analogy for you.

Let's say you take your 30 year old car into the shop for a repair. After looking over your car, the Service Manager says to you....

"well, the giffengander that powers your hoofenschnovel is no longer servicable. And, they quit making the particular giffengander about 15 years ago. Now, there are still people who insist on driving examples of your archaic car. Therefore various people have derived a number of solutions, none of which are perfect, in varying degrees of imperfection. If you use any one of these solutions, you will not be able to drive your car as fast, or steer it as well, or, if it works correctly, it will not do so as long as it used to. But, the car will still operate, and if you follow the various rules of each solution, you will get where you want to go. Sorry, Jeremy, but we DO NOT have a solution that comes anywhere close to the original operating conditions of your aged vehicle when it was new!!!!!!!!!!"

Now, if you really want a 100% working solution, the choice you have to make is to retire that old klunker and buy a new $40,000 hybrid or similar, which by the way, probably won't last nearly as long as you have make the car you are driving now last.

 

[JeremyLangford]

Are you saying that I should buy a newer camera?

I am not going to do that. I think my camera is better built that lots of new cameras.

I agree with you on the fact that I cant get a solution as good as the mercury batterys, and I never expected you guys to think me up a perfect solution.

I was just trying to learn about the different options I had.

Jeremy,

Your problem, and the solutions, do not explain well when related in this type of format.

Let me create a bit of an analogy for you.

Let's say you take your 30 year old car into the shop for a repair. After looking over your car, the Service Manager says to you....

"well, the giffengander that powers your hoofenschnovel is no longer servicable. And, they quit making the particular giffengander about 15 years ago. Now, there are still people who insist on driving examples of your archaic car. Therefore various people have derived a number of solutions, none of which are perfect, in varying degrees of imperfection. If you use any one of these solutions, you will not be able to drive your car as fast, or steer it as well, or, if it works correctly, it will not do so as long as it used to. But, the car will still operate, and if you follow the various rules of each solution, you will get where you want to go. Sorry, Jeremy, but we DO NOT have a solution that comes anywhere close to the original operating conditions of your aged vehicle when it was new!!!!!!!!!!"

Now, if you really want a 100% working solution, the choice you have to make is to retire that old klunker and buy a new $40,000 hybrid or similar, which by the way, probably won't last nearly as long as you have make the car you are driving now last.

 

[crawdiddy]

Jeremy, since you have already had your camera modified, you might consider acquiring some sort of hand held light meter. You can experiment with it, to compare your SRT's meter, as the battery ages. Then you can judge for yourself how best to manage your SRT's metering.

A good hand held meter is a handy (ooh, sorry) thing to have anyway. Or, another camera with builtin meter would work also.

My head is spinning, along with several other posters'.

 

[kuzano]

Nah... pulling your leg here....

Nah... pulling your leg here....

Are you saying that I should buy a newer camera?

I am not going to do that. I think my camera is better built that lots of new cameras.

I agree with you on the fact that I cant get a solution as good as the mercury batterys, and I never expected you guys to think me up a perfect solution.

I was just trying to learn about the different options I had.

I'm sorry and I apologize. I generally post on forums where the posters have a sense of humor. I find that to be less the case here. I am surely going to have to tone down my posts and stick to business. But, OTOH, I tend not to stick around where there's no fun. So, I may not be here long. ;<)

 

[FallisPhoto]

Are you saying that I should buy a newer camera?

I am not going to do that. I think my camera is better built that lots of new cameras.

I agree with you on the fact that I cant get a solution as good as the mercury batterys, and I never expected you guys to think me up a perfect solution.

I was just trying to learn about the different options I had.

Actually, you can still buy a mercury battery. They turn up at camera shows every now and then, mostly smuggled in from China and India. They will be expensive, and they are illegal, but you can get them. Thing is, your camera's meter has been recalibrated to 1.5 volts, so those won't work in it anymore.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I'm sorry and I apologize. I generally post on forums where the posters have a sense of humor. I find that to be less the case here. I am surely going to have to tone down my posts and stick to business. But, OTOH, I tend not to stick around where there's no fun. So, I may not be here long. ;<)

Sarcasm, particularly understated sarcasm, just doesn't come across well when written, unless it is really in-your-face blatent, because you really need to hear the tone of voice to know it is intended as sarcasm.

 

[FallisPhoto]

Jeremy,

Your problem, and the solutions, do not explain well when related in this type of format.

Let me create a bit of an analogy for you.

Let's say you take your 30 year old car into the shop for a repair. After looking over your car, the Service Manager says to you....

"well, the giffengander that powers your hoofenschnovel is no longer servicable. And, they quit making the particular giffengander about 15 years ago. Now, there are still people who insist on driving examples of your archaic car. Therefore various people have derived a number of solutions, none of which are perfect, in varying degrees of imperfection. If you use any one of these solutions, you will not be able to drive your car as fast, or steer it as well, or, if it works correctly, it will not do so as long as it used to. But, the car will still operate, and if you follow the various rules of each solution, you will get where you want to go. Sorry, Jeremy, but we DO NOT have a solution that comes anywhere close to the original operating conditions of your aged vehicle when it was new!!!!!!!!!!"

Now, if you really want a 100% working solution, the choice you have to make is to retire that old klunker and buy a new $40,000 hybrid or similar, which by the way, probably won't last nearly as long as you have make the car you are driving now last.

Actually, I think they still make giffenganders in China and India. You'd have to smuggle them out though.

 

[kuzano]

Well, I did not know that?!?!?!?

Well, I did not know that?!?!?!?

