Where can I get battery?

[BolexPlusx]

You are probably not going to find a mercury replacement cell because they are illegal these days, but you can probably get an Alkaline with a reasonably close voltage.

You can take the old cell to Radio Shack, they can often help.

You can contact these people too, they're very good and can get a replacement cell to you in the mail in a few days.

http://www.photobattery.com/

By the way, the Mercury cell is probably for your light meter and automatic exposure control. Since the cell voltage effects the accuracy of the light meter, it is important that it as close as possible to the original voltage.

[mitsos]

Hello all,

I am extremely new to 8mm filming: the first camera I bought on eBay just arrived yesterday!
It is a Canon Reflex Zoom 8-3. It needs a "mercury battery" (not sure for what, the light?) which has a shape I have not seen before: about half the height of a AA battery and about the same thickness.

Do you know where I could look for one?

Any help is much appreciated.

Mitsos

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 31, 2002 12:22 PM: Message edited by: mitsos ]</font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 01, 2002 11:16 AM: Message edited by: mitsos ]</font>

[mitsos]

Thank you BolexPlusx,

I did find the battery I needed at photobattery.com. They have quite a selection.

And, yes, the battery is for the light meter and exposure control...

I guess I am ready to start using the camera...!
Hmmmm... where does a novice start? I guess I'll just start shooting and figure it all out as I go. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Mitsos


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by BolexPlusx:
You are probably not going to find a mercury replacement cell because they are illegal these days, but you can probably get an Alkaline with a reasonably close voltage.

You can take the old cell to Radio Shack, they can often help.

You can contact these people too, they're very good and can get a replacement cell to you in the mail in a few days.

http://www.photobattery.com/

By the way, the Mercury cell is probably for your light meter and automatic exposure control. Since the cell voltage effects the accuracy of the light meter, it is important that it as close as possible to the original voltage.</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

[BolexPlusx]

Where can you start?,
I guess you just have to go out and make friends with the camera and the format. You need to make some mistakes and learn from them, and you need to have some successes for inspiration. (If other words I hope your first roll of film doesn't come back completely black, but no more than 1/3 black like mine did.)

What you need to do is figure out what it is that you care about, and figure out how it is that you can get it down on film. It's just the same as writing a story; that you can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't care about the subject you can't make something really good come of it.

In forums like this one we talk a lot about this kind of film or that kind of camera, that's the "what". What we rarely talk about is the stories that the films are about, that's the "why"

What you need to do is figure out what your stories are. These are small films, so the stories don't have to be huge ones. All that matters is that they are important to you.

I think most of all, It's important to have fun. Try different things. It's a huge rush when they work. When they don't then try something else. Don't take it too seriously, maybe you are the next Stephen Spielberg, but I know I'm not and just content to enjoy myself. (and having a ball!)

When you go to a movie or watch TV, pay attention. These guys may be a lot more talented than us, and do they ever have much better toys to play with!, but you can learn a lot by watching what they do. (It's actually scary when you start picking up on their mistakes!)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 20, 2002 11:55 PM: Message edited by: BolexPlusx ]</font>