Just Wondering - replacement batteries for FTN

[jay_frazier]

Wouid it hurt to use the 1.5 batteries in my FTN or should I go with the wein cells Also my old Nikon F the photomic

meter died what would be a good basic handheld meter to start with Great Site Thank You very much

[joe_a2]

Hard to go wrong with a Sekonic L-398 Meter. It will serve you now and forever. $75. $50 if you're patient. Be sure

to get one with the Owner's Manual and the "Lumigrid", the "Lumisphere", and the "Lumidome". They're the three

covers for the sensor; flat with holes, flat opaque, and dome opaque.<div></div>

[jay_frazier]

Thank you Joe I'll keep my eyes out for one

[lex_jenkins]

As a replacement for size #625 mercury button cells, the #675 zinc air hearing aid batteries work very well. Even tho' they're smaller in diameter they've worked perfectly for me in my cameras that were originally designed for the 625 mercury cells: Canonets, Canon TX and FTbn, Olympus OM-1, others. Same power characteristics so metering will be accurate, even for slide film.

 

The Wein cell is little more than a zinc air hearing aid battery with a metal collar to bring it up to size. It's overpriced. For the same money you can buy a packet of #675 hearing aid batteries. They'll only last 1-6 months after peeling off the sticker over the air vents, so keep a packet handy.

 

I realize I'm routinely dismissive of the Wein cells but the fact is that it's not a good value. I'd like to support any company that fills a market niche, but this niche didn't need filling. I bought several when they first came out. Most of 'em were dead on arrival. The local Battery Plus outlet finally got tired of replacing 'em free. I switched to the hearing aid batteries and they've worked well, and far more cost effectively.

[Matthew Currie]

Higher voltage batteries will not hurt the FTn, but they will introduce an exposure error, probably of about two stops. There are a couple of options here. Of course you can use hearing aid batteries, and get almost no error, but you'll have to keep spares handy, as Lex notes. I do this on my old Konica, but still have about 2/3 stop error that needs compensating. You can also use alkalines or silver oxides and offset the ASA dial. Finally, you can have an FTn meter readjusted for higher voltage cells, or if you're handy, you can do it yourself. There used to be a couple of web pages devoted to this, but I'm not sure they're still around. You have to peel off the leatherette on the top to remove the top cover, but otherwise it's pretty easy. I now have three FTn's set for silver oxides.

[albinonflickr]

Altered exposure with different-voltage cells seems easily corrected by dialling in a corrected ISO/ASA/DIN value. Admittedly, I've up till now been too lazy to actually try it in my N'mat FTn and Canonets.. Subsequently, they don't see much use lately. But so do my other film camera's, I'm afraid. Thanks for the heads-up! ;-)

[bob_sunley]

Adjusting the asa setting won't work, as the Nikon meter is non linear with the wrong voltage. Also Costco will sell you a 30 pack of the hearing aid batteries for approx $13 here in Canada and maybe somewhat less in the US.

[albinonflickr]

Non-linear, mmm..? Too bad!

 

Thank you for the information.