Will this work? (battery mod for Polaroid Land camera)

[silverscape]

<p>I guess this will probably be one of those situations where I'll just have to "try it and see." But I had another idea for how to power a Polaroid Automatic 100 camera. I know some people just modify a AAA battery holder...but from what I've been reading, you still have to trim some of the plastic off the battery compartment to make it fit. And the idea of me messing around in this camera with a file or sandpaper just doesn't sound too great. </p>

<p>I happened to have a few PX1A batteries, and I decided to try this. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. I just taped two of them in series. Then I just screwed on a bolt to the original battery holder. It holds the batteries in place and makes firm contact with the negative terminal...</p>

<p><img src="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/FILE0212b.jpg" alt="" /><br>

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I tested the voltage with my multimeter and it's a little bit low...about 4 volts. Do you think that's going to be an issue? The shutter seems to be working like it's supposed to. Or will the slightly lower voltage affect the exposure too much?<br /><br /> </p>

[patrick j dempsey]

<p>You are not going to get 4.5v out of two 1.5v batteries. ;) Try three instead. This camera is all circuits and a magnetic shutter, so the closer you can get to the required voltage the better I would think.</p>

[patrick_mont]

<p>I think that the meter will be off. If you are able to tape two AAA batteries together (AAA batteries are 1.5V each) it will work perfectly. That is what I have done on occasion.</p>

[silverscape]

<p>Yeah, I don't get it either...I thought the PX1A batteries were 1.5 volts. But when I had two of them connected in series, the meter was showing 4 volts. With 3 batteries, it shows 6 volts. Either the voltage is a little high on those batteries for some reason, or there's something funny going on with my meter. What, is it rounding?</p>

<p>I'll check it with another meter. I do have another PX1A battery, and if the voltage looks too low, I'll try putting 3 of them in series. The shutter does seem to be working, but like you guys said the light sensor might be off a little. </p>

<p> </p>

[tomscott]

<p>I just tested a new lithium AAA battery and it tests at 1.8V. How about a CR2 lithium battery at 3.0V plus a 625a Button cell at 1.5V? They are both the same diameter or close enough (.59 inches, may be too fat) . Stacked together they come up to 1.25 inches.</p>

[tomscott]

<p>What may work even better is to use your set-up but use 3 zinc air 675 hearing aid batteries. The diameter of these are only .45 or about 7/16ths of an inch and would give you 4.2V.</p>

[john carter]

<p>Try it, if the meter is off maybe you can adjust with the Lighten/Darken ring. If it doesn't work you can modify with the THREE AAA batteries. I did my 100 mod from the site I sent you and it works fine.</p>

[silverscape]

<p>Thanks guys. I guess I'll make a trip to Radio Shack and see what I can find :)</p>

<p>John, I was thinking the same thing, that even if the exposure is off a little, maybe I could adjust it with lighten\darken.</p>

 

[silverscape]

<p>Update: ok, I think I got it :)</p>

<p>I bought a pack of Engergizer zink-oxide batteries from Walmart. I taped two of them in series, with one of the PX1A batteries, and the voltage looks just about right. Actually, it's about 4.6 volts total now. (I tested it with two different voltmeters, just to be sure.) I don't think that 1/10th of a volt over is going to matter much. I just went outside with the camera right now and tested it. It seems to be working right. I opened the back and looked through the lens to be sure the shutter is actually firing, and yup and I can see a flash of light. I played around with the aperture settings, the ISO dial, and the "light/darken" ring, and there is an obvious difference in the shutter speeds whenever I change any of the settings. So the light sensor is working.</p>

<p>I guess all I have to do now is order some film! :D</p>

[patrick_mont]

<p>You are in buissness! You live in California? How close to Freestyle are you? You could go pick some up there.</p>

[jon_b.1]

<p>I converted mine to use 3 "N" batteries, with battery holders purchased at Radio Shack. They fit into the chamber with no trimming.</p>

[silverscape]

<p>Ok, thanks a lot guys! I guess I won't know for sure that the camera is working right until I load it with film. But as far as I can tell, it should be.</p>

<p>By the way, there's a guy on Flickr who came up with a clever little solution for Fuji films sometimes ripping. Apparently, the problem is caused by the springs on the door pushing too hard on the film cartridge. You just put bobby pins on to hold down the springs:</p>

<p><a href="

<p><a href="

<p><br />Patrick, Freestyle is in Hollywood, and unfortunately I live about an hour away :(</p>

<p>I would just order it from their website, but they have a minimum $25 requirement for online orders. So I'm either going to wait until I have more money in about a week, or maybe I'll order it from Adorama. I do have a local camera shop near where I live, and they do a pretty good job of keeping film and chemicals in stock. But they don't have any peel-apart film! (Strangely though, they do have plenty of Polaroid 600). </p>