Newcomer to this mailing list, so hello everybody. Here's two set of
questions for the knowing.
I have two OM40 Program bodies (ie. OM-PC) which seem to have quite serious
battery drain problem. Two LR 44 (Alkaline) "el cheapo" batteries die within
about 2 weeks whether the camera is used or not.
I finally got fed up with the problem and just this week purchased a used OM
4. Lots of shooting and testing to be done on the one-month warranty time.
Seems nice although the body looks like being under heavy use. There was
also a used OM 4Ti available in similar external condition but it costed
about $300 more and since I'm not planning to use my camera as a hammer, I
don't think I got that much use for the Titanium parts. Opinions on that?
------------
1) THE DRAIN
I've seen mentions about using SR 44 Silver-Oxide batteries instead of
'crappy' LR 44, but since LR 44 is over three times cheaper I've been using
them instead. The camera manual states that battery life of SR 44 is only
twice as long as that of LR 44. Any real info on that (instead of just
opinions)? Any knowledge on the quality of different LR 44's? I mean, I
think some new LR 44's I've used were 20 (twenty) times cheaper than SR 44.
I've been meaning to sell my other OM 40 body to compensate for the cost of
the OM 4, but I wouldn't want to pass broken camera to another "victim". Is
there a way to tell if the camera is really broken or if it's just bad
choise of batteries? I tried to ammeter the drain but it seems okay (about
2,7 mA for a minute while the viewfinder leds are active and then dropping
to 0,01x mA (if I measured correctly)). I really wouldn't want to send the
camera to a repair shop because the cost of just a repair estimate would
take a lion's share of the possible retail price. And since exchange
circuitry for the camera is no longer available, a faulty circuitry might
not even get repaired.
Removing batteries while camera is not used is not the answer, except when
the body is not used for a week or longer. Does anyone know which setting
would result in minimal battery drain? 'B' shutter setting and 'Manual'? 'B'
and 'Program'? Or does it really matter? I have normally left my settings at
'60' and 'Manual'.
Finally, if the OM 40 body is a real (faulty) battery hog and therefore not
worth selling, there is an option to make a new battery system (the shutter
speed is okay and just serviced). Drill a hole through the cap of the
battery chamber, fit in some kind of connector (RCA female) and use
externally ordinary finger (etc.) batteries and possibly a voltage regulator
and on/off switch. Large enough battery pack would last long enough even
with serious battery drain. And batteries would be inexpensive to replace.
Anyone done that? It would be a great idea for outdoor shooting on the cold
Finnish winter since the batteries could be kept warm in pocket all the
time. If only there were a place that sold battery chamber caps separately
so that I wouldn't have to break the original one.
------------
2) USED BODY TESTING
I heard that a useful and inexpensive (cost of 1 roll of film) way of
testing the shutter speed of my new camera would be to shoot at a computer
screen (or TV) at different shutter speeds. Would anyone have more detailed
information on that?
Any other tips on testing used OM 4?
Mica Nyholm <mica.nyholm@xxxxxxxxx>
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