Canon AE-1 Program w Alkaline batteries

[max_pirsky]

<p>Hi everyone, I just got a Canon AE-1 Program.<br>

When pressing the battery check button, I would receive rapid beeping, and then after a while it'd slow down. So I figured that it's probably an old battery and needs to be replaced (came with the camera after all - a 6v. Silver Oxide). I went to a camera shop near my house who recommended to get 4xLR44 batteries with a converter (one that looks like a 6v battery, which holds 4 LR44 batteries), since they were out of 6v batteries. So I went and got that with four Maxell Alkaline 1.5v batteries. Now the issue I'm having is that when I press the batt. check button - the beeping is really slow, like 3 beeps a second tops, which I know usually means that there's not enough power. Though the meter and shutter speeds seem to be working fine. I'm also certain the batteries are at full charge since the guy at the store checked them right in front of me. Is this something I should be worried about? Should I look for a Lithium or Silver Oxide 6v battery instead of using this converter with Alkaline LR44s?<br>

Appreciate the help, guys!</p>

<p>Cheers,<br>

Max</p>

[thomas_goehler]

<p>Three beeps a second ist still ok. No need to worry</p>

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>If it works it's ok but I have used silver oxide, alkaline and lithium 6V batteries on the A-series bodies without any problem. Each battery has its pros and cons: price, longevity, low temperature behaviour, etc. Personally I would prefer one 6V battery over a 4 x 1.5 V contraption, if only for the extra contact areas. I don't know about the place where you live but here in the Netherlands I can get most batteries by mail order in just one day. OTOH the beeps or just an indication, when the camera works it's ok, irrespectable of the number of beeps. </p>

[Keith S in Arizona USA]

<p>Either the Silver Oxide or an Alkaline is just fine for normal use. Either will last quite a long time. Your three beeps per second should be ignored. You have plenty of shots left. Too many to worry about at the three beeps point.</p>

<p>In my experience with the AE-1PROGRAM (and AE-1 too,) these cameras will operate properly right up to the point the battery cannot supply enough oomph to operate the shutter. So no worries about poor exposures due to a declining Alkaline battery. Just keep going with the photography until the battery totally dies.</p>

<p>By the way, for readers who may not know, the Silver Oxide battery will die suddenly when it becomes depleted, whereas the Alkaline will slowly decline in power until its inability to operate the camera. Exposures will not be affected by <strong>either</strong> battery type as they decline in power.</p>

<p>Thirty years ago I learned a very valuable lesson about carrying spare batteries when a battery died on me suddenly and I had no spare. Sunday, no stores open in the area. Grrr. I had been certain that my AE-1's battery had plenty of life left in it.</p>

 

[max_pirsky]

<p>Thanks for the replies, everyone. Right now - two days later (after installing fresh batteries, as described) the battery check button makes one long beep and then stops beeping whatsoever, as if out of power. I have film in the camera, took a few shots yesterday, everything seemed normal in terms of metering and shutter speed. Should I just completely ignore the battery check button? I'm interested to know if this is a normal thing that happens with Alkaline batteries in these cameras.<br>

Jos - I use a converter which basically looks like a 6v battery, so contact areas are the same, if I understand you correctly.</p>

[Keith S in Arizona USA]

<p>I have never heard of a really lengthy beep as you describe. This concerns me a bit.</p>

<p>Try leaving your camera switched ON (Power Lever in the ON position) WITH A FRESH NEW BATTERY! and leave the camera sitting in that mode for several days to see if the battery runs down. You should be able to leave the camera like that virtually for a year or more as the current draw is so tiny. If the battery runs down in a few days or so, you definitely have an electrical issue with the camera.</p>

<p>It can sit powered up "virtually forever" (well not really, but for all practical purposes) and not run the battery down --- as long as nothing is half-way pressing the shutter release button.</p>

<p>Keep us apprised so we can continue to offer any further assistance.</p>

[thomas_goehler]

<p>It is even better than what Keith wrote, since the Canon AE-1 program does not use ANY electricity unless you touch the shutter release. This is why those cams can sit for years without losing power. I have had my one for 30 years now and I can't recall changing the battery more than 3 times.</p>

<p>Could it be that you SEEm to hear one beep which is actually a rapid succession of single beeps?</p>

[max_pirsky]

<p>It's just one single beep. If I keep pressing the button over and over it eventually stops as if the battery doesn't have any power left. The meter still seems to be working though, will let you know in the following days if the shutter stops working (when I have time to finish shooting the roll of film that's in there right now). I think I'll also try to find a Lithium or Silver Oxide battery to replace the Alkaline that's in there right now. I had a similar issue with brand new Alkaline batteries in a Nikon FE where after a few days the batt check light stopped flashing...</p>

[steve_mareno1]

<p>The camera needs 6V, and any way you can supply it is fine. I always taped 4 of those 1.5V button batteries together w/ a piece of tinfoil wadded up to make up for the slightly shorter length in mine because I had lots of those for use in other cameras. Worked a treat. Get a cheap volt meter and make sure your battery is up to snuff. Some new batteries have sat on the shelves in stores and are not 6V.</p>

[max_pirsky]

<p>Hi Guys, tested the camera yesterday, shutter still fires fine, light meter seems to be working.<br>

The batt test button makes one beep then goes silent.<br>

Steve - I wrote before that the guy at the store checked the batteries with a volt meter and they were at full charge. <br>

Can anyone using Alkaline batteries tell me if they've experienced anything similar with the batt. check button? I'm having trouble finding 6v. Silver Oxide batteries where I live. I've found 357 Lithium batteries, so might try 4 of these with the adapter I was talking about.</p>

[max_pirsky]

