Wayne wrote:
>I've had a dead one straight out of the pack, camera didn't operate at
>all, so I was a bit concerned, then I decided to check the battery
>voltage.
Then Julian wrote:
>This is why my *EMERGENCY* battery is a CR1/3N. Life in - camera is rubbish,
>but it won't discharge in the package. The leakage current of 357s is much
higher >and is also variable, so they will discharge themselves on the shelf,
and two bought >at the same time could have different residual charge. The in
- camera benefits of >the 357 have been well discussed, however.
>Remember that a voltage test of a 357 is not useful for determining
remaining life, >for exactly the reason that they work better in the camera.
The discharge "curve" is >very flat, with a rapid fall - off at the end. A
high - resistance voltmeter will not give >you any indication of where you
are on the flat part of the curve. The battery check >function in the camera
should load the battery sufficiently to give an indication, but >of course
that only works with pairs...
Brother-in-law's OM-2S also went dead shortly after he installed new
Energizer 357s I had given him last fall. He didn't think the batteries
could be the problem it was hanging up, because they were "new". I took 'em
out, installed 2 OTHER "new" ones, and voila! the camera jumped back to life.
I was about to buy a bunch of 357s in bulk, but that doesn't seem to be such
a good idea now if what you're saying is true, Julian. I sure don't need a
closet full of batteries going dead in the packaging while awaiting the call
to duty. I guess we're in a "what you get is what you get" situation with
silver-oxides, eh? Buying just two at a time (always staying a couple spares
ahead) still seems the best strategy, at least for my needs.
It sure would be nice to be able to do a voltage check and then know that
your battery is still at, for example, 700f its useful life, and leave for
a shoot in confidence, instead of never knowing when the camera will die. So
what we need is a LOAD test?
Rich
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