Wein Cell PX625

[Guest Kevin Thomas]

Has anyone had any experience with the zinc-air Wein Cells as a replacement for v1.35 mercury batteries?

[Andries Molenaar]

Has anyone had any experience with the zinc-air Wein Cells as a replacement for v1.35 mercury batteries?

 

 

Nope :(

But better check if you really need them. Many cameras and meters just work fine and correct with 1.5v alkaline which cost very little and can be had anywhere.

[andy oliver]

Yes, they work very well, you'll need to peal off the backing film, and leave the battery for a short while before use. Have one in my leicina 8s for approx 3 months now and still ok. Some cameras work ok with a 1.5v battery, be warned though, i once used a 1.5v battery in my leicina 8s, it screwed the metering, kept underexposing everything. Now i use the 1.35v wein cell, but the damaged caused by a 1.5v cell requires me to use exposure compensation on the camera...

[Guest Kevin Thomas]

Thanks Andries and Andy for your posts,

 

I have managed to download a manual for my newly acquired Nizo 801 macro and it looks like a 1.5v battery will give an incorrect meter reading on this model. Given Andy's experience with his leicina 8s I will be sticking to Wein cells

[Steve Phipps]

Some cameras work ok with a 1.5v battery, be warned though, i once used a 1.5v battery in my leicina 8s, it screwed the metering, kept underexposing everything.

I had the same experience with my Nizo 801.

 

I did a little exposure test (years ago). Using a new set of Varta PX-625 1.35v mercury batteries and a new set of alkalines, I compared the camera's choice of f-stop. With a cart of K40 loaded, here are my results:

 

fps: mercury / alkaline

18: 5.6 / 8

24: 5.6+½-stop / 5.6-½-stop

54: 4+¼-stop / 4-½-stop

 

The alkalines would consistently underexpose, about 1 stop.

[Art Leal]

I had the same experience with my Nizo 801.

 

I did a little exposure test (years ago). Using a new set of Varta PX-625 1.35v mercury batteries and a new set of alkalines, I compared the camera's choice of f-stop. With a cart of K40 loaded, here are my results:

 

fps: mercury / alkaline

18: 5.6 / 8

24: 5.6+½-stop / 5.6-½-stop

54: 4+¼-stop / 4-½-stop

 

The alkalines would consistently underexpose, about 1 stop.

 

 

I found the 1.4 v Zinc Air 675 slightly underexposed my images, but not by a great amount, when compared to the Wein Cell 1.35v. I've had great results using the Weins with my Nizo and Canon 1218. The only thing to watch for is the state of the battery when shipped. I bought a small carton, and after almost a year of sitting on the shelf have found some of them to be near dead after testing them with a battery checker.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2-W39iF1kw

[Marios]

I have bought a few. And they seem to work just fine... Pretty expensive though... I advise to find out the shutter speed of your camera and use an external light meter. Better control...

[Chris Millar]

It's not just the initial voltage difference that needs to be taken into account...

 

The mercury cells hold a steady voltage for much longer compared to other batteries which fall off at a faster rate (beyond a certain tolerance you'll never have an offset/adjustment exposure value that will hold true for an acceptable timeframe) - both the certain tolerance and acceptable timeframe is up to the individual :P

[Steve Phipps]

I advise to find out the shutter speed of your camera and use an external light meter. Better control...

That's true, but not feasible for all Super-8 cameras (we are in the 8mm forum). Some Super-8 cameras allow choice of f-stop, some do not.

 

Also, with a function like Auto-B, there would be no manual workaround. You can't force the camera to take a longer exposure at a given f-stop. You could do the exposures manually, but not with Auto-B.