<p>Just got 4x357 Silver Oxide batteries. I'm using the same adapter as the LR44s and the batt. check button produces rapid beeping as it should. Will update if I start seeing similar issues. If not, the problem must be with using Alkaline batteries. Could anyone share whether their AE1 Program batt. check button works as it should with Alkalines?</p>

[Keith S in Arizona USA]

<p>Okay. Once again about batteries for the AE-1.</p>

<p>Max, you really need to get the proper batteries for your camera. 357's (and LR44's too) do not make sense. As to the 357's, they have an output of 150 mAh. The LR44's are not much different. The 6V PX28A (Alkaline) and PX28L (Lithium) put out far greater current. A stack of small 357's or LR44's is not going to supply the higher pulses of current the camera needs for some of its operations. You are creating issues by attempting to use improper batteries.</p>

<p>If you need to, send away wherever you need to, to buy a few of the correct PX28A or PX28L batteries. Correct battery types will solve the slow or no beeping issues. You are only going to continue having issues with the incorrect batteries.</p>

<p>I ran a test today with my two AE-1P's. With the PX28A and PX28L (new batteries,) both cameras beeped rapidly upon battery check. Having a PX28A (Alkaline) that measures 60% on my ZTS-MBT-1 battery tester, the beeps of both cameras were slower, but never continuous. "PERHAPS" a weaker battery "MIGHT" give a continuous beep? I do not know.</p>

<p>And as to the store checking your batteries with a "voltmeter," this CAN be a misleading effort. Non-fresh batteries can measure at or near full voltage, BUT the voltage can drop severely with a small load applied. Unless you can connect the voltmeter WHILE the battery is in the camera and being used, you do not know for sure that the battery is at or near full capacity when using a simple voltmeter. You need to be using a "load tester" type of battery checker.</p>

<p>I highly recommend that everyone buy a ZTS-MBT-1 Pulse Load Battery Tester via B&H Photo in New York City, (or ADORAMA?) This tester gives a TRUE reading of actual battery capacity in the battery. The tester measures dozens of types of photo, and other, batteries. It measures batteries under specific loads, and indicates the "life" left in the battery.</p>

<p>This problem is really one of wrong batteries, and is easily solved.</p>

[max_pirsky]

<p>Keith, I opened up the manual and did some quick research about the batteries for the Canon AE1 Program. Here are the batteries recommended in the manual:<br>

1. Alkaline A544 (4LR44)<br>

2. Silver Oxide 544 (PX 28 or 4SR44)<br>

3. Lithium PX 28L<br>

<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/4LR44-battery-open-closed.jpg">Here are the internals of an A544 battery</a><br>

As you can see, inside are 4 LR44 batteries (hence the name 4LR44). The 357s are SR44 batteries, four of which make exactly one PX28 battery. Could you please explain how the two are any different, as I'm having trouble making sense of this? (by no means do I understand much about batteries or electronics)<br>

Thanks.</p>

[Keith S in Arizona USA]

<p><strong>OOOPS! MY BAD!!! :-(</strong><strong><br /></strong><br /> <br /> . . . . . so embarrassed . . . .<br /> <br /> <strong><br /></strong>I had gotten onto a wrong battery table, not the batteries we are talking about. WAY different total current ratings from the 6V. YES from what you came up with the 6V is a stack of smaller cells, and <strong>YES the <strong>smaller cells that we are referencing DO have the same ratings as the </strong>PX28 battery series.</strong></p>

<p>Anyway, all I can say is that the beeping issues where you are getting a slow-to-no beep don't seem all that concerning to me. The camera should function just fine as long as the shutter operates. With my 60% battery placed into my AE-1P, the beeps are SLOW but not continuous, and do not stop. A cessation of the beeps WOULD normally indicate a much weaker or near dead battery. However, I cannot comment or assist any further as I have no experience with weaker or near-dead batteries. In the past I have used my AE-1P's until they stopped working, and then replaced the battery.</p>

<p>By the way, constantly checking the battery is <strong>not</strong> a good thing as it eats power to operate the LED or beeper, depending on a camera model (AE-1 LED, AE-1P Beeper.)</p>

<p>My habit is to check a battery when I install a new one, and then I completely ignore it until the next photo trip, or wait for it to die. As I always carry a spare, there are no worries if the old battery suddenly dies during a shoot.</p>

<p>Having never checked a battery just before it died, I have no experience as to what the beeping length may have been exhibiting at that point.</p>

<p>Just keep using the camera and stick in a new battery when the old one dies. As stated earlier, if the camera battery has enough oomph to operate the shutter, your exposure will be OK. At some point the camera stops operating, but the previous exposure will be good.</p>

<p>Again, apologies for the wrong battery information.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>From an electrochemistry point of view silver oxide cells have a slightly higher voltage per cell than alkaline (1.55 v instead of 1.5 v) Don't know if that would make a difference or not, but I do remember reading somewhere that only silver oxide cells were recommended for the Canon AT-1. I believe the AE-1 Program takes the same battery.</p>

[glen_h]

<blockquote>

<p>As to the 357's, they have an output of 150 mAh.<br>

</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Note that this isn't a current rating, but a current times time rating.<br>

<br>

The actual peak current rating I don't see on duracell.com, and the milliamp-hour rating usually goes down at higher current drains, but, for example, you should be able to run this battery at 1.5ma for 100 hours, maybe not 150ma for an hour, and not so likely at all 15A for 0.01 hour. <br>

<br>

Watch batteries are optimized for low current and long active life, maybe 15 microamps and 10,000 hours. </p>

[User_4136860]

<p>The best battery and longest lasting for your AE1 P is the PX28L Lithium Battery.</p>