Yashica 124G battery replacement
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Yes it needs a solution. It uses a mercury battery PX 625, 1,35V.
A well-made document, The mercury cell problem and its solutions, by a Dutch gentleman, Frans de Gruijter, explains how to make one. You can also order ready-made adapters from him at a reasonable price, as I did some years ago.
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/batt-adapt-us.pdf
A well-made document, The mercury cell problem and its solutions, by a Dutch gentleman, Frans de Gruijter, explains how to make one. You can also order ready-made adapters from him at a reasonable price, as I did some years ago.
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/batt-adapt-us.pdf
This is what you need, and it's where I got mine.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/130646083632
You place an easily obtainable 386 or SR43 button battery inside the adapter, and put the whole assembly into the battery compartment, positive to positive.
As such, I now have a perfectly working, totally inaccurate meter in my 124G!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/130646083632
You place an easily obtainable 386 or SR43 button battery inside the adapter, and put the whole assembly into the battery compartment, positive to positive.
As such, I now have a perfectly working, totally inaccurate meter in my 124G!
I own over a dozen cameras that originally took the PX625 1.35v mercury battery. To feed them now, I use 675 hearing aid batteries, which I buy at Costco. They come on a card for about $10 -- used to be 40 per card, but now I think it's 48 per card. These are zinc-air batteries that put out 1.4v -- close enough. The downside to zinc-air batteries is that they don't last very long. Usually 9 or 10 months, tops. But they're so cheap, I just keep a card or a portion of a card of the batteries in my bag so I'll always have plenty of fresh ones when I need them.
The 675 battery is smaller in diameter than the PX625, but about the same thickness. This smaller size typically isn't a problem. Most of my cameras make contact with the + side of the battery from the battery's face. And most of these cameras have some sort of spring pressure than holds the battery in place, so I can usually use the battery as-is, since the spring pressure holds it into position. But in situations where that isn't the case, in order to center the 675 into a PX625's socket, I use a piece of ~20 ga wire -- about 1" or so long -- coil it up and set it into the bottom of the battery well. This is enough to keep a 675 battery centered. O-rings of the appropriate size also work. You can usually find a good assortment of o-rings at an Ace Hardware, or the like, to find the size you need.
I own a Yashica Mat 124, which is essentially the same camera as yours, but I cannot recall offhand exactly the way the current is picked up in the battery compartment. If the + side's contact is with the face of the battery and not the side, then I just use the battery as-is, or if necessary, with a coil of wire. If the voltage is picked up from the side of the battery, then things get trickier. The easiest way to handle this is to buy metal adapters that will fit the 675 and convert it to a PX625's diameter. You can buy these from a variety of sources, but I prefer Jon Goodman, the fellow who also makes the light seal kits for the classic old cameras. In a pinch, one can make a substitute for the ring adapters buy cutting out a strip of aluminum foil, folding it up so it's the right height, then coiling it around a 675 battery. I've done this. It's somewhat fiddly, but it works.
Finally, is it worth it, going to the trouble to power the meter on a Yashica Mat? Well, I've owned a 124G in addition to the 124 I own now, and I can report that I have used both camera's onboard meters many times and I've always gotten correctly exposed images. But for any sort of critical work, including shooting slides, I've always used a hand-held meter and/or a spot meter just to be sure. But yeah, for general shooting, I don't have a problem using the Mat's meter -- as long as it tests out to be accurate in the first place.
The 675 battery is smaller in diameter than the PX625, but about the same thickness. This smaller size typically isn't a problem. Most of my cameras make contact with the + side of the battery from the battery's face. And most of these cameras have some sort of spring pressure than holds the battery in place, so I can usually use the battery as-is, since the spring pressure holds it into position. But in situations where that isn't the case, in order to center the 675 into a PX625's socket, I use a piece of ~20 ga wire -- about 1" or so long -- coil it up and set it into the bottom of the battery well. This is enough to keep a 675 battery centered. O-rings of the appropriate size also work. You can usually find a good assortment of o-rings at an Ace Hardware, or the like, to find the size you need.
I own a Yashica Mat 124, which is essentially the same camera as yours, but I cannot recall offhand exactly the way the current is picked up in the battery compartment. If the + side's contact is with the face of the battery and not the side, then I just use the battery as-is, or if necessary, with a coil of wire. If the voltage is picked up from the side of the battery, then things get trickier. The easiest way to handle this is to buy metal adapters that will fit the 675 and convert it to a PX625's diameter. You can buy these from a variety of sources, but I prefer Jon Goodman, the fellow who also makes the light seal kits for the classic old cameras. In a pinch, one can make a substitute for the ring adapters buy cutting out a strip of aluminum foil, folding it up so it's the right height, then coiling it around a 675 battery. I've done this. It's somewhat fiddly, but it works.
Finally, is it worth it, going to the trouble to power the meter on a Yashica Mat? Well, I've owned a 124G in addition to the 124 I own now, and I can report that I have used both camera's onboard meters many times and I've always gotten correctly exposed images. But for any sort of critical work, including shooting slides, I've always used a hand-held meter and/or a spot meter just to be sure. But yeah, for general shooting, I don't have a problem using the Mat's meter -- as long as it tests out to be accurate in the first place.
I use this inexpensive adapter with 675 batteries in a bunch of older cameras, including my 124:
http://www.paulbg.com/Nikon_F_meter_batteries.htm
I remove the battery when not using the camera and cover the + side with tape but I've seen claims that this doesn't extend the life of the battery. But the batteries last a decent amount of time and they're inexpensive. I always measure battery voltage before putting them in the camera.
Fortunately the meter on my 124 is accurate (I shoot b&w and color negative film).
http://www.paulbg.com/Nikon_F_meter_batteries.htm
I remove the battery when not using the camera and cover the + side with tape but I've seen claims that this doesn't extend the life of the battery. But the batteries last a decent amount of time and they're inexpensive. I always measure battery voltage before putting them in the camera.
Fortunately the meter on my 124 is accurate (I shoot b&w and color negative film).
Plain old hearing aid batteries from the Dollar Tree will work fine. Usually you don't even need an o-ring around the battery to make it a bigger diameter as the pressure will hold it in, but I do like the little adapter listed above just because it's cute and cheap. You probably don't need it though.
Your meter is no more or less accurate than any meter on a TLR, meaning you might want to use a handheld one in some lighting conditions. My experience is that a 1.5V battery can be compensated for by a small adjustment of the ISO, but you seldom need to do that for B&W film. Often the meters work well enough w/o any adjustment on 1.5V.
Your meter is no more or less accurate than any meter on a TLR, meaning you might want to use a handheld one in some lighting conditions. My experience is that a 1.5V battery can be compensated for by a small adjustment of the ISO, but you seldom need to do that for B&W film. Often the meters work well enough w/o any adjustment on 1.5V.
Last edited:
MattKing
Moderator
Some cameras make use of a contact that contacts the side of a 625 battery, so for those cameras the adapters are ideal.
I've bought a few through Jon Goodman at extraordinarily reasonable cost.
I've bought a few through Jon Goodman at extraordinarily reasonable cost.
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