I knew that they had outsourced the technical support for Giffenganders to those two countries (a close friend who is a talented Giffengander/Hoofenschnovel technician recently lost his job due to this outsourcing). It's going to be interesting to know that the next Giffengander he, or I, have to replace will come from India or China. Frankly, I would prefer the East Indian lead-free variant.

And again, Jeremy, if you are still reading my posts, I did not intend to offend in any way.

Lars

 

[crawdiddy]

It is called symbollism. In recent times it has become more important than substance. Remember how Clinton got elected because he could "feel our pain?" (he didn't actually do anything about it, just felt it, while diddling interns to ease the pain). We also have an educational system whose end goal is now to make kids feel good about themselves rather than to teach them anything useful. Clinton now wants to "help" family farmers by eliminating their subsidies. This is, no doubt because the huge agribuinesses are feeling threatened by Ma and Pa Kettle.

It is kind of like vegetarianism: it isn't really very healthy or good for you, but it sure seems like it ought to be, and is very profitable for all sorts of scam artists.

I am amazed that Bush did not solve all the problems created by Clinton, in these past 7 years. Perhaps if he hadn't been so preoccupied with the war, he could have banned fluorescent tubes which contain mercury. That way, we could continue to be dependent on Saudi oil. Exxon/Mobil doesn't make any money off of energy efficient lighting.

What the heck does that have to do with solving the problem of cameras designed for mercury batteries?

 

[rover]

What the heck does that have to do with solving the problem of cameras designed for mercury batteries?

Nothing and there are plenty places on the web to discuss Georgie and Willy, this little thread about batteries does not have to be one of them.

 

[crawdiddy]

rover, you quoted me, but not FallisPhoto. hmmmm.......

 

[rover]

How petty.

Get my point and stop trying to figure out if I am blue or red.

 

[Bill58]

Haven't you guys "beaten that dead horse to death"?

 

[rover]

Haven't you guys "beaten that dead horse to death"?

I will quote that!!!

Yes, so lets leave the poor beast alone.

 

[FallisPhoto]

What the heck does that have to do with solving the problem of cameras designed for mercury batteries?

It has to do with symbolism over substance, a topic Colyn introduced.

"The environmentalists are worried about a battery with a minute amount of mercury but ignore the large scale dumping in our landfills of mercury vapor light bulbs used in city street lights as well as other items that contain large amounts of mercury."

Banning mercury batteries is a token effort, taken more for political purposes -- something they can point to -- than it ever was intended to deal with the real problem. "Feel-your-pain" Slick Willie was the absolute all-time master of that, Other symbollism over substance practitioners bow down to him as a god, so of course I used him as an example. Incidentally, I don't like Bush either.

 

[crawdiddy]

It has to do with symbolism over substance, a topic Colyn introduced.

"The environmentalists are worried about a battery with a minute amount of mercury but ignore the large scale dumping in our landfills of mercury vapor light bulbs used in city street lights as well as other items that contain large amounts of mercury."

Banning mercury batteries is a token effort, taken more for political purposes -- something they can point to -- than it ever was intended to deal with the real problem. "Feel-your-pain" Slick Willie was the absolute all-time master of that, Other symbollism over substance practitioners bow down to him as a god, so of course I used him as an example. Incidentally, I don't like Bush either.

Mercury batteries were outlawed presumably because there are viable alternatives to them, and mercury in landfills is a problem. Mercury vapor lighting and fluorescent tubes which contain mercury are not banned because they are extremely efficient relative to incandescent lighting. And most of our electricity is produced by carbon-emitting fossil fuels. Many notable scientists, and other smart people, believe the reduction of greenhouse gases, by using less electricity, is a worthwhile effort, even though the logistics of mercury disposal is currently lagging. The original point I responded to seemed to be that if mercury batteries were banned for environmental reasons, that mercury lighting should be banned for the same reason. The poster seemed to either blame Bill Clinton for banning mercury batteries, or to imply that Clinton pioneered special-interest politics. The point I made in response is that mercury batteries and mercury lighting, are similar in the respect that they both contain mercury, and dissimilar in other ways. As I said, there are alternatives to mercury batteries. Mercury-containing lighting saves electricity, and thus contributes to solving a problem. So the two are really different. I mentioned smart people earlier, who agree with efforts to reduce carbon emissions. There is another group who have not embraced this effort wholeheartedly, the global warming denyers. One of those people is George W. Bush.

By responding, and by mentioning the W word, I may have my post deleted, as has been done to a previous post of mine by one of the moderators. I have been labeled as petty by another.

I am relatively new to this forum, having joined a couple of months ago. As I told the moderator who deleted my post, I want to know the rules, so that I can follow them. If others toss around political views casually, and I am censored for responding, then I don't understand. I know this isn't a "political forum." But I don't think all political content whatsoever is banned. I know the political comments of FallisPhoto were not censored. I suppose I'll see if mine are censored again.

 

[rover]

Hows about if you both just let this one pass. Political statements in a general forum like ours simply lead generally to the gutter. We can't solve anything here, so we are better off just sticking to what we have in common, Leica vs Zeiss, Canon vs Nikon, RF vs SLR. (Note, digital vs film is not on that list)

 

[Kim Coxon]

I am not an expert in US law but under European law, mercury batteries themselves are not illegal. It is only illegal to manufacture them or import them. If you come across a genuine stock of old mercury batteries, it is perfectly legal to own them and to use them. Common sense really, they are going to be disposed of anyway so you may as well use them first. Using them doesn't cause a problem.

Kim

Actually, you can still buy a mercury battery. They turn up at camera shows every now and then, mostly smuggled in from China and India. They will be expensive, and they are illegal, but you can get them. Thing is, your camera's meter has been recalibrated to 1.5 volts, so those won't work in it anymore.