Ihe Mercury Battery ProbEem

NEW LIFE FOR MERCURY BATTERY CAMERAS

The Problem
ff unher Production and imPorta-
I .7 tion of mercurv oxide batteries
H I n^rrecentlvbeenbanned. This
I raises a probiem for the many cam-
I .ras built during the last 30 years
(both rangefinder and SLR) that use these
batteries in their liEht-meter circuits.
A simpte solution is using silver oxide bat-
teries to rephce merctlry one s' The 76 silver
oxidc ccll is an exact replacetuctlt lbr thc
675 mercury cell as far as physical size is
concerned. The 625 mercury cell has no
such dircct replacement, although the same
76 silver oxide cell can be used with some
minor mechanical adaPtation' The Konica Autoreflex TC is one example of a fine older
The problem is that silver oxide cells de- camera which uses mercury cells to power its nteter'
Iiver a higher voltage than mercury cells:
1.55 volts vs. 1.35 volts. The difference (2022East 7 Street, Fremont, NE 68025), that have a battery onoff switch, unless the
doesn't sound like much, but it's enough to had no trouble in altering my T2 in this way, batteries are removed when not shooting.
increase sensitiviry by 1 or 2 stops. My Kon- and it worts very well, although admittedly
ica Autoreflex T2, for example, uses 2 cells, the T2 is roomy-it dates from the pre-com- Rseries
and the increase of0.4 volts (3.10 instead of pact days. There is a bonus to this method,
the original 2.70) increases the sensitivity by too: the voltage stability of the modified cir-
2 full stops over the whole tight range. Of cuit using the chip and 76 silver oxide cells
c\
course you can compensate by changing is far greater than that ofany mercury cell.
cc
Ur
the film speed setting (with ISO 100 film, set Unfortunately, National Semiconductor
I the dial to 25), but then you lose the battery volt'
does not make p rcset 1.35 or 2.70 volt chips' The regulator circuit: R1 and R2 set the
check-the voluge will look good Oigh) to which would cover the needs of cameras age Vorl sent to lhe light'meter circuit, Vi,
the check circuit, but is it really okay or is it with 1 or 2 cells respectively. However, they is the voltage supplied by the battetf. R*,a
l{r
weak? And, what do You do when You're do make an adjustable chip, the LM 4041' sets the cwrent (l) taken from the battery'
using Kodachrome 25? ADJ, which can deliver either voltage by se-
2 There are two real solutions to the trou-
..I.
Iecthg a suitable pair of resistors. For the 2
U ble : recalibrating the light'meter circuit to
9J
H
cell case only, there is an alternative-the The Circuit
suit silver oxide (Leica offers recalibration LM336 chip. This chip has a small adjust-
tL! The figure shows the rather simple circuit,
for their older cameras), and electronically nrent range (it is considered trimmable
regulating the higher silver oxide voltage rather than adiustable), and eliminates the known as a shunt regulator, ttnt applies with
o either chip-it is taken from National Semi-
t! down to the lower mercury level by perma- pair of resistors when used at maximum
nently modiffing the light meter circuit. trim. Itsvoltage is nominally2.50volts *0.12 conductor's dau sheets for the LM 4Oil-ADj
q
volts trim, so it should only reach 2.62 volts, and LM 336 chips. In this circuit the chip
U The Solution keeps Vor, constant by taking more current
but a number of samples went right to 2.70
t volts-though there is no guarantee' The when the load (the light-meter circuiD takes
My method uses voltage reference chips
less, and viie versa-and does so very effec-
C made by National Semiconductor. With chip uses more current than the 4041, thus
tively. Unfortunately, the more efficient sefles
0<
Y luck, your camera technician ( wouldn't try reducing battery life . That's less important
than it se€ms, as the main threat to battery rcgulator methodcannot be applied becaur
a<
this myself'!) can find space inside your cam-
hfeisforgettingto switcb tbe camera o[.ls no chip is available that fits the situation (;n
era for the chip (about the size of an un-
only slightly greatcr than Vou,, common posi'
popped popcorn kernel) and 1 to 3 small re' a consequence , the regulator method (with
\o
either chip) can only be used with cameras tive circuit). In a series regulator, a pas device
\t. sistors. Greg rl(eber, the Konica specialist
lets ttrough just enough curent to keep Vo,,,
constant, and thereforc uses no more cuflrnt
than is necessary at any given moment.

Applyingthe LM a0a1-ADf Chip:

Using information in National Semicon-
duclor's data sheets, we find:
For Ynr, = 2.70 volts (the 2 cell case), Vor,
= 1.2365(l + Rz/Rr). Since Vn,,, = 2.70 volts,
we find that R2/R1 = l.l816, with some
minor lariation possible from chip to chip.
Suitable ralues ofRl and R2, chosen from the
standard 1% resistor series, would be R1 =
18,200 ohms (18.2 Kohms) and R2 = 21,500
ohms (21.5 Kohms). lVith these values, the
current taken by Rl + R2 is 68 microamps.
For vor, = 1.35 volts (the I cell case), Vor,
= 1.2382(l + RzlRr). Since V,,u, = 1.35 volts,
we find that Rr/R, = 0.0903. Suitable valttcs
of R2 and R1 in this case are Rl = 20.0 Kohms
and R, = 1.78 Kohms. The current taken by
R, + Rr is 62 microamps.

