Camera that has aperture priority and all manual speed when battery die

elekm · Jan 2, 2011

That's true. This is the age of the electronic gadget: phones, mp3 players, portable computers, portable dvd players, digital cameras and more. Everything dependent on battery power. It's become a way of life.

What's interesting is what happens to people during a power outage.

benjiboy · Jan 2, 2011

Les Sarile said:
Afraid to carry spare batteries . . . hardly.

Here are some casual observations after years of ownership . . .

Low battery can cause unpredictable behavior until they die completely.

Shelf life of spares are unpredictable.

Different batteries are not always available in a lot of places.

Not everyone has one camera or uses one type of batteries.

Batteries get discontinued.

Need a coin to open the battery compartment in most cameras.

Batteries left in can cause corrosion.

Cold weather affects battery.

One less thing to worry about.

As already listed, some have designed minimal or no battery dependence which is a very good design accomplishment that not everyone has done.

It is great to be able to say your camera can do without it but even better if you can properly expose film using the sunny 16 rule . . . ;-)

The majority of the points you make are pretty lame like " need a coin to open the battery compartment" and " one less thing to worry about" as far as I'm concerned the only legitimate concern that you have raised is about cold weather effecting the battery which I agree could be a problem in the very coldest months of the year.
I disagree too about "sunny sixteen" ( which I learned to use more than fifty years ago) which is great to use in an emergency if you are without a light meter but to guess the exposure is IMO a sign of foolishness not wisdom if you have one because the human eye is a very poor instrument for evaluating illumination because it reacts to changing light too quickly.

Les Sarile · Jan 2, 2011

You obviously haven't seen a camera where the battery cover was badly scratched from someone who didn't have the proper size tool . . . ;-)

My Minolta SRT-101 has a battery cover that doesn't require any tools at all but all my other cameras do.

blockend · Jan 2, 2011

Part of the resistance to battery powered cameras is the sheer diversity of power units to make them work. Some of the early AF cameras were so heavy on batteries and the unit cost so high, that cell price had to be factored in like film. Using my old F601s with on camera flash could blow a twelve pound battery on a roll and a half of film!

As most of my photography is on 100ASA film I guess exposure on anything within hand held range pretty accurately, certainly as well as a non-spot metered camera. It's also partly that the light meter is the earliest component to pack up on ageing film cameras and correcting it expensive and fiddly when the camera works perfectly well without one and a hand held meter can be had fairly cheaply.

benjiboy · Jan 2, 2011

Les Sarile said:
You obviously haven't seen a camera where the battery cover was badly scratched from someone who didn't have the proper size tool . . . ;-)

My Minolta SRT-101 has a battery cover that doesn't require any tools at all but all my other cameras do.

I've seen more cameras in the twenty four years I managed camera stores than you've had hot dinners, most cameras only need a small coin to open the battery compartment, I own four cameras that are totally battery depentant, a Canon A1 in which I have only had to change the battery three times in twenty two years I have owned it, and three Canon T90 bodys that use 4 AA batteries can buy anywhere, I also have two modern digital lightmeters both of which use a single AA battery you can also buy anywhere.

benjiboy · Jan 2, 2011

Les Sarile said:
You obviously haven't seen a camera where the battery cover was badly scratched from someone who didn't have the proper size tool . . . ;-)

My Minolta SRT-101 has a battery cover that doesn't require any tools at all but all my other cameras do.

I've seen more cameras in the twenty four years I managed camera stores than you've had hot dinners, most cameras only need a small coin to open the battery compartment, I own four cameras that are totally battery depentant, a Canon A1 in which I have only had to change the battery three times in twenty two years I have owned it, and three Canon T90 bodys that use 4 AA batteries can buy anywhere, I also have two modern digital lightmeters both of which use a single AA battery you can also buy anywhere.

Les Sarile · Jan 2, 2011

benjiboy said:
I've seen more cameras in the twenty four years I managed camera stores . . .

Good for you as that may make you the envy of others. Of course that doesn't say anything about what you've actually used and the conditions you've used it in and circumstances you've had to deal with in the use of the cameras. What it does say is that you may have access to camera gear where you possibly don't have to worry about such eventualities.

