What is a PX825 battery?
The PX825 is a 1.5-volt alkaline manganese button cell (Zn/MnO₂) that was mainly produced from the late 1960s by Mallory, Eveready, Varta, and Kodak for simple light meters, flash cube ignition, and electronic shutters in compact and Instamatic cameras. Despite the "PX" prefix — often associated with mercury cells like the PX625 — the PX825 was an alkaline cell from the start. Dimensions: 23.2 × 6.1 mm. Common cross-references: V825PX (Varta), LR53 (IEC), EPX825 (Eveready), KA825 (Kodak), NEDA 1129AP.
Which cameras need a PX825 battery?
PX825 was mainly used in the Kodak Instamatic series: Kodak Instamatic 124, 154, 174, 204, 224, 304, 314, 404, 500, 704, 714, 800, 814, Instamatic Reflex, and S10/S20. Other models from manufacturers like Minox B4 and C4, Voigtländer Vitessa 1000SR, Zeiss Ikon Voigtländer Prontor 500 electronic, Vitessa 500 AE/SE, GAF 100 XF / 102A / 200 XF / Anscomatic, Argus 254/264/364 Instant Load, Hanimex IC 2000, and Agfa Agfamatic 126 also used it. Many of these cameras require two PX825 batteries in series (3 V total) — the complete searchable list with 43 camera models can be found at the top of this page.
Is the PX825 still available for purchase today?
Original PX825 batteries have practically not been produced since the early 1990s. Production was discontinued for commercial reasons — the demand for 23.2 mm button cells for vintage Instamatic cameras was simply too small, and the mechanical form is uneconomical compared to modern, significantly smaller alkaline and silver oxide standard cells. Important for classification: The PX825 was originally an alkaline cell, so the EU mercury bans (Battery Directive 2006/66/EC, Battery Regulation 2023/1542) do not affect it. Replacement is still easily available today — both as a form-identical drop-in replica (e.g., Exell S825PX in silver oxide, also found as LR53/BLR53/KA825) and through adapter solutions.
What replacement options are there, and what are their respective advantages and disadvantages?
There is no single "best" replacement — three options are common:
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Exell S825PX (Silver oxide, 1.55 V) — the direct drop-in: Form factor-identical replica with the original dimensions 23.2 × 6.1 mm. No adapter needed, just insert. Silver oxide provides a constant voltage over almost the entire discharge curve. Available from specialty dealers like mdbattery or smallbattery.company.org.uk. Also found under the names LR53, BLR53, and KA825.
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Adapter with two small 1.5 V cells (Ausgeknipst solution): A plastic adapter fills the large PX825 compartment and holds two modern LR43/LR54 or silver oxide SR43/SR54 cells wired in parallel to deliver the nominal 1.5 V. Advantage: standard cells available everywhere, long lifespan, exact voltage match to the original alkaline PX825. Available from Ausgeknipst as PX825 adapter with two cells.
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LR44/SR44 with spacer ring: Single LR44 (alkaline, 1.5 V) or SR44 (silver oxide, 1.55 V) plus a matching spacer ring mechanically bridge the compartment. Affordable and widely available; for cameras that require two PX825 in series (3 V), two of these adapters must be stacked. Silver oxide provides more consistent voltage than alkaline.
Does the voltage difference in the replacement really make a difference in exposure?
Less so with the PX825 than with mercury types like PX625: The original PX825 was already a 1.5 V alkaline cell, so modern 1.5 V alkaline (LR43/LR44) and 1.55 V silver oxide (SR43/SR44, Exell S825PX) cells fit electrically almost directly. Higher voltage than the nominal value causes the light meter to assume too much light → underexposure; lower voltage leads to overexposure. With slide film, any misexposure is critical; color negative film forgives one to two stops and reacts much more forgivingly to overexposure than underexposure.
More important than the absolute value is the consistency of the voltage over the discharge curve: Alkaline cells (including the original PX825) continuously drop their voltage from around 1.55 V to about 1.2 V — this leads to fluctuating readings over the battery's lifetime. Silver oxide cells, on the other hand, keep their voltage almost constant throughout the entire discharge and are therefore the technically cleanest option for light meters. However, since most PX825 cameras are simple Instamatic point-and-shoots with tolerant CdS bridge circuits, the difference rarely matters in practice.
