Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/09/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_0008_01BDDC09.A69F0E20 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hello all, Learned something interesting today regarding lithium battery output = dynamics which may be helpful to R8 LUGgers. Perhaps some LUGgers are = aware of this, and I suspect that this may be more a function of lithium = battery output than it is of this particular application. On Saturday = last near Denver, Colorado, a small airport hosted a visit by an old = B-17 and a Heinkel 111. The Confederate Air Force owns these airplanes = and for a nominal fee permitted walk [climb] through inspections. = Beautiful aircraft, and great fun. Using primarily an Elmarit-R f2.8 = 24mm and a Vario-Elmar-R f4 35-70, I shot a couple rolls of 36 exposure = film. Everything functioned fine, and the winder drew film through the = camera nicely. At the beginning of the picture making, the battery readout on the back = of the R8 indicated full battery power. I have been noting the = indicator readout when I turn on the camera for some time, as I expected = the batteries would have failed well before this. They Energizer = lithium CR123A batteries were installed in March, 1998, and I have since = put between 20 and 25 36-exposure rolls of film through the R8+Winder = combination. =20 Certainly no complaint about battery life! This morning, there was no trickle of power from these batteries. Nada, = niente, rien, zero, zippo. Not even enough to light the meter, or = liquid crystal display on the back of the camera, much less power the = shutter. What I found interesting is that the battery indicator has a = functionality to reveal lowered battery output, and it read full power = until the batteries were fully depleted. No hint of imminent failure. = I conclude from this that if my experience is representative, power = output curve on these lithium batteries must be constant at full rated = voltage until they die. =20 The good news is that the meter and shutter will receive a constant = amount of battery power throughout the life of these lithium batteries. = The bad news is that an R8 user, despite careful checking of battery = power status may be left unaware that his/her batteries are nearly = depleted. And with the R8, one must have battery power! Perhaps this seems obvious, but the steady-until-exhausted aspect of = these batteries could fool an R8 user into thinking marginal power = reserves were adequate. =20 Any critical shoot using an R8 demands a spare pair of batteries, and R8 = users should remain aware that the power output curve of lithium = batteries is such that little or no warning is provided of their = impending failure. Hope this proves useful information--carrying around = a spare pair is certainly less of a hassle than having your camera quit = unexpectedly when the battery indicator has very recently registered = full power.=20 Enjoy the light! Greg Bicket - ------=_NextPart_000_0008_01BDDC09.A69F0E20 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=3DGENERATOR> </HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>Hello all,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Learned something interesting today regarding lithium battery = output=20 dynamics which may be helpful to R8 LUGgers. Perhaps some LUGgers = are=20 aware of this, and I suspect that this may be more a function of lithium = battery=20 output than it is of this particular application. On Saturday last = near=20 Denver, Colorado, a small airport hosted a visit by an old B-17 and a = Heinkel=20 111. The Confederate Air Force owns these airplanes and for a = nominal fee=20 permitted walk [climb] through inspections. Beautiful aircraft, = and great=20 fun. Using primarily an Elmarit-R f2.8 24mm and a Vario-Elmar-R f4 = 35-70,=20 I shot a couple rolls of 36 exposure film. Everything functioned = fine, and=20 the winder drew film through the camera nicely.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At the beginning of the picture making, the battery readout on the = back of=20 the R8 indicated full battery power. I have been noting the = indicator=20 readout when I turn on the camera for some time, as I expected the = batteries=20 would have failed well before this. They Energizer lithium CR123A=20 batteries were installed in March, 1998, and I have since put between 20 = and 25=20 36-exposure rolls of film through the R8+Winder combination. = </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Certainly no complaint about battery life!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>This morning, there was no trickle of power from these = batteries. =20 Nada, niente, rien, zero, zippo. Not even enough to light the = meter, or=20 liquid crystal display on the back of the camera, much less power the=20 shutter. What I found interesting is that the battery indicator = has a=20 functionality to reveal lowered battery output, and it read full power = until the=20 batteries were fully depleted. No hint of imminent failure. = I=20 conclude from this that if my experience is representative, power output = curve=20 on these lithium batteries must be constant at full rated voltage until = they=20 die. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The good news is that the meter and shutter will receive a constant = amount=20 of battery power throughout the life of these lithium batteries. = The bad=20 news is that an R8 user, despite careful checking of battery power = status may be=20 left unaware that his/her batteries are nearly depleted. And with = the R8,=20 one <STRONG>must </STRONG>have battery power!</DIV> <DIV>Perhaps this seems obvious, but the steady-until-exhausted aspect = of these=20 batteries could fool an R8 user into thinking marginal power reserves = were=20 adequate. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any critical shoot using an R8 <STRONG>demands</STRONG> a spare = pair of=20 batteries, and R8 users should remain aware that the power output curve = of=20 lithium batteries is such that little or no warning is provided of their = impending failure. Hope this proves useful information--carrying = around a=20 spare pair is <STRONG>certainly</STRONG> less of a hassle than having = your=20 camera quit unexpectedly when the battery indicator has very recently = registered=20 full power. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Enjoy the light!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Greg Bicket</DIV></BODY></HTML> - ------=_NextPart_000_0008_01BDDC09.A69F0E20--