ronnie_retro
Established
Howdy,
I'm new to the forum, but not new to rangefinders. Back in high school I used my dad's Agfa Karat -36 loaded with Panatomic-X and developed in Microdol. My buds were all shooting some sort of SLR with Tri-X and developed in what often looked like Dektol. I really liked the way I could tell if I got the shot because there was no viewfinder blackout at the instant of exposure - and the precision sound of the shutter was music to my ears.
Fast forward a few epochs. After shooting only SLRs I wanted the rangefinder experience again, not only for the viewfinder thingy but for access to ultrasharp lenses with no mirror vibes. I bought one of the new Zeiss 35mm f/2 lenses and an R2A to drive it.
Since I earn my living as an electrical engineer I thought I'd put in my $.02 about the battery life issue raised many posts ago.
I measured the current drain of my R2A as follows:
meter active, 6.6 mA.
meter timed out, 4.0 uA.
A typical SR-44 type silver oxide cell has a capacity of ~150 mAH, meaning that if you spaced out and left the battery switch on and put your Voigtlander on a shelf it would take more than 4 years to completely drain a new set.
For actual shooting, I assume that it takes 20 meter seconds per shot - 10 seconds to read and adjust, 10 seconds to time out, and that the shutter consumes the same amount of energy as the meter per shot (granted a guess, but a realistic one). This yields a capacity of 50 rolls to exhaustion.
Putting all this together-
1). Don't fret over leaving the battery switch on - if you forget to turn it off and the camera sits for a month or so till next use you haven't depleted the battery much at all.
2). Battery life is then determined only by how much you actually shoot.
If you used lower capacity LR-44 cells , you might want to consider changing them out after a dozen rolls, or just do as in 3-
3). For the thr-rifty Scottsmen out there, a quick WEB search shows you can buy a pack-o-100 LR44s for $10. Now, at 20 cents for a new battery set there should be no whining! Change 'em out once a month, put spares by the camera, in your glove compartment, hat, wallet, office desk, whatever. Sheesh. Myself, I like that the silver SR-44 cells last longer than the alkalines and provide much more constant voltage over life. You can easily get these for about $1.20 each. This is less than 1/3 the price if I try to buy them locally. (BTW, the numbers above mean you want the high drain type if your source has this choice.)
Enjoy the shutter accuracy electronic timing provides, as compensation for the loss of that wonderful leaf shutter sound.
Cheers
I'm new to the forum, but not new to rangefinders. Back in high school I used my dad's Agfa Karat -36 loaded with Panatomic-X and developed in Microdol. My buds were all shooting some sort of SLR with Tri-X and developed in what often looked like Dektol. I really liked the way I could tell if I got the shot because there was no viewfinder blackout at the instant of exposure - and the precision sound of the shutter was music to my ears.
Fast forward a few epochs. After shooting only SLRs I wanted the rangefinder experience again, not only for the viewfinder thingy but for access to ultrasharp lenses with no mirror vibes. I bought one of the new Zeiss 35mm f/2 lenses and an R2A to drive it.
Since I earn my living as an electrical engineer I thought I'd put in my $.02 about the battery life issue raised many posts ago.
I measured the current drain of my R2A as follows:
meter active, 6.6 mA.
meter timed out, 4.0 uA.
A typical SR-44 type silver oxide cell has a capacity of ~150 mAH, meaning that if you spaced out and left the battery switch on and put your Voigtlander on a shelf it would take more than 4 years to completely drain a new set.
For actual shooting, I assume that it takes 20 meter seconds per shot - 10 seconds to read and adjust, 10 seconds to time out, and that the shutter consumes the same amount of energy as the meter per shot (granted a guess, but a realistic one). This yields a capacity of 50 rolls to exhaustion.
Putting all this together-
1). Don't fret over leaving the battery switch on - if you forget to turn it off and the camera sits for a month or so till next use you haven't depleted the battery much at all.
2). Battery life is then determined only by how much you actually shoot.
If you used lower capacity LR-44 cells , you might want to consider changing them out after a dozen rolls, or just do as in 3-
3). For the thr-rifty Scottsmen out there, a quick WEB search shows you can buy a pack-o-100 LR44s for $10. Now, at 20 cents for a new battery set there should be no whining! Change 'em out once a month, put spares by the camera, in your glove compartment, hat, wallet, office desk, whatever. Sheesh. Myself, I like that the silver SR-44 cells last longer than the alkalines and provide much more constant voltage over life. You can easily get these for about $1.20 each. This is less than 1/3 the price if I try to buy them locally. (BTW, the numbers above mean you want the high drain type if your source has this choice.)
Enjoy the shutter accuracy electronic timing provides, as compensation for the loss of that wonderful leaf shutter sound.
Cheers
