F1 F1n battery

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I am curious about suitable replacement for the PX625 mercury battery. Is anyone using the CRIS MR-9 adapter in an F1 with success? Is it a reliable and consistent solution? Has anyone rigorously tested this unit? I think the price of around $30 is very reasonable, assuming the adapter does work reliably in the F1, specifically. Thanks.

The following PDF file, accessed through this link, http://www.rolleiclub.nl/batterijadapterUS.html, mentions that with units drawing more than 200 microamperes (mentions some Nikon cameras) the CRIS adaptor can have a reading off as much as -1 to +3 LV. I am no scientist, I am just wanting to find out if there is an excellent solution to the battery replacment problem. Thanks.

-- John McDonald (jmcd@napanet.net), May 14, 2002

Answers

I use a Wein air cell in my FTb - and the Wein air cell is recommended for all other camera eauipment that uses a 625 Mercury cell

-- rich (teach_sci@yahoo.com), May 15, 2002.

John, welcome to the new, environmentally friendly, millenium. Mercury batteries are past tense because mercury causes heavy-metel poisoning. That's bad. However, tons of cadmium are dumped into landfills every day from old NiCd batteries and guess what? Cadmium is a heavy metal, too. I don't get it. Anyway, if you have money to burn, either the Wein aircell or the C.R.I.S. adapter are great. Both tend to be costly, either because of the up-front cash outlay of the $30, or the constant replacement of the aircells. Aircells only last a few months, even if you don't use them. At $5 each, that adds up. The best bet is to find a real PX625 mercury cell and use that. They went out of production in 1999, but their shelf life is around ten years so you should be able to scrounge some up. Then, never forget to turn off your meter or always use a lens cap to prevent the precious electrons from leaving home. The next most excellent soultion is to use a PX625A alkaline cell. These read anywhere from a 1/3 stop to couple of stops off, depending on who you ask. This error can be calibrated out the next time you have your camera serviced. Or, you can use your handy-dandy in camera calibrator-the light meter itself. You can compare the light meter against an accurate handheld meter and use the ASA dial to zero out the error, or you can use the battery-check. If you'd like to know how to do that, fire off an e-mail to danimal_57@yahoo.com and I'll walk you through it. Another option is to use a handheld meter. They're nice to have anyway and they're very accurate. Why do you need accuracy? Because you're shooting slides, of course. Modern negative film is so tolerant of exposure error that you can get by with an inaccurate meter or just guess, using the "sunny 16" rule. This April I shot a roll of Kodak Max 400 through my prewar Contax II up in Yosemite and used estimate exposure. I was very pleased with the results. I spent yesterday printing the negatives and the 8x10s are beautiful. That old Carl Zeiss sure knew how to make a lens! Let me know what you think. I regularly use a 1971 F-1 and I love the camera. They're well designed and built and, in my opinion, reasonably priced compared to other pro cameras. It's a shame that the batteries have been needlessly banned.

Dan

-- Dan Carey (danimal_57@yahoo.com), May 28, 2002.


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