Update:
The battery compartment hatch is awful, a pain in the you know where. You have to work hard to get it open, it gets in the middle so every time I use blunt scissors, push on the top of the middle batteries from the half opening of the hatch and get it open.
The hatch of the F42 is great.

Sounds like (I think Henry's ?) complaint about the 36Am battery hatch

hey I wonder now you say it's getting hung up on the batteries?and have to press down on them? I wonder if there is a diference in the edges of batteries that would cause one to catch and others not to ?

Will try and let you know.

Batteries are not consistent in size. They can vary by as much as 1.5mm in length, and some cause problems with fit in flashgun compartments. Rechargeable cells of an exact fit are the best bet. I also find that the Energizer brand, which Minolta used (I bought over 2000 Energizer AAs from them when they closed) are a good fit. My stash of Energizer cells expires in 2012, been using them since 2006, have sold 1200 to other photographers in trays of 300 cells at a time!

David

During this discussion http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3373&start=15, Tom (Ursa Major) came up with a solution that helps enormously, he uses a credit card in the hinge line to push the door a little sideways, and I found after a little experimenting that you can use your index fingernail just as well (if you have a reasonably stout index fingernail that is). All you have to do is press that into the hinge line as you open the door, and it opens easily.
Greg

maybe thats it David. I only use Duracells and Energizers in anything that uses AA's. they are locally made where I live so I seek them out. I really like the compartment on my F36. I can use 4packs of batteries and pre-stage them in the plastic package so I can dump and load all 4 at a time without even really paying attention to what i'm doing.

Time to find Energizers. Thanks.




Anyone with a spare credit card? I'll surely use it.