Battery Replacement Options for a Yashica MG-1

Battery Replacement Options for a Yashica MG-1 and More!

One of the perennial problems that today’s photographers interested in shooting with film face is the lack of replacement batteries. Many older cameras required voltages supplied by a mercury cell. My Yashica MG-1 for example is one of those and it originally took a mercury oxide PX32 5.6V battery which was very common back in the day.

Mercury batteries have long gone the way of the dodo having been banned worldwide.

Why Were Mercury Camera Batteries Banned?

It was not just mercury camera batteries of course but they were included. Mercury camera batteries (mercury oxide) were banned in the 1990s due to their potential severe environmental and health hazards. When improperly discarded, mercury leaches from landfills into soil and groundwater, or if incinerated releases toxic fumes. This resulted in global phase-outs.

So What Battery Can You Use for a Yashica MG-1?

Some film camera users are lucky and can find a direct replacement but that’s not often the case and for the Yashica MG-1 it definitely wasn’t.

Sometimes you can get batteries that will fit but aren’t the correct voltage and then you have to compensate by altering the ISO or more commonly ASA setting.

Other times the potential replacement battery simply doesn’t fit properly. This is what happened with one of my MG-1s which arrived with a battery fitted but a ball of aluminum foil at one end to complete the circuit.

Did it work? Yes, frankly, it did but it was not a very satisfactory hack. So I went looking for an adapter and I not only found one that would work for my MG-1 but also other models.

The PX32 Battery Adapter

It’s not just a battery labelled PX32 that it can replace with a suitable modern battery. These others were all mercury based clones (for want of a better way of putting it) for the PX32:

• 1404M
• 4NR52
• HM-4N
• TR164
• V164PX

The adapter allows you to use these batteries as replacements:

• 4LR44
• A544
• K28A
• PX28A
• V34PX

How Good Is the Adapter?

The adapter is 3D printed using PETG plastic by an eBay seller (seller link at end of article) because they couldn’t find any hack that worked really well just like I couldn’t until stumbling across this one!

I ordered one and it fits very well indeed. Replacement batteries do not get stuck inside the adapter and the adapter itself does not get stuck in the compartment. It’s a perfect fit!

The Cameras It Will Work With

It’s not just my Yashica MG-1 that this will work with. The adapter and a replacement battery will happily power the following Yashica models:

• Yashica Electro 35
• Yashica Electro 35 G
• Yashica Electro 35 GS
• Yashica Electro 35 GSN
• Yashica Electro 35 GT
• Yashica Electro 35 GTN
• Yashica Electro 35 GL
• Yashica Electro 35 CC
• Yashica Electro 35 FC
• Yashica Electro AX SLR
• Yashica MG-1

So, Is the Adapter a Good Choice for Replacing a PX625 Battery?

Yes, it absolutely is and I highly recommend it. Let me put it this way: I have several cameras that used a PX625 and I have bought an adapter for each one. It is so much easier than trying to use hacks.

I do recommend using high quality batteries rather than cheapo ones but then that should be the case for any battery you put in your camera!

You can get an adapter on eBay from the seller Bid-With!