Hello F5 users,
As a datapoint, some months ago I measured the current usage of my F5 when
left on but meter off. My measurement was in the magnitude of 0.15 mA.
Now, AA alkalines have a capacity of around 2500 mAh (? correct me if I am
wrong). This means that leaving the camera on will drain new batteries in
15,000 hours, or about one and a half years... Am I missing something here?
It is of course not that simple - the voltage of the alkalines drops
gradually so it reaches the low battery warning level before the batteries
are completely drained. But still - am I missing something?
BTW, meter on drains _a lot_ more, I think it was around 400mA. Same thing
for long-time exposures, keeping the shutter open uses up a lot of energy.
So playing around with long-time exposures (like I did on my first set of
batteries) will quickly drain them.
Now, for practical experience, I shot about 40 rolls down in South America
on a set of AA lithiums, and before that about 30 to 50 rolls between
September and November. This set of batteries is still going very strong. I
believe that the 250 rolls rating for AA lithiums is correct, if shooting
without a lot of AF, and if just blasting through the rolls - not keeping
the meter on for 8 seconds before each shot. What lowers that number is AF,
and meter on - you know, recomposing, changing exposure, refocusing, waiting
for subject - and fiddling with long-time exposures when checking out the
new camera.
If you are handy with a multimeter and have any doubts, then I suggest that
you try making the same measurement on your F5.
Åke Vinberg