That you may not appreciate the engineering effort to conceive and manufacture a camera that can both have automation when battery is good and fully functional when it is not is of course your opinion. To be sure, there aren't many cameras that can and that speaks volumes to this achievement.

Regarding the hot dinners, it is my new year's resolution to again cut back on that even more . . . ;-)

perkeleellinen · Jan 3, 2011

benjiboy said:
most cameras only need a small coin to open the battery compartment

Reminded me of the first time I ever went to Romania. I took with me an Olympus 35RC and during the trip the battery died - no problem as I'd bought along spares. But what I hadn't thought of was that Romanian coins are thicker than British ones and I had no British pennies on me. I couldn't find any shop that sold thin screwdrivers and my attempts at opening the compartment with a knife only scratched it. I had to guess the exposure for the whole trip.

benjiboy · Jan 3, 2011

Les Sarile said:
Good for you as that may make you the envy of others. Of course that doesn't say anything about what you've actually used and the conditions you've used it in and circumstances you've had to deal with in the use of the cameras. What it does say is that you may have access to camera gear where you possibly don't have to worry about such eventualities.

That you may not appreciate the engineering effort to conceive and manufacture a camera that can both have automation when battery is good and fully functional when it is not is of course your opinion. To be sure, there aren't many cameras that can and that speaks volumes to this achievement.

Regarding the hot dinners, it is my new year's resolution to again cut back on that even more . . . ;-)

Les- I haven't just sold cameras for a living, but have been a keen practising photographer since I was thirteen years old, and my knowledge of these matters isn't just theoretical but practical, I'm now almost seventy two and in my career have been a professional engineer in the aircraft industry, an industrial, and wedding photographer, so I do appreciate the engineering complexity and attendant cost of producing a hybrid shutter which is why so few and mainly top range Pro quality cameras have them like the last model Canon F1-N which is IMO the best Hybrid shutter in a 35mm SLR ever made that even with flat batteries will give mechanical shutter speeds of from1/90sec. to 1/2000sec. and as far as I'm aware no other manufactures of 35mm cameras has ever produced one with such a wide range of speeds with dead batteries.

Aja B · Jan 3, 2011

Ben: '...Canon F1-N which is IMO the best hybrid shutter in a 35mm SLR ever made that even with flat batteries will give mechanical shutter speeds from1/90sec. to 1/2000sec. and as far as I'm aware no other manufactures of 35mm cameras has ever produced one with such a wide range of speeds with dead batteries.'

The Nikon FM3a offers its' entire range of shutter speeds without batteries, from 1 sec to 1/4000th. And in Aperture Priority, with batteries of course, it offers the same range 'steplessly'.

benjiboy · Jan 3, 2011

Aja B said:
Ben: '...Canon F1-N which is IMO the best hybrid shutter in a 35mm SLR ever made that even with flat batteries will give mechanical shutter speeds from1/90sec. to 1/2000sec. and as far as I'm aware no other manufactures of 35mm cameras has ever produced one with such a wide range of speeds with dead batteries.'

The Nikon FM3a offers its' entire range of shutter speeds without batteries, from 1 sec to 1/4000th. And in Aperture Priority, with batteries of course, it offers the same range 'steplessly'.

Thanks I wasn't aware of this one It must have come out since I retired, I'm a Canon FD user and I must admit haven't kept up with the more recent cameras since I stopped working.

removed account4 · Jan 3, 2011

Q.G. said:
Olympus OM-1.

Though its AP is manual too.

i was going to say the same thing about a k1000

bblhed · Jan 3, 2011

Zeiss Ikon Contessa Cameras use no batteries at all and have a built in light meter. Granted they are 50mm range finders and have selenium light meters that can fail as well, but these cameras produce great photos.

I too wonder about this fear of batteries in the cold, I live in the Northeast of the United states, an area known for it's cold winters. I have been driving by a lake that is so frozen that people have been having parties with large fires on it for the past few weeks and I have been taking hikes of several miles and standing out in 14°F weather for hours taking photos and had no problems with batteries shutting down due to cold. If you are using a motor drive camera and shooting out in the cold the draw on the batteries alone should keep them warm enough to last until you decide it is too cold to shoot any longer.

