F1 F1n battery

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.

 

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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.

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

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.

 

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Dan

John,

I recently received the CRIS adaptor. It seems to work ok. If I had

to do it over, I'd get the WEIN Cell PX625 Replacement for $US

4.35 from here:

http://www.micro-tools.com/Merchant2/batteries.htm

John, I also got a Canon F-1 (second model) a few months ago and wrestled with the battery problem. I found two companies still selling PX625 mercury 1.35 cells at: px625.com (and) eurobatteries.com. Simple straightforward transactions, got my batteries in my mailbox withing a very few days. They work great.

 

Don

I found the rapid death (I never got more than two months out of them) of the Wein air cells annoying so I got the Cris adaptor. It works fine. And the cell that it takes is widely available, including at hardware stores, whereas teh Wein is available only at limited camera stores.