Bronica ETRS AE-II Battery Life

[martin_fahey]

I've searched this forum and found some previous references to this

problem, but no definitive answer. Problem is - my newly-acquired

ETRS, with AE-II prism finder, eats batteries! A new Varta 6V

lithium lasted only a week, with only 1 roll shot, and a previous

Duracell lithium lasted only about the same time. However, I forgot

to turn off the meter (leaving it on 'A') when I put the camera back

in the bag (bad habits from having cameras that switch off

automatically). Does the meter use power when it is not activated,

or it there another problem?

[SCL]

The meter must be turned off when you're not using it! It does not power down when not activated, and therefore is known by urban legend to eat batteries. You're going to have to get rid of bad habits or buy a battery company. I generally got well over 6 weeks on the AEII I had with modest shooting.

[martin_fahey]

Hmm.. I was afraid of that! I don't suppose there are any suitable 6v rechargable batteries available?

 

Does anyone know if the AE-III has the same behaviour w.r.t. batteries?

 

THanks

[Uncle Goose]

I have the AEIII and it doesn't seem te "eat" batteries in the way you say it. The AEIII is newer technology so I presume also less wastefull.

[simon_platt1]

Hi Martin

 

I have an AE-III and it does not use batteries at anything like the rate of the AE-II. Typically I get a yeras use out of the battery before changing. I never leave it to go flat but always repace it when I get to the cameras birthday. I also always carry a spare just in case. The AE-II uses LED's to display the exposure information and the main change in introducing the AE-III was to use a LCD which consumes very little power when compared to the AE-II.

Unfortunately it is not possible to get rechargeables in the required size. So you will have to remmember to turn it off in the future or else get an AE-III

[simon_meeds]

The main difference between AEII and AEIII as far as battery life is concerned is LED versus LCD. In the 70s I had an LED calculator - its battery life was 8 hours. My first LCD calculator had a battery life of thousands of hours. Those with long enough memories may also remember LED watches where you had to press a button to see the time - the LEDs were too power-hungry to be left on continuously.

 

Tamron recommend Silver Oxide batteries for Bronicas rather than alkaline or lithium): "The silver oxide battery. It has excellent voltage stability, the best longevity, wide temperature latitude, good shelf life, and a predictable (and comfortable for the power requirements of a camera) discharge character." (http://www.tamron.com/bronica/batteries.asp)

 

When I was first using my ETRS (and AEII) I had some problems with short battery life, but since I have got into the habit of switching it off and taking time to search out appropriate batteries things have got much better... even forgetting to switch off once in a while isn't too bad as long as I notice within hours, though I usually switch off between bursts of photography. At least, unlike digital, there's no switch-on delay.

[martin_fahey]

Thanks everyone. The LED versus LCD argument does not in itself make sense, as the LEDs only operate when the shutter release is part depressed. So, just leaving the prism switched on, but not in use, would not consume power if it was only the LEDs that consumed power. So I think it has to be the meter itself that consumes the power.

 

I think that the last time I left it switched on for a few days it died even though I had used only 1 roll of film - but in that case I did so with it on my office desk without the lens cap on. I know some older cameras effectively switched off the meter if the lens cap was on (Canonet for example, I think). So, I suppose this means that the meter itself, and not the LEDs, is the culprit. I'll have to use some 'aide memoire' to remind me to switch it off after use.

[darcy_lorimer]

As previously noted, Bronica/Tamron recommend silver oxide batteries as opposed to lithium. Lithium batteries have longer voltage stability for low current draw applications (like modern CMOS circuitry), but have poor voltage life for higher current draw applications. Older circuitry was mainly bi-polar, which had much higher current requirements. Silver Oxide batteries are much better for high current draw applications. Unfortunately, silver oxide batteries are getting hard to find. A recent Google search (for 544/28PL) turned up only a couple of sources, and I could not find anything but lithium in my local stores