Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hello from -21C Finland. Minilux is otherwise a very good camera, but it has made me angry many times because of the empty battery. This happened again yesterday and I decided to do something for the situation. No I did not throw the camera away! I took a multimeter to measure the current Minilux takes and found a very strange thing. Normally when I take photos with Minilux and I think I will take the next photo very soon I leave the camera ON (the lens out). I thought this will save the battery because the lens motor does not operate. The measurement showed a constant 20mA current when at ON. The switching from to ON or OFF take about 200-300mA but only for about 1 second. This gives after a short calculation a result: 300mAs = 20mA * 15s This means if I leave the camera at ON position it takes in 15 seconds the same energy as needed to shut it OFF. So if the interval between photos is longer than 30 seconds it is wise to switch the camera OFF between photos. I hope my measurements and calculations are correct, but for me this was a good explanation why my Minilux battery is so often empty. Maybe someone from Leica could give more exact numbers for the currents and energy used for switching ON/OFF. Heikki Puustinen tel.direct +358 17 287 1451 mobile +358 400 374640 fax. +358 17 4621212 Email. Heikki.Puustinen@telemic.fi