BetterSense · Jan 3, 2011

My OM2 has let me down several times, always when it gets unexpectedly cold and then bam, the camera doesn't work. At all. There is nowhere on the camera itself to carry spares, and what am I supposed to do, carry around spare batteries with the camera every where I go? That's not acceptable to me. It would be different if it was just the light meter that quit working; I don't need a light meter--I don't even bother to find mercury battery substitutes for my Canonet and OM1, because they work just fine without the meters. I use my OM1 bodies almost exclusively now. No matter how long they sit on the shelf or what the temperature, they just work. I agree that the culture of devices that have batteries and require attention as to their charge state is pervasive and that's why I don't want to bother with any camera that relies on batteries to function.

DaveO · Jan 8, 2011

As someone already mentioned, when your battery dies so does your aperture priority. Therefore I would recommend a Nikon FM2n which does not need a battery for the shutter and should be much cheaper than a FM3.

DaveO

2F/2F · Jan 8, 2011

Does not compute! Am I missing something? How can a camera have aperture priority if it does not have a working meter because the batteries are dead?

MattKing · Jan 8, 2011

2F/2F said:
Does not compute! Am I missing something? How can a camera have aperture priority if it does not have a working meter because the batteries are dead?

As I read it, the OP is looking for a camera that has all it's manual speeds available, independent of the status of a battery, plus aperture priority auto-exposure when there is a functional battery installed.

2F/2F · Jan 8, 2011

MattKing said:
As I read it, the OP is looking for a camera that has all it's manual speeds available, independent of the status of a battery, plus aperture priority auto-exposure when there is a functional battery installed.

I see what you mean. I think there is a missing comma in the OP's headline.

wotalegend · Jan 8, 2011

I also read the OP's headline as meaning a camera which has both aperture priority and all shutter speeds without a battery, which of course is impossible and I stated so earlier in this thread.

One missing comma, two different meanings.

MattKing · Jan 8, 2011

There may be a missing comma. but I'd hazard a guess that the OP's facility with English is a heck of a lot better than my facility with Polish

Q.G. · Jan 8, 2011

Why a comma when the word "and" is in the right place (as it is)?
Now if it actualy said "both", but...

wotalegend · Jan 8, 2011

I don't think that any of us were criticising the OP's English language skills. In fact I admire people whose native language is other than English, whether it be Polish or Mandarin, who take the trouble to learn English so that they can communicate better in the "global village". Meanwhile most of us native English speakers have the luxury of getting through life without having to bother to seriously learn another language.

What I think is illustrated here is the phenomenon which has become more noticeable since the advent of email, text messaging etc that the perception in the reader's mind is often different to the original thought in the writer's mind.

Markster · Jan 14, 2011

No aperature priority that I know of, but on the subject of mechanical cameras, I was just reading some interesting stuff on the Pentax MX earlier today. Supposedly built like a tank, pretty dependable, shutter up to 1/1000 but still totally mechanical (a battery is used but only for the light meter). What got me reading was a blurb about how it has the largest viewfinder or some such.

The more I read, the more it impressed me. If I weren't already in the Canon AE-1P fan club, I'd go for the Pentax MX.

rpsawin · Jan 14, 2011

darkosaric said:
Hi,

Is Nikon FM3A only one? I know that Leica M7 has only 2 speeds without batteries, Nikon F3 also only one speed … I am missing some camera(s) ?

Regards,

Leica M6 & MP...battery drives the meter only...no ap, however.

Best regards,

Bob

Maris · Jan 14, 2011

Canon EF, almost. Shutter priority automation from 30sec to 1/1000 with a battery, mechanical operation 1/2 to 1/1000 without.

Camera that has aperture priority and all manual speed when battery die

elekm

benjiboy

Les Sarile

blockend

benjiboy

benjiboy

Les Sarile

perkeleellinen

benjiboy

Aja B

benjiboy

removed account4

bblhed

BetterSense

DaveO

2F/2F

MattKing

Moderator

2F/2F

wotalegend

MattKing

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Q.G.

wotalegend

Markster

rpsawin

Maris

Camera that has aperture priority and all manual speed when battery die

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