Talk:Nizo S 55

From Super8wiki

I just bought a Nizo S55 on eBay, and it seems like a beauty (although I might edit this when I get my first rolls back). My one complaint with it is that the light metre and aperature are both dependant on batteries which have been illegal in Europe for some time. I managed to get some on good ole eBay, but when it said that there was manual exposure control, I assumed I would be able to use an external light metre. This is not the case.

=> JP's reply:
I have to admit that the "Manual Exposure"-entries are a little bit irritating since in most cases the camera only has got a manual correction of the auto exposure. Unfortunately we (=the admins) don't have all cameras, hence we can't correct Anssi Puistot's data ourselves and so far there have been only a few users who started to edit the articles themselves. :-(
Nevertheless you don't have to fear that your camera will be worthless soon: For a while, Varta and other companies produced mercury-free replacement batteries with the correct voltage. Now Weincell seems to be the only company that delivers fresh and "legal" coin cells with the correct voltage, while Varta and the other companies only produce batteries with "similar" voltages (e.g. 1.5V instead of 1.35V). Hence the new non-Weincell products cause over- or underexposure in most cameras - unless you're using manual correction of the auto-exposure-values.
BTW: I've seen fresh Chinese coin-cell-collections in several German shops (Conrad, Saturn, ...) lately for only 3-4 EUR. But I haven't checked whether they've got the correct or the slightly different voltage.
You'll also note that some newer replacement batteries won't fit due to smaller dimensions. But there are adapters that solve this problem.
In any case: The FAQ contains a list of shops that'll also sell those Weincell-batteries, the older (but nevertheless mercury-free) Non-Weincell-products with the correct voltage, the new Non-Weincell-products with the slightly different voltage and/or the necessary adapters. Most of these shops also ship their products, hence you can buy your batteries online or via telephone/fax.
Here's an interesting link to a hobbyist that offers to remove the need for a coin cell on some camera-models by adding some electronics and cables
Hope this helps,
Jörg