Older cameras (like the original Pentax Spotmatic, for instance) use a smaller button (or pill) shaped Mercury Oxide battery, and more recent models (practically any camera designed and launched after 1975) use silver oxide or lithium batteries in many shapes and forms. The Exell in particular can’t be inserted in the Leica CL The dimensions of the two Zinc-Air batteries are not exactly similar to the alcaline (or to the original PX625). The battery looks like 3 coins of different diameters stacked above one another, and is rather large and thick (Diameter: 15.6 mm. The most common cameras using the PX625 battery were launched between 19: Pentax Spotmatic F, Olympus OM-1, Leica CL, Leica M5, Nikkormat FTn, Canon FTb and Canonet GIII QL, …. Three substitutes for the PX625 battery – alcaline (top), Wein Zinc-Air (right), Exell Zinc-Air (right) – Note the little vents on the two Zinc-Air batteries For all of their drawbacks, mercury oxide batteries had two big advantages – they delivered a constant 1.35v tension across their lifespan, and if not used, they kept their charge for a very long time (at least 10 years). The sale of mercury batteries was banned in 1996 because of their toxicity and environmental unfriendliness, and, unfortunately for the owners of camera of the early 70s, there is no perfect substitute. Three substitutes for the PX625 battery – Wein Zinc-Air (left), Exell Zinc-Air (right), Alcaline (center) Follow CamerAgX – a new life for old gear on Top Posts & PagesĬameras designed and manufactured before 1975 very often use coin shaped Mercury Oxide batteries to power the CdS cell in charge of metering – the most common being the PX625 aka PX625 / PX13 / MR9 Mercury Cell. If you’re in the same frame of mind, welcome. I love taking pictures, I love old cameras, and that’s all it is about. And they will still be shooting film 10 years from now.

People paint, ride horses, wear mechanical watches and play vinyl records for a multitude of reasons, some of them unsuspected 150 or 20 years ago. In the nineteen eighties digital watches did not kill mechanical watches, and vinyl records are making a comeback 20 years after CDs were launched. In the nineteenth century, photography did not kill watercolor painting and cars did not drive horses to extinction.

But there is such an ample supply of nice second hand cameras that finding one you like is not a problem.įilm cameras are now extraordinarily cheap, and as long as you’re in no hurry to see your images and don’t take too many pictures, using SLRs or rangefinder cameras from yesteryear is a rewarding experience. It’s a different experience, and using different tools make you see the world differently. But I also love shooting with film cameras. Like anybody else, I use digital cameras. About old film cameras, and the pictures you can still make with them.

Timex m cell battery equivalent