zinc battery in srt

[back alley]

which battery would work in an srt 101 & 200?

i am assuming there is more than one type/size...i know nothing!

have an opportunity to pick up 2 cameras and 4 lenses for cheap locally...

 

[back alley]

love google...found it!

 

[Nokton48]

The original 1.35V Minolta SRT battery was the Eveready EPX625, Mallory PX-625, PX-13, or EPX-13 or equivilent. I still have one or two of the EPX-625's around in good shape, that came in camera bodies 😀

When Greg Stelz overhauled my SRT's, he suggested going to an Eveready #357 Watch Battery. Had him do that(he adjusted the circuitry), and have been very happy with my in-camera meters since then.

 

[Timmyjoe]

I'm gonna have to disagree with Nokton48, I would not have the camera circuitry adjusted. I have used a Chris(sp) adapter with the silver battery in an SRT I rebuilt and the meter was spot on. The adapter and silver battery work in place of the 1.3V mercury 625 battery.

About ten years ago I had a Canon F-1 rebuilt and the tech changed the circuitry as Nokton48 described. The camera meter is now next to worthless. The Eveready #357 batteries start out at about 1.5V (which is what the tech will set the circuitry to match), but unlike the mercury batteries, and the silver batteries, the #357 immediately starts losing power, and declines throughout its life. So the meter may be accurate when you first put the battery in, but then it gets progressively more inaccurate as the battery drains. And there is no way to fix that.

Again, I would NOT have the camera's circuitry changed. Put out the money for the Chris (sp) adapter and silver battery, and your SRTs will have accurate meters.

Best,
-Tim

 

[back alley]

my incoming 202 has had the circuity adjusted for silver oxide batteries.

cris adapters are almost 40 bucks each...

i thought that the zinc air batteries required no adjustment...just pop in and use for the few months of life that they offer?

 

[Nokton48]

I have to agree that the CRIS adapters are great. I own eight of them myself (lots of other things I own also take 1.35V EPX625 cells). I have tested them extensively against the original mercury batteries in side-by-side metering tests (low, medium, and bright lighting) and they are absolutely identical to the original Mercury batteries. I am satisfied.

The cement holding the metering cells in place internally tends to yellow and darken over time, which can also change your exposure.

However I do have to say that the #357's are working well for me. I just checked them again against my reference meter (an old Zone VI modified Pentax Digital) and they are right on the nose. I have not replaced any of mine since Greg worked on my cameras.

 

[Pioneer]

I have an old SRT 101 with the adapted circuitry to allow use of a 357 battery and I use the Chris Adaptor in my 102, and I also use the hearing aid batteries in another (I have several SR-T Minoltas). In all cases the meters seem to work just fine when compared against other external meters.

My YashicaMat is always one stop off, but that is the meter itself, not the battery.

 

[colyn]

I solder an inline Schottky diode 1N5711 and use the 357 silver oxide battery in my srT's after removing the meter prism blocks, clean off the old cement then recementing them. All of my srT's have accurate meter as a result..

You can see my method here http://www.colynsfotografs.com/srt.html