Camera Batteries

[cliveh]

I have never used a camera that requires batteries, so are they really necessary?

 

[MattKing]

For some cameras, yes batteries are necessary for operation of the shutter.

 

[cliveh]

For some cameras, yes batteries are necessary for operation of the shutter.

What's wrong with clockwork?

 

[Pieter12]

Electronic shutters can be more accurate have have more range than mechanical ones. And of course modern light meters require batteries. Any automatic functions will require a battery, too. Not to mention motor drives.

 

[Paul Howell]

I have LF, MF and a few old 35mm camera like the Argus C3 that do not use batteries at all, I either use sunny 16 or a hand held light meters. My light meters use selenium cells or are battery dependent. Then I have 35mm that are all mechanical but use batteries for the light meter, again use either sunny 16 or a hand held meter if you don't want to be bothered with batteries. Some of my cameras 50s to early 70s use old mercury battery, I use hearing aid batteries or use a hand held meter.

 

[MattKing]

I have several cameras that require batteries for use - although no rangefinder cameras.
This includes one camera that was designed for professional use - a medium format SLR.
As well as several 35mm SLRs.
All of the battery dependent cameras use those batteries to also add some functionality that is advantageous.
And batteries are easy to deal with - like film you need to make arrangements to have some extra with you.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I have LF, MF and a few old 35mm camera like the Argus C3 that do not use batteries at all, I either use sunny 16 or a hand held light meters. My light meters use selenium cells or are battery dependent. Then I have 35mm that are all mechanical but use batteries for the light meter, again use either sunny 16 or a hand held meter if you don't want to be bothered with batteries. Some of my cameras 50s to early 70s use old mercury battery, I use hearing aid batteries or use a hand held meter.

I use rechargeable batteries in many of my cameras, and they never have caused a problem.

 

[Dismayed]

I have never used a camera that requires batteries, so are they really necessary?

Is a camera even necessary when oil paints still exist?

 

[xkaes]

Any automatic functions will require a battery, too. Not to mention motor drives.

Au contraire! There are tons of cameras that have automatic exposure control without a battery. The extensive Olympus Pen E series is just one example:

http://www.subclub.org/shop/pene.htm

As to motor drives? I won't go into all the cameras that have fast, spring driven film advance.

Many Ricoh Auto Half models had BOTH!!!

 

[Pieter12]

Au contraire! There are tons of cameras that have automatic exposure control without a battery. The extensive Olympus Pen E series is just one example:

http://www.subclub.org/shop/pene.htm

As to motor drives? I won't go into all the cameras that have fast, spring driven film advance.

Many Ricoh Auto Half models had BOTH!!!

Kodak Instamatics had both, but I really don't count them as anything but nostalgic novelty cameras.

 

[mshchem]

Hard to have a modern autofocus camera (analog or digital) without electronics. I shoot a lot of film with cameras that do not have or require any batteries. Autofocus 35mm cameras with fancy matrix metering and motor drive are awesome. Electronic shutters are amazing too.

 

[MattKing]

The 6 fps spring powered film advance Bell and Howell Foton:

 

[mshchem]

The 6 fps spring powered film advance Bell and Howell Foton:
View attachment 320448

My first camera was an Instamatic, spring wound motor winding, slap in a 20 exposure Kodapak of Kodacolor-X and a flashcube and it was ready for action. I don't know if it was over a frame per second, it got slower as the spring ran down. God I loved that camera!

 

[AgX]

Any automatic functions will require a battery, too.

No. The first generation of program- and time-priority-automated cameras did not have batteries.

First model: Agfa Optima 1959

 

[xkaes]

Kodak Instamatics had both, but I really don't count them as anything but nostalgic novelty cameras.

I've never seen anyone try to compare a Olympus Pen or Ricoh Auto Half to a Kodak Instamatic. I wonder why?

 

[Don_ih]

I have never used a camera that requires batteries

At this point in history, that's an impressive feat for someone who has taken so many photos.

 

[xkaes]

There are a ton of cameras that use batteries, but don't require them for use. If you prefer a hand-held meter, there's little need for a battery-dependent camera.

 

[film_man]

Batteries are overrated. So is clockwork. I just look at things and remember them. Then I sneeze hard, the snot flies out of my nose and where it lands it forms a picture. In full colour. Imagine that.

 

[Jim Jones]

Batteries are overrated. So is clockwork. I just look at things and remember them. Then I sneeze hard, the snot flies out of my nose and where it lands it forms a picture. In full colour. Imagine that.

Gee, just imagine what you could do with a strong laxative!

 

[Paul Howell]

To some extent is depends on what you shoot, although not a necessity a late model AF with fast battery driven MD is helpful to shoot sports, action, news, wildlife. Nikon F4, 5 and 6(?) uses AA batteries, while Canon, Minolta and Pentax top tier cameras worked with AA batteries with the optional battery grip. The Canon EOS 1V with sports grip shot up to 11FPS.

 

[Huss]

I have never used a camera that requires batteries, so are they really necessary?

I like your bonfire pic on your website.

 

[cliveh]

Actually my original post isn't quite true and should read have rarely used a camera that used batteries.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I have a few that don't take a battery (and I'm not talking about my Holga's and LF cameras ). Some old 35mm cameras that require a mercury battery, for example. I don't bother with alternatives. Instead I'll use one of my hand held incident or reflective metres.

 

[madNbad]

I have been gradually moving to cameras that were designed without meters or other electronics. The most used is my M4 and have recently added a M4-2. There is also a Retina IIa which sees occasional use. I had been using a pair of Reveni reflective meters but have gone battery free with the combination of a Sekonic L-398 and a really old but still accurate Gossen Pilot. That covers taking the photos, scanning them is my hugely battery dependent Sony A7II.

 

[r_a_feldman]

I — like a number of other people — have removed the meter from my Olympus Pen FT, so it no longer needs batteries. However, the reason I removed the meter is not the battery, but that the semi-silvered mirror for the meter had lost too much of its silvering for the meter to be useful.