Use of the LM 336 Chip for the 2

CellCase:
As the LM 336 is nominally a 2.50 volt chip,
None of Pa.s.sa.qe to Vietnan's socio-his-
maximum trim is used to raise it as close t<t
2.70 volts as p<lssible-ancl, as notcd, a num- I?
f,/
;i. I l;Ilil'
trcoks anrl ol'thc
;[ ^,i",;::l n;'
;;
grountlbrclking
torical significance antl technical amtze-
mcnts would bc worth much il'thc pictures
ber of samples actually did reach 2.70 volts.
Maximum trim occurs when Rr = 0 (the two
f I inr.o.,ive CD-ROM Fro m Alice to weren't good. They're better than good:
lower chip terminals are connected to-
rf. f,. Ocean.HisA Doy in tbe LiJb of they are often beautiful and frequentll
Americahas gone on from its splashy begin- evocative, and their recency gives them
gether) and R2 is omitted. Thus R2 and Rr are
nings to become the bestselling photogra- something of the quality of news. The lavout
both gone, leaving only,the chip and R..6.r-
phy book in American publishing history is intelligent and the reproduction excel'
a simplification and space-saver.
Last year, Smolan assembled 70 photo- lent, with none of the excessive contrast
Selection of R*,;*,: journalists from l,i countries-including l5 and oversaturated colors that often iar the
fronlVietnam, as well as several American eye in books like this. (nterestingly, it is the
R*no determines the total current ltaken
combat photographers from the wat years signature stylings of some of the project's
from the battery in accordance with Ohm's
best-known shooters which stick out and
law: I = Oin-Vou)4,..,.r, or Rr.r;.5 = (V1n- -for what rurned out to be the largest cul- with its onl,v
tural exchange between the United States saddle the completed project
Vout)/I. As the chip acts to keep Vou, con-
and Vietnam since the war For a week in the photographic inconsistencies.) I
stant, and V'n is constant (except for some
Spring of 1994, the Passage photojournal- The overall result resembles a Nationsl
decline with battery use-from 1.55 volts to
ists were granted unprecedented latitude by Geograpbic article on steroids, albeit one
-
1.50 volts at the end of useful life), we see
thatlis almost constant once Rse6".has beefr
the government ofvietnam to travel freely with tremendous underlying resonance for c
throughout the country and photograph as many Americans. In light of the indelible im-
3
selected. lmust be sufficient to supply the
pressions of Vietnam which haunt our col'
h
theywished. 1
light-meter circuit, the current used by the
The work was then assembled into this lective consciousness from the warl'ears, to rn
chip itself (70 microamps for the LM 4041- -!
book by a team headed by Smolan and be given a fresh, contemponry look at this
ADJ, 400 microamps for the LM 336), and +
the current through R2/R1, when used. It is Jennifer Erwitt, coordinator of the Day in land and its people is a very moving, one
o
tbe Life series. Macintosh computers were might even say healing, experience-eve n if
this drain that requires switching off the rr
used not only for the design and production your only experience of the war came
camera when not actually shooting. T
of the book itsell but as the basis for assign- mainly from television and LIFE magazine in
Cameras modified using this simple -.l
ments and communications in thc ficlcl lncl thc first place. Smolan and his telm hlve o
method will be given a new lease on life, de-
for organizing and e<Iiting the selection of touched this small country and its people,
spite the discontinuation of mercurybattery z
the 1U0 digitized images from the over and their work in turn touches us. In the
celLs. I 200,000 Kodak transparencieslhe photogra- face of our memories, especial\', it is good rn
Josepb M. Diamond is a retlrcd electronics phcrs made . Using Aldus Ihgemaker on Mac- to see what Vietnilm is now I
engineer ubo worked in scientific lnstru- intosh Quadra 840AVs and a host of periph- \-
-z
mmt design bere and in Denmark. He bas erals and support programs, production was i-
rn
rccently renewed bis interest in pbotogra- accomplished in its entirety in a mere fwelve Passage to Vietnam: Througb tbe Eys of
pby and is planning an exhibit of pictures weeks, Incredibly, barely more than seven Seuenty Pbotographers, created b,v Rick E
q
of the Vertazzano bridge. He would like to months passed between that week of shoot- Smolan andJennifer Erwitt, published bv
tbank APX Resources, New City, NYfor the Against All Odds Productions and Melcher
loan of tbeir laboratoryt.
ing in Southeast Asia and the November
1994 publication date ofthe book. Media, ISBN l-8855i9{G3, $i0.
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