KM A200 - recharging without losing setup?

Hi,

I've recent become the owner of an A200.  One thing I haven't worked out:  how to charge it without removing the battery and losing date and camera setup?

Thanks in advance

Richard.

Like all other cameras the A200 has both the main battery and a small internal battery .

It's the small battery , basically the same type of battery that you would have in a wrist watch , that holds the memory of the camera settings , including the date and time when the main battery is removed for charging .

What has probably happened it that the camera has been sat for so long without its main battery , or a flat battery in it that the small battery has gone flat .

In normal use of the camera , the main battery keeps the small secondary battery full charged , and even with the main battery removed , the small battery will keep the settings remembered for a very long time . Don't forget a watch battery lasts for years even with an LCD display on , the camera back up only has power the storage of a tiny bit a data .

It's possible that if you fully charge the main battery up , put it in the camera , and leave it for a week or so , then see if its managed to trickle charge any power back into the cell .

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There's always a chance that the battery might be dead now . It can be replaced , it's harder to do yourself than the ones inside the A1 or A2 , but doable . Like wise you could get a price from a camera repairer on doing for you , but it's likely to cost more than you paid for the camera .

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You could buy an AC/DC adapter so you can plug it in when you change batteries , they are cheap to buy . This would only be any good if a battery lasts a full day , and you then have access to a power supply .

An external power supply was also available .

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Do you have a copy of the user manual ?

If not download it from Minolta's website here ;

http://www.konicaminoltasupport.com/DiMAGE-A200.3029.0.html?&L=3.index.php

Also check that it has the latest firmware installed , also on the same link .

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To get the best out of your camera , shoot in RAW and process in something like Adobe Lightroom or similar , such as Gimp ( freeware ).

Enjoy your new camera , I still have mine and it is capable of making fine images .

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no need to concern yourself wit this issue unless the internal battery dies.

EvilOne wrote:

+

no need to concern yourself wit this issue unless the internal battery dies.

But I guess we'll never know as the O.P never bothered to reply .  

Its ok.. we did our part...some of these KM users might be dead....

EvilOne wrote:

Its ok.. we did our part...some of these KM users might be dead....

But I answered his original question within an hour of him posting it !!!

Surly he must have lasted that long!!!!

He was after all looking at investing in a new battery !

Neil uses the logical way to remove and replace the battery when the A200's internal is kaput.

Thx to Neil i have the repair manual for this camera and used it to figure out how to replace the super tiny backup battery.

I have pictures of the steps and will post them when i get my son to setup a place to host the photos.

easy to get to, but much care needed to unsolder and resolder the little bugger.

Finding them is tricky too as the only place i found the battery was thru Radio Shack's ebay store.

out of the 4 i bought, 2 were already dead and would not take charge. The battery is about 1/4" wide and 1/16" thick which is too tiny in my opinion for the task.

7-8 bucks i think is what i paid.

I sold my A200's this year as i just never used them.............

thedancer wrote:

neilt3 wrote:

EvilOne wrote:

Its ok.. we did our part...some of these KM users might be dead....

But I answered his original question within an hour of him posting it !!!

Surly he must have lasted that long!!!!

He was after all looking at investing in a new battery !

Maybe the guy used his cell phone and that battery is dead. Or lost the internet connection and still in search for it. Driving around with his car seeking in the neighborhood.

You have a valid point there .

It hadn't occurred to me he could be still driving around a month later , still trying to find an internet connection to post a reply .

I travel about a bit in my old VW camper van and sometimes struggle to get a phone signal , let alone somewhere that has a WiFi signal for an internet connection .

.

And here was me thinking that he didn't have the manners to post a reply saying "thanks" !

Shame on me !

I'm quite happy dismantling cameras and the like , but when it comes to tiny , delicate electrical soldering jobs , that's where I draw the line .

I have now got the gear to this , and when I get chance I intend to teach myself how to do it .

Times always the problem though to learn new stuff .

Since i did have a couple A200's that both had dead backup cells, i went ahead and did the transplant on one with a newly purchased Dantona RLITH-614-2VL battery. it's about 2.5mm x 7mm which to me is too tiny to be long lasting.

I had sold both cameras for some reason that i no longer recall, but have as of yesterday acquired a nice one, and i'm sure it'll need a new BU battery.

I have 1 Dantona cell left, but will probably try the Sanyo this next time.

here are 3 pictures from that transplant, and if anyone is interested in how to get to the dismantled portion i show in pic 1, i'll upload those images for you.

A holding device, small tipped iron (up to 25watt is sufficient) and patience will do the job along with a tiny dab of silicone (battery to board) is all that's needed to accomplish the job.

links below where to buy,

https://www.batterytex.com/product/detail/sanyo/ml614-tz4/rlith-614-2vl1

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DANTONA-INDUSTRIES-RLITH-614-2VL-/RLITH-614-2VL

http://www.newark.com/dantona-industries/rlith-614-2vl/sanyo-ml614-tz4-battery/dp/39M5818

Thanks for updating this thread .

Nice to see what needs to be done  .

Luckily the battery in my A200 is still holding its charge .

I don't know how good it is , it's at least 12-14 year old after all .

One of these days I need to teach myself how to solder !

My new A200 came from Japan today.....looks brand new and the internal battery is doing it's job.

I'd like to buy another battery for it..........seems to be a gaggle of them on ebay.

Any suggestions to which to buy, or brand?

Glad it arrived O.K .

There surprisingly rugged these old Minolta's .

I got mine about 6 or 7 years ago , I think I got the A2 first and then the A200 because of the tilting and swivelling screen .

At the time the only DSLR's I had were the Dynax 7d and Sony a100 , neither of which had live view . That was one of the main attractions of the A200 for use doing macro and close up's at low / ground level .

