[Leica] More on R8 and motor-winder battery life...

[Pascal <cyberdog@ibm.net>]

On 19-02-1998 22:33 Larry Kopitnik wrote:
>When I had a G1 I was somewhat disappointed with how few rolls the
>batteries lasted in that camera (and at that time they were still new to
>the market and $12.00 per battery; I think the price has come down since
>then). And seems I've read that Olympus has avoided designing their
>point-&-shoots around them because they felt the battery's lifetime was too
>limited.
>
>Which makes me curious:  On average, how many rolls per set of batteries do
>you R8 users average?
>
This is a difficult issue. I recall a quality test done on all major 
cameras by the Belgian consumer organization in 1993. One of the tested 
aspects was reliability and battery life.
Among the cameras of those days tested were the Nikon F90x and the Leica 
R7. Conclusion: although the Nikon cameras consumed most energy, they 
came out as cheapest because they use the cheap and ubiquitous AA 
(Mignon) type of cells. By contrast, Leica R7 and Minolta Dynax SPxi were 
the most expensive ones: not only did they use the expensive CR2 lithium 
batteries, but they needed double as much batteries as the others for the 
same amount of films.
And considering that the CR123 lithium batteries in the R8 motor-winder 
cost even more than the CR2, the issue could become more sensitive, 
unless the R8 electronics consume drastically less juice than the R7's, 
which I doubt very much.

On my first R8 (before it showed flaws which made me ask for a 
replacement), the two CR2 batteries were half worn out between April and 
July 1997. This could maybe be explained be the fact that I had taken 
quite some night shots with rather long exposures (and as the shutter is 
electronic, it consumes energy all the time it is open).

The issue of batteries made me hesitant about getting the new 
motor-winder. The two CR123 lithium batteries set me back at 360 BEF 
each, that is 9.5 USD, so 19 USD for a full set. Considering that the 
Leica information service has told me that the average lifetime of the 
motor-winder's batteries is around 30 films of 36 exposures, that would 
be rather expensive at 0.63 USD per film. I find that rather a lot for a 
camera that does not even need juice for autofocus (the biggest energy 
consuming factor).
But the sheer prospect of finally having some motor transport made me 
bite the bullet so I went for the motor-winder. We will have to keep our 
fingers crossed :-)

One thing worries me, however. Leica said they would bring out the extra 
batterypack for the motor-winder by this Summer to keep running costs 
down. Should this be interpreted as if they knew that the motor-winder 
consumes a lot of energy?
Otherwise, I really see no need for this batterypack, as it won't work 
with the full-fledged motor-drive (which operates on 8 normal AA 
batteries). As I anticipate the combined price of motor-winder and extra 
batterypack will be in the same region as the motor-drive, it would be 
maybe wiser to wait for the motor-drive that will also have the benefit 
of higher speed (4 fps) and the bracketing function.

Pascal

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