Jim Couch <JamesBCouch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> My gripe with the original 4 and the OM-2s is not the battery drain
> per-se, but the fact that the batteries usually give up the ghost with no
> warning. Even with 357s. Generally the battery check in these cameras (at
> least the ones that I have had) is pretty much worthless. I can check the
> batteries one day and they are fine, the next day the camera won't fire!
> If the battery check shows 'low' the camera will not fire most of the
> time. With the 4T there is still life left in the batteries when the
> check shows that they are low, so you have a bit of warning. With the
> 2/2n I have run for a full 3 day weekend on 'low' batteries.
Jim, this is to be expected, the 357s are designed that way. They hold
the specified voltage extremely well until 99 0ischarged. Still
an excellent battery for OM2 onwards - will give the most consistent metering
over the life of the battery, better than the EPX76 that is specified.
After the 99 0ischarge point is reached, they drop to zero volts in
just a few hours of use.
EPX76/SR44 batteries hold the specified voltage extremely well until about 95%
discharged, then slope down at a predictable rate. Olympus specify this
battery for a reason - it gives you the ample early warning you would like,
and Olympus designed for. For most consistent metering, you should replace
them as soon as the battery check LED flashes.
LR44s on the other hand start to drop a lot voltage when they are only
5 0ischarged. By the time they are about 20 0ischarged, the voltage is too
for use in your camera. They will have a lot of life left in them for use
somewhere else besides your camera, say a gadget that only need 1.0V per cell.
All 3 batteries have very similar storage capacity, but most of the LR44
capacity is unusable in your camera as it supplied at too low a voltage.
HTH
Paul
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