Help with Konica C35 FD battery

[gj91]

I picked up a Konica C35 FD recently on a trip to Japan. The camera had been overhauled and in very good condition.

The only issue I seem to have is the type of battery I should be using that doesn't throw off the meter. The manual shows the px-675 battery, which I know you can't get anymore. This is a 1.3v battery. But I have the battery adapter that allows the use of the smaller SR41W or LR44 battery and they are at 1.5v. Then I was reading on 120studio the easy fix is to just adjust the iso to compensate for this. so iso 100 film should go to to iso 64 and iso 400 film should be set to 320. But then I was reading where the battery adapter was supposed to adjust the voltage.

I put a roll of fuji 100 though it, overall the photos turned out good. A little over exposed, but this was before I found out about the battery types.

So more shooting and less worrying I guess. Fuji 400 in it now and adjusting the iso. I did have a 2nd roll but I think it got exposed in a fight trying to get it out of the camera. We'll see.

Great camera though.

 

[gj91]

well... I didn't realize the Auto S3 is the same as the FD. And reading some more it sounds like the camera can be adjusted work with modern batteries. So, i'm starting to think this was done. I may have to ask the store in Osaka about this.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Welcome aboard.

You have to be careful with adapters, some adjust the size only but not the voltage and others adjust the voltage to 1.35v and use a hearing aid battery.

Also, of course, there are the Wein cells. It depends on how much film you are using in the camera, really.

Regards, David

 

[zuikologist]

Hearing aid cells at 1.4v are a good low cost alternative to Wein cells. Just remember to change them regularly.

 

[kuuan]

Sounds like you will have to find out from experience which battery with which ASA adjustment gives you the right exposure.

There are mentioned 'hearing aid' and other batteries that have a voltage that is nearer to the needed one, but actually it is very easy to drop the voltage of readily and cheaply available 1.5 Volt batteries, like the LR44, to 1.3 Volt. All that is needed is a "Schottky diode", a tiny electronic part readily available in DIY electronic parts stores, that has to go between the "+" of the battery in the cable feeding the camera. I hardwired one inside 2 or three rangefinder cameras of mine. One still may have to use spacer, foam, carton to hold the batteries in place properly and e.g stack folded aluminium foil so that they make contact as needed.
Btw. the first camera I had modded had been a Konica C35 FD that I had rescued from a trash can in a store in Osaka for 500 Yen. As I found out all that had been wrong was that the wires had been corroded off the battery compartment. That is I had to open it to find the problem and then resolder the contact anyway and luckily there was enough space to include the diode. And it had been here, in this very forum , that I had received all the information and help to get it done! see: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80697

see info on the mercury battery problem and it's solutions here: http://www.butkus.org/chinon/batt-adapt-us.pdf