If the battery dies, then...

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I have a question regarding the electronic shutter and just what is to happen as the battery weakens to the point of not having sufficient strength for the camera [I have the latest p67, not p67ii]. Is the "battery check" light a good test, or good enough test? Also, if the battery is nearly shot, will the shutter fire at some default speed as opposed to what is set on the camera? - I hear some cameras do this. I ask only because I recently had 8 rolls of grossly underexposed prints (2-3 stops under). Everything was done as I usually do, metering of either/both a Sekonic meter and a solid 35mm camera with a comparable focal-length lens and film of the same ASA. The 35mm stuff turned out just fine, the 67 stuff did not. Only thing I could think of was that I did differently was install a new battery and test a new lens (90mm). The lens is fine, and the aperture works as it should; I tried it on another body at the same time, and those prints were great. However, the battery, when meter tested after the fact, turned out to be around 5.8 volts or so. Next day I installed another fresh battery (easily 6 volts), shot slides the same way as before, and everything was fine. There is no way I was off 3 stops on the bad roll; it was something else. Could it have been the battery? I thought the camera was to "lock up" when the battery died? Am I missing something obvious? I have put several hundred rolls through the camera, and never had a single problem. Any ideas? I apologize if this is a dumb question, but I bought my cameras used and have never seen the owners manual, nor any aftermarket guidebook.

-- Carl Tower (cjtowerman@yahoo.com), October 31, 2001

Answers

The battery check light is not a good indicator of battery health. The camera will shoot long after the light does not light up. When the battery is nearly gone, my Asahis will fire the shutter when I lock up the mirror. I've never had either body lock up the mirror half way or under expose frames when the battery is low. Not sure what the cause of your problem was.

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), November 05, 2001.

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