[Silent Street]

I have used either and both types of battery for many years interchangeably with no problems (e.g. Olympus XA). The caveat is that if the camera manufacturer explicitly states to use a type of battery and nothing else, then follow that recommendation. Meters can suffer from their own malaise over a long period of time, unrelated to the type of battery(ies) in use.

[sandbasser]

This is a very interesting discussion.

My small contribution: I've noticed that lately Energizer (and probably other manufacturers) have been putting 'use by' dates on some of their watch/camera/etc batteries.

[Xmas]

DIY?

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/batt-adapt-us.pdf

[stevebrot]

You can buy a 4-pack of LR44 batteries for $1 at your local Dollar Tree. That's Dollar "Tree," not "General" or "Family Dollar," etc.

Hi Shawn! Welcome to the Pentax Forums!

You need to down load the user manual for your camera.
Which maybe wrong most early Pentax used bridge or differential circuits and will work with mercury, silver, alkaline, or zinc air cells.
You may need a plumbers O ring to fit a zinc cell.
The cameras that say silver cells need silver (or lithium to replace two silver) few have regulators.

If you have a camera that needs Mercury you need it:

- modified
- an adapter to use silver
- a zinc cell and ring in rubber or metal

Using an alkaline not accurate for E6.

Many CdS cells are old and way off calibration needing replacement. You need to test in bright and dim light against a known good meter.

I might point out that this is a zombie thread.

About the only thing that can be added to the last comment above is that alkaline cells are not recommended for camera use unless it is an absolute emergency. I might also mention that while the meters in Spotmatic cameras use a type of bridge circuit, the bridge is not balanced. As a result there is some voltage dependency in low light. FWIW, I use a voltage-corrected adapter and SR-44 cells in my mercury cell cameras.


Steve

[Xmas]

Hi Shawn! Welcome to the Pentax Forums!



I might point out that this is a zombie thread.

About the only thing that can be added to the last comment above is that alkaline cells are not recommended for camera use unless it is an absolute emergency. I might also mention that while the meters in Spotmatic cameras use a type of bridge circuit, the bridge is not balanced. As a result there is some voltage dependency in low light. FWIW, I use a voltage-corrected adapter and SR-44 cells in my mercury cell cameras.


Steve

Hi Steve

No it is important for those using E6!

The alkaline cells vary both their on load voltage and internal resistance a lot during service.
The CdS cells can age and alter characteristics a lot.

I'd imagine Eric will fit a constant voltage drop diode during service if you ask, and/or recalibrate CdS cells.

Or if you like gory detail.

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/batt-adapt-us.pdf

The diodes are pretty cheap, if you can do fine soldering, there is room in a spottie to fit one.

I test camera high and low light against a known good meter every morning or day before use!

Carry spares as well...

My SP is ok with any cell better than half a stop bright or dark but that won't necessarily apply across production or CdS aging.

Noel