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Funnily enough I've been looking at getting another battery for mine a few weeks back .

I did have a few spares but I seem to have mislaid them amongst my other gear .....

Worse still , I took the battery out of the A200 and put it on charge about 6 weeks ago , and I'm dammed if I can remember where !

I think it might be at a friends house that I stay at from time to time , be meeting up with her again in a few weeks so will find out then .

Should be charged up by now anyway !

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Luckily I have a spare battery in the cameras case , and found a spare charger , so not a problem .

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Regarding batteries , there's a lot to go at . The cheap ones seem to be pot luck , but ones that I know are O.K are as follows .

I've had /got batteries made by these firms for other cameras I have and all seem to hold a good charge , including when not in use . some cheap one self discharge as soon as you look away from them .

These links are for traders on Ebay U.K , you'll need to do a search for local to you .

Inov8 ( as in Inovate ) Dearest , but I believe to be the best .

Delkin , I've had some NP-400 batteries made by this firm for my Dynax 7d and Pentax k10d that must be over 7 year old . Good quality .

Uniross , another well known brand .

The battery for the KM Dimage A200 is the NP-800 , while your doing a search also check for the ones listed as a Nikon EN-EL1 , that's also the same battery and as it was supplied with a lot more Nikon cameras than Minolta , is listed more common .

The ones I linked to might supply to the USA , so worth checking .

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As I believe these are your main cameras , you might want more power .

Especially if you want to try your hand at time-lapse photography .

I won another set of the Minolta external battery power pack ( EBP-100 ) , this holds two NP-100 batteries in it , both 1600mAh . So the 3200mAh is a bit of a step up from the 800mAh !

Not very common , but worth keeping your eye open .

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P.s , just ordered the Delkin one , still need to find my others . On a two week holiday at the end of the month , and will be taking the camera with me .

Well umph........no ebay seller wants to send to the US...........LOL

found a couple Nikon EN_EL1 batteries on KEH site.

I forgot about that one being the same.

Funny how you say "misplaced" in terms.......kinda fun though when you find something and then say "wow" i just bought one of these.....

Mikem65d wrote:

Well umph........no ebay seller wants to send to the US...........LOL

found a couple Nikon EN_EL1 batteries on KEH site.

I forgot about that one being the same.

Funny how you say "misplaced" in terms.......kinda fun though when you find something and then say "wow" i just bought one of these.....

Mike , I know and remember everything I already have bought .

They are in the spare/store room , along with everything else  ......

They will be in a box , with other batteries and chargers to keep them safe .

They are in a very , very safe place .

So I've narrowed down where my spare batteries box is to within about a 6 feet radius !

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Think of a very small needle in a very large haystack !!! Actually , make that 1 needle in either of 2 very large haystacks !!!

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The battery and charger that was with the camera a few weeks back is a different issue , that one might not even be at my house !

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Oh well , my new one should be here in a day or two , still quicker than looking for that damn box !

How you getting on with your new camera ?
Did you get fixed up with a spare battery ?
--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt3/sets

there is still some value to helping fellow KM members in this forum...

Bill aka EO

neilt3 wrote:

How you getting on with your new camera ?
Did you get fixed up with a spare battery ?
--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt3/sets

The new A200 is great and i'm lucky to have found this one.

Batteries are from KEH and work fine.

I got a second A200 off of the bay for 30 bucks.....seller sold as "parts or repair".

Unable to use card............turns out to be a gem.

It will read Sandisk Ultra II cards no problem, but no others, so my luck was that the seller had no Sandisk cards to try.

It has FW 1.01 in it.

The serial number is different from any of the others i've owned and i'd like to know how to decipher it.

"18501847"

any ideas?

Mikem65d wrote:

neilt3 wrote:

How you getting on with your new camera ?
Did you get fixed up with a spare battery ?
--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt3/sets

The new A200 is great and i'm lucky to have found this one.

Batteries are from KEH and work fine.

I got a second A200 off of the bay for 30 bucks.....seller sold as "parts or repair".

Unable to use card............turns out to be a gem.

It will read Sandisk Ultra II cards no problem, but no others, so my luck was that the seller had no Sandisk cards to try.

It has FW 1.01 in it.

The serial number is different from any of the others i've owned and i'd like to know how to decipher it.

"18501847"

any ideas?

Good deal on the cameras .

I've heard of a few cameras that develop a fault where they work with one card but not another .

The two A200 I have , have serial numbers of 42412392 and 37502521 , so it might have looked that it was older than mine .

That wouldn't work out though as I have an A1 with a S/N of 41319485 .

That's a code in between the two A200's , and that doesn't take into account the A2's in between .

So the numbers look more random than sequential .

A possibility could be that the first two or three numbers could be dependant on which factory/country they came out off .

The remainder then would be the individual serial number .

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I seem to remember a thread on Dyxum where serial numbers were discussed once , I can't remember it was film or digital cameras , but I think the start of the number was the relating to the month of production , but running continuously regardless of year .

So when the camera was started it was 10****** , five months later it was 15****** , two years later it was 34****** etc .for example .

There was a lot of debate trying to make a logical sense , though I can't remember if it was worked out . I was quite a long time ago ......

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Any way , not sure if that would help you or confuse you !

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On another note , since looking for my other A200 I got as a spares/repair camera to check the serial number ( turned out all that was wrong with it was a missing card door-worked fine ) , the extra batteries and chargers turned up !

So with the new battery and in car charger I bought the other day  , I'm up to six batteries and four chargers !

That should keep me going for a bit .

Usual way , can't find something , buy another , as soon as the new one arrives you find all the missing ones !