Yeah, if you remember to turn off the meter and/or put on the lens cap
between uses, those mercury batteries on OM-1 bodies last a looong time.
But when they go, it's real sudden. When I was doing electronic repairs
back in the late 60s, special mercury cells were used as voltage
standards because of this very characteristic. They have very little
voltage change over their useful life, then die suddenly. I'm sure
that's why they were used in many cameras and light meters, because they
assured accuracy as long as they were working at all. Remember none of
these earlier cameras put much load on the batteries, just move a
sensitive meter needle, not operate a shutter.
One day I was taking slides in Mexico and the morning of the next when I
took it out in Guanajuato, it was dead. Suggested exposures off the film
box saw me through to the next battery with flying colors. I can never
quite remember sunny 16, but now there is a copy of the Kodak Master
Photo Guide in the bag, which is even better.
Moose
George M. Anderson, Photographer wrote:
Point it at some light with the switch on. If the needle moves, there's life
in the battery. IIRC, the mercury batteries either run or they don't. IOW,
they don't fall off slowly but rather drop dead. I could be wrong.
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