Beaulieu 8008 6V 2100mAh Ni-MH Replacement Battery

Beaulieu 8008 Series — 6V Ni-MH Replacement Battery

This 6V 2100mAh Ni-MH cell replaces the original power pack in the Beaulieu 8008, 8008 Pro Hi, and 8009 Profi film cameras. It supplies the voltage rail that drives the light metering circuit and motorised film advance mechanism. Capacity is sourced from the product specification at 2100mAh (12.6Wh).

• 8008 and 8008 Pro Hi platform fit: These models share the same battery bay geometry, 6V nominal rail, and connector orientation. The metering and advance motor both draw from the same cell, so voltage tolerance across the discharge curve matters — a cell that sags early will cause erratic frame spacing before full discharge.
• Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this cell through the full discharge curve under metering and advance motor load. The BMS held voltage steady across the mid-range of the curve, and the advance motor did not stutter until the cell reached end-of-discharge threshold.
• First-use cycle on the 8008 body: Run the first full charge through the camera body or OEM charger before active shooting. The 8008's metering circuit reads cell voltage to calibrate exposure hold-off — a partially conditioned Ni-MH cell will cause the meter to read low and underexpose early frames.

Why the 8008 meter drops out before the cell is actually flat

The Beaulieu 8008 light meter uses a voltage threshold to determine when to lock exposure — it does not track remaining capacity directly. Ni-MH cells have a flatter discharge curve than the original Ni-Cd packs these cameras were designed around. A new Ni-MH cell at mid-discharge can sit at 5.6V while the camera's threshold circuit interprets it as depleted. Running one full conditioning cycle normalises the cell's internal resistance and brings the resting voltage in line with the meter's calibration window.

Film advance stuttering or missing frames on a charged cell

The advance motor draws a short high-current pulse at each frame step. If the cell's internal resistance is elevated — common in a new Ni-MH before the first few cycles — that pulse causes a momentary voltage dip that the motor controller reads as an end-of-battery condition and halts. This produces skipped or unevenly spaced frames even with a charged cell. Charge the battery fully, run a complete discharge under normal shooting load, then recharge before your first roll. After two to three cycles, internal resistance drops and the motor pulse is absorbed cleanly.