Rangefinder Battery

acparsons · Jul 21, 2020

Hello All,

I just acquired a Canon demi EE17. I've had some difficulty acquiring a battery for it. How would not using a battery affect photos? Would it be worth it to shoot without a battery?

Mike Drone · Jul 21, 2020

acparsons said:
Hello All,

I just acquired a Canon demi EE17. I've had some difficulty acquiring a battery for it. How would not using a battery affect photos? Would it be worth it to shoot without a battery?

According to the instruction manual, the Demi EE17 has a highly sensitive CdS exposure meter that fully couples to the shutter with a wide range of 1/500 - 1/8 sec. and B and it's lens aperture. Just press the shutter button and you will get the proper exposure.

I don't feel comfortable linking the instruction manual because the author has no unauthorized distribution stated on top. But a quick search will bring it up. Maybe it is for auto mode because you can set the aperture manually on the front.

Another site supports manual use with quote, "Aperture is selected on the face of the lens. It does have an “auto” aperture mode, but I’ve never really trusted the meter. It always seems to be about one stop off from my guestimated exposure. The Canon Demi EE17 takes the old Mercury PX625 stye batteries, so with modern batteries the meter will be out a bit based on the charge of the battery anyway."

So there is a modern battery that fits but would change the exposure anyway. I would try with manual mode, it appears to work using the rings on the lens. Sorry for the long post, there is a lot of information out there. =]

*Edit, I forgot to mention, awesome find!