I'm looking to pick up a small compact rangefinder and have been looking at some good buys on Ebay for the Hi-Matic E cameras from Minolta.  However, does anyone know if there is a substitute for the 2 X 640 batteries that are required to fire it up(

 Hi, Harlee.
The 640a batteries seem to work fine in it...however, I think I like the Hi-Matic F better.  There are other small rangefinders I've had good luck with.  One I like to take while traveling is the Chinon...goes under many names includ

 Hi, I get well-exposed negatives with my Hi-Matic E, with 3 LR44 1.5 volt batteries in it. They are pretty cheap and easy to find (at least where I am in east Asia) so I can change them regularly. Getting the three batteries to fit snugly takes bit o

 I have stacked two zinc/air batteries in a plastic sleeve in one cavity and made a conductor out of a piece of 5/8 wooden dowel with a hole drilled through and a nail cut to length in the other side.
I also had a half frame, an Olympus Pen D (it has

 Dear Sir:  I have a Minolta Hi-Matic E for sale.  I have fabricated 2 battery adapters which take the #375 battery in place of the 640's.  The camera seems to work OK, though I have not had time to run a roll of film through it.  Price, $35 OBO,

 The E is a fine camera. Slightly large and heavy, but a good shooter.
 
I think that the 1.7 lens on the E is a bit sharper than the one on the Canon QL17 GIII, although the Canon is more popular due to its compactness and the (off-and-on) avail

 I have just acquired cheaply, thro' eBay, a Minolta Hi-Matic AF(Rokkor 38mm f/2.. Though, theoretically, it is an auto-focus camera, it appears more likely a fixed focus camera, since nothing seems to change when pointing camera at subjec