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Help Urgently Needed- Canon AutoZoon 518!!


Andy Pabst

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I bought this camera beecause my Minolta XL-400 will only accept Kodachrome 40--- I have already shot a bunch of other film on it, only to have it not come out at all-- and the wedding I'm going to use it for is coming up this Saturday.

 

Conveniently, I find out that the 1.3v batteries it needs in addition to the AAs are impossible to find!!! AAH! Is there any other kind of battery I can use? Am I just screwed?

 

I'm in San Francisco, so if anyone can recommend a camera shop that would be great.

 

Thanks!

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I bought this camera beecause my Minolta XL-400 will only accept Kodachrome 40--- I have already shot a bunch of other film on it, only to have it not come out at all-- and the wedding I'm going to use it for is coming up this Saturday.

 

Conveniently, I find out that the 1.3v batteries it needs in addition to the AAs are impossible to find!!! AAH! Is there any other kind of battery I can use? Am I just screwed?

 

I'm in San Francisco, so if anyone can recommend a camera shop that would be great.

 

Thanks!

 

Sorry I am not going to be any help as I don't know San Francisco stores but I would be surprised if they were impossible to find. Have you tried hard? I would just call all the stores. Or do you know any other filmmakers who may be able to lend you theirs?

 

Alternately, go back to the Minolta (which will be better in a low-light wedding). You say that it "only accepts K40", which is not entirely true. It is a one-pine camera that will read cartrdiges as either 40 or 160 ISO. If you load 64 and it depresses the pin in the cart chamber, it reads it as 40 and will over-expose the 64 by about half a stop. Use manual exposure control to set aperture with this in mind.

 

If you are shooting a different stock (or if 64T misses that pin) it will be read as 160. Compensate exposure accordingly. Perfect stock would be 200 negative, as that will be read close enough that you can trust meter and even shoot auto exposure with confidence if you have to.

 

Rick

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I bought this camera beecause my Minolta XL-400 will only accept Kodachrome 40--- I have already shot a bunch of other film on it, only to have it not come out at all-- and the wedding I'm going to use it for is coming up this Saturday.

 

Conveniently, I find out that the 1.3v batteries it needs in addition to the AAs are impossible to find!!! AAH! Is there any other kind of battery I can use? Am I just screwed?

 

I'm in San Francisco, so if anyone can recommend a camera shop that would be great.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Andy:

 

The following link (if you scroll down to the "Movie Cameras" will list the Wein Cell MRB625 as the replacement (2X).

http://www.weincell.com/weinchart.htm

 

Adorama has them:

http://www.adorama.com/BYPX625W.html?searchinfo=wein+cell

 

I've used them on my Canon 1218 with great results, though you might be able to also use 675 hearing aid batteries which are 1.4V and you can get them at a local CVS/ Rite Aid, etc.

 

This thread may also help:

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?sh...mp;hl=wein+cell

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Sorry I am not going to be any help as I don't know San Francisco stores but I would be surprised if they were impossible to find. Have you tried hard? I would just call all the stores. Or do you know any other filmmakers who may be able to lend you theirs?

 

Alternately, go back to the Minolta (which will be better in a low-light wedding). You say that it "only accepts K40", which is not entirely true. It is a one-pine camera that will read cartrdiges as either 40 or 160 ISO. If you load 64 and it depresses the pin in the cart chamber, it reads it as 40 and will over-expose the 64 by about half a stop. Use manual exposure control to set aperture with this in mind.

 

If you are shooting a different stock (or if 64T misses that pin) it will be read as 160. Compensate exposure accordingly. Perfect stock would be 200 negative, as that will be read close enough that you can trust meter and even shoot auto exposure with confidence if you have to.

 

Rick

 

Thanks for the response Rick.

 

One question about the Canon Autozoom. Will it run at all without the 1.3v mercury battery? Will it still run on auto and just not show the F-stop in the viewfinder?

 

As for the Minolta. Will it slightly overexpose if I run the 64T and Tri-X film on auto? You say it will overexpose by about half a stop on manual, does the same go for auto? Because in low light i might want it to overexpose a bit.

 

I'm not sure how to set the aperture manually. I know which direction is light and which is dark, but not which one I want for a specific lighting.

 

thanks so much.

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Thanks for the response Rick.

 

One question about the Canon Autozoom. Will it run at all without the 1.3v mercury battery? Will it still run on auto and just not show the F-stop in the viewfinder?

 

The motor will run but from what I remember the aperture mechanism simply stops working, period, though it is likely just sitting wide open. In a pinch, in low-light, one might cross their fingers and hope for the best, but I doubt I would try that strategy at a wedding, unless I don't like the people getting married :)

 

As for the Minolta. Will it slightly overexpose if I run the 64T and Tri-X film on auto? You say it will overexpose by about half a stop on manual, does the same go for auto? Because in low light i might want it to overexpose a bit.

 

I'm not sure how to set the aperture manually. I know which direction is light and which is dark, but not which one I want for a specific lighting.

 

thanks so much.

 

I don't have time to address these at the moment, but they are basic exposure control questions which you should be able to learn more about on other threads, perhaps that sticky thread at the top of the main page.

 

Rick

Edited by Rick Palidwor
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Andy:

I've used them on my Canon 1218 with great results, though you might be able to also use 675 hearing aid batteries which are 1.4V and you can get them at a local CVS/ Rite Aid, etc.

 

This thread may also help:

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?sh...mp;hl=wein+cell

 

Fantastic! That's the ticket. And, that youtube video shows that one tenth of a volt has almost no effect on the functioning of the camera. Thank you!

 

Rick, thanks for your help as well.

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One last thing.

