How did I do this?

[Jon LeMay]

Recently while photographing a bride on location with my Fuji S2 and shooting in manual mode i lost control of the shutter speed and aperture. The shutter speed showed 4000 and the aperture F22. When I released the shutter the light on the front of the camera blinked like it was on the timer. The shutter fired but at 4000 there was no sync. I messed with trying different things, changed the batteries. Finally i got control back and finished the session normally. This S2 is brand new. I elected to install the small lithium batteries to see if that would keep this from happening again. Portrait sessions are one thing but this would really bother me at a wedding. Jon LeMay

[Tom V]

Jon,

The way I see it, those pesky lithium CR123A batteries actually do something. The Nikon N80 uses them and the Fuji S2 is based on it. Everything on the S2 except the digital stuff is designed to run off the lithium batteries. In the absence of lithiums, the camera can run on AA (NiMH - not Alkaline) or AC power, but this is less than ideal. I would think that if your AAs were low on power, or weak to begin with, the "front half" of the camera's functions are going to suffer. In a camera as electronic as the S2, it is no surprise that things get goofy when the power is low or missing. I don't think you can fault the camera if you don't have all the batteries in.

I find that batteries can recover a bit of power from a short rest. Sometimes it makes me wonder if the batteries are bad, or if I messed something up. After a minute everything seems fine, only to foul up a couple minutes later. Changing the batteries solves it every time for me.

Buy your CR123As in bulk, use them, and your camera will not be starved for power. At the first sign of electronic foul, check/change the batteries.

[Jon LeMay]

i find that the lithum batteries last only last about ten days. is that your experience? i bought three sets the other day at walmart. jon lemay

[ballroom_boy]

Hi there,

Is that 10 days of shooting? Sometimes my CR123's last only 2 days but I have taken 800 shots with them! I find that when my camera sits idle, the CR123's don't lose their charge, like my NiMH AA's.

What are other's experiences with this?

[Jon LeMay]

yes, studio sessions......500 shots at a wedding 200 shots per day studio. the lithums usaully only last about ten days jon lemay

[Tom V]

This is a revised copy of what I have writting in another thread. I have adjusted the numbers regarding the number of batteries used and shots taken.

Since August, I have used the following CR123As:
2 that came with the camera
4 that I bought at the store (US$6.00? per battery)
6 that I bought in bulk* (US$1.25 per battery)
----------
12 CR123As used (6 sets)

I possibly may have used less than this, I might have given away a pair of batteries to my assistant. The figures below are a worst-case senario.

I have taken 3790 pictures with the camera.

That comes out to 631 pictures per set of CR123As. That is approximately US$0.0039 per picture (less than half a cent per image) at the bulk rate price.

3790 pictures on film (106 rolls) would have cost me around US$1,060 in film and processing (E-6 transparency film). Spending $34 on CR123As to have the camera in peak form is not too much in my humble opinion. Imagine shooting with a Nikon N80, you'd have to pay for the batteries AND FILM!

Even if I had to put a new set in every weekend, or even every DAY, it is still cheaper and faster than shooting film.

If you choose to not use the CR123As and force the camera to do everything with the AA NiMH, and give up the option of the internal flash - I can live with that.

*20 CR123A batteries for US$25 from http://www.botachtactical.com/toscr123a3vo.html which comes out to US$2.50 per set. (plus shipping)

Read the FAQ about batteries for some more tips.