I have used my OM2S in Peru extensively at high altitude in fairly cold alpine
climbing
conditions. I always kept it under my jacket when not actually shooting and
tried to made sure
exposures were going to be 1/125 or more. I did not have too many problems
except early in morning
when camera had been sitting on snow in my pack overnight. I was shooting in
Bryce-Canyon at dawn
a few years back in mid winter and needed to warm up cells a couple of times by
removing them from
camera and placing them in plastic bag in my mouth. Exposures were on the
longer side then.
With a little effort you could make your own battery adapter from a strip of
aluminum drilled to
fit on tripod socket aranged so the strip covers the battery hole. Glue on a
peice of dowel with
tiny screw on end to form battery contact underneath the metal strip. Run some
wires to external
battery pack from the dowel and from metal strip. (Camera body is +Ve!!!!) You
could use *new* AAA
alkaline cells in the external pack in place of SR44 if you like. Voltages are
close enough to
1.5V if they are almost new and the OM drain is low. Alkalines don't work too
well in cold either,
but drain is so low it should be ok , or make the lead long and place in warm
pocket.
Tim Hughes
-- Chris Crawford <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Moose,
>
> Thanks for the info. Looks like I wasted the money on the EPX76's then. The
> 357/303 worked ok for me in warm weather. I never did a lot of cold weather
> shooting with my OM-4T's before. I usually did that kind of work with my
> Mamiya 645, which uses a big 6-volt battery and never failed in cold
> weather. I am asking about Oms because when I was in Santa Fe I began
> carrying on OM body and a couple lenses in a Domke satchel bag at all times,
> and have gotten some cool pics by hanving a camera with me at all times.
> I've continued carrying my camera all the time here in Indiana, and it was
> in such a "Found something cool, had camera, took pictures" situation that
> my OM batteries died from cold. The Battery holder for the pocket for the
> OM-4 is impossible to find; I guess I could carry my Nikon F4 in the winter.
> Its powered by AA's and never failed in extreme cold either since those
> batteries seem to hold up better than button cells. But damn that camera is
> HEAVY.
>
>
> --
> Chris Crawford
> Photography & Graphic Design
> Fort Wayne, Indiana
>
> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com My portfolio
>
> http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com My latest work!
>
> http://www.plumpatrin.com Something the world NEEDS.
>
>
>
> On 12/26/07 5:47 PM, "Moose" <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Chris Crawford wrote:
> >> I have been using the Engergizer 357/303 batteries the last couple years
> >> when I was living in New Mexico and never saw any problems with them. After
> >> moving back to northern Indiana, I took my two OM-4T bodies out on a very
> >> cold day to photograph an old building, and the batteries died within ten
> >> minutes of going out in the cold. After I got home and they warmed up, they
> >> worked again.
> >>
> >> I have two questions if anyone on the list knows:
> >>
> >> Do the batteries that Bill is offering work better in cold weather.
> >>
> > Yes and no. All silver oxide button batteries will have similar low
> > temperature service characteristics. It's the chemistry. Service life
> > drops to about half at -20C. But... For the use at hand, service life is
> > shorter than they say to begin with, as below. Cold kills them off
> > quickly, which is why there have been various battery solutions for the
> > cold involving batteries kept inside clothing and connected to the
> > camera by wire.
> >> And
> >>
> >> I was looking at the Energizer website and they mention an EPX76 battery
> >> that they say is designed specifically for cameras. Their data sheet shows
> >> it has a higher amperage than the 357/303. I went and bought some of these
> >> batteries at a local store but they are EXPENSIVE. $4.50 EACH. Has anyone
> >> tried these in their OM's, and do they work better than the 357/303 and are
> >> the Sony batteries that Bill has better or the same as these? If they're
> >> equal or better I'll get some from him, given how cheap they are compared
> >> to
> >> the engergizer EPX76 bought locally.
> >>
> > You are being fooled by a label which is about different things than
> > what you need. "For photo use" in the battery marketing world mostly
> > means high total capacity and relatively quick recovery from high
> > transient loads. Those are not the key characteristics for OM ( and
> > other brand SLRs from the same era.) What you want is the longest life
> > without significant drop in voltage under brief high drain, as is
> > imposed by shutter magnets. The key phrase on Energizer sheets is
> > "Designed for use on low continuous drain (operating the meter) High
> > plse on demand (operating the shutter).
> >
> > However, that doesn't mean as much as the shape of the discharge curve.
> > If you look at the spec sheets, you will see that the EPX76 is just a
> > slightly higher capacity version of the 357/303. Both have a life, with
> > flat voltage, under standard test load, of about 400 hrs. The 357/303H
> > life is about 600 hrs.
> >
> > If you get any more useful life out of EPX76s than 357/303 batteries in
> > OM use, it will be minimal.
> >
> > I believe the batteries Bill is selling will be similar to the 357/303H.
> > The Sony SR44W/357 and the old Energizer 357 were the best performers.
> > One hopes the 303/357H is a revival of the old 357. Looks like it from
> > the spec sheet.
> >
> > So, yes the batteries Bill is selling are better than either of the
> > battery types you have. And no, they still won't last long in real cold.
> >
> > Moose
> >
> > ==============================================
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>
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