 

This camera is 'untested.' I've got AA batteries in it (but no film) and it won't run. But it feels like the trigger isn't depressing all the way. Does it need to have film loaded for the motor to run? Other than that I'm confident, I bought it from someone who sells lots of cameras and has good feedback.

 

thanks,

 

Andy

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One last thing.

 

This camera is 'untested.' I've got AA batteries in it (but no film) and it won't run. But it feels like the trigger isn't depressing all the way. Does it need to have film loaded for the motor to run?

Andy

 

I can say that I did have that model camera and it DID run without film in it. I'm not sure if that ever changed as the models progressed.

 

Tom

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It should definitely run without batteries. I have never encountered a cmaera that needed film loaded to run.

 

In addition to the 3 batteries in the top compartment you need a 4th battery, in the handle.

 

If that doesn't do it, clean the contacts.

 

Rick

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It should definitely run without batteries. I have never encountered a cmaera that needed film loaded to run.

 

In addition to the 3 batteries in the top compartment you need a 4th battery, in the handle.

 

If that doesn't do it, clean the contacts.

 

Rick

 

Ok... so it needs the 1.3v batteries also, to run at all. I'm gonna go get those now!!

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Ok... so it needs the 1.3v batteries also, to run at all. I'm gonna go get those now!!

 

Well the light meter works--- although these batteries are not the right size.

 

But I can't get the damn motor to run. The AA battery meter doesn't budge but the contacts look fine. The batteries aren't new but they work in my digital camera, so I'd imagine they're powerful enough for this.

 

Any advice?

 

thanks.

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Well the light meter works--- although these batteries are not the right size.

 

But I can't get the damn motor to run. The AA battery meter doesn't budge but the contacts look fine. The batteries aren't new but they work in my digital camera, so I'd imagine they're powerful enough for this.

 

Any advice?

 

thanks.

 

OOOh, the FOURTH battery!! Haha, I had no idea.

 

Also made a little shim out of the battery packaging and some tin foil, to hold those 675s in there.

 

Seems to be running great! Thanks so much for all your advice.

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Well the light meter works--- although these batteries are not the right size.

 

When you say the meter batteries are not the right size I get concerned, as they might not be the right ones and though you see some action on the exposure needle it may not be giving you a correct reading.

 

Check the post on Wein Cell batteries (about half-way down the page) and perhaps post some questions on that thread, as they seem to be more expert than me on these issues.

 

But to test your exposure readings on the Canon I would load a roll of Tri-X and take a reading off some surface. Now load the Tri-X into your Minolta and compare the reading. The Minolta, being an XL camera, should give you about a half-stop difference. So if Canon said f2.8, Minolta should be about half-way between 2.8 and 4. If it's not close to a half-stop difference in that direction I would not trust the batteries you bought.

 

Rick

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When you say the meter batteries are not the right size I get concerned, as they might not be the right ones and though you see some action on the exposure needle it may not be giving you a correct reading.

 

Check the post on Wein Cell batteries (about half-way down the page) and perhaps post some questions on that thread, as they seem to be more expert than me on these issues.

 

But to test your exposure readings on the Canon I would load a roll of Tri-X and take a reading off some surface. Now load the Tri-X into your Minolta and compare the reading. The Minolta, being an XL camera, should give you about a half-stop difference. So if Canon said f2.8, Minolta should be about half-way between 2.8 and 4. If it's not close to a half-stop difference in that direction I would not trust the batteries you bought.

 

Rick

 

But the batteries I bought say literally "size 675 premium zinc air batteries" That's the size, right?

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But the batteries I bought say literally "size 675 premium zinc air batteries" That's the size, right?

 

God dammit, there are two kinds of size "675" batteries, aaah! So irritating. Yeah, I got the wrong kind. I need the replacement for px625. The ones I bought are the same voltage, but a different size, they're the PX675 (as seen on the chart here: http://www.weincell.com/weinchart.htm

 

I wish I knew which actual number the px625s are so I could call around and find the exact kind. damn.

Edited by Andy Pabst
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This is absurd. I've called every drug store in San Francisco to find the other air zinc size 675 and no one has them. They only have the smaller size 675. Why there are two different size 675 batteries, I don't know, but I'm feeling stuck now.

 

How is this not covered in the other thread about size 675 hearing aid batteries?

 

Is there anything wrong with using two smaller sized 1.4v batteries? It's still the same voltage right?

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This is absurd. I've called every drug store in San Francisco to find the other air zinc size 675 and no one has them. They only have the smaller size 675. Why there are two different size 675 batteries, I don't know, but I'm feeling stuck now.

 

How is this not covered in the other thread about size 675 hearing aid batteries?

 

Is there anything wrong with using two smaller sized 1.4v batteries? It's still the same voltage right?

 

 

The smaller 675's will work. I've done the exact same you have...used foil to hold them in place. Just be sure they're nice and snug...if they start to jiggle around your voltage will "jiggle" as well.

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The smaller 675's will work. I've done the exact same you have...used foil to hold them in place. Just be sure they're nice and snug...if they start to jiggle around your voltage will "jiggle" as well.

 

Haha, I can't seem to get anything right with this camera so far. So I went ahead to Batteries Plus in San Francisco and bought some duracell PX625s, they fit perfectly but they are 1.5 volts. Will the two-tenths of a volt make a difference in the light meter?

 

My guess is more power will make the meter jump more, and close the aperture, making your film underexpose--- which is the opposite of what I want in the low-light wedding I'm gonna shoot.

 

Thanks so much for walking me through this!

Edited by Andy Pabst
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Now that I'm home from work and have tested both the 1.5v and 1.4v batteries in my camera I can say that the light meter performs exactly the same, with not even a .5 stop noticeable difference.

 

that pretty much answers all my questions. Thanks so much for all your help!

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