Poll: Batteries - Proprietary or AAs?

Energizer Lithium AAs for me. $20 for a 4 pack and they last aaaaaaaaaaaaaages
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/uc_mitch/

I've owned the DS bodies for a year and a half, also own several other cameras with custom-form-factor Li-Ion batteries. Frankly, the other cameras are easier to manage. No fussing with two or four cells, no self discharge, smaller, lighter cells, etc.

The DS body I use for tripod/macro work has had a set of CRV3 Lithiums in it for 7 months and somewhere around 900 exposures. They cost me $20, but will likely run another 300 shots.

But the battery king in my cabinet right now is my Sony R1. I charged the Info-Lithium battery three months ago and have made 500-600 exposures with it, and it still shows 140 minutes time available in record mode (330 minutes when fully charged...). That's with an after-market, 1400mah replacement for the Sony FM50NP (1150mah) that cost me $24. At this rate, I'll have to charge it twice a year. Since it's rechargeable, it ends up costing less than the Pentax on battery costs.

Godfrey

Almost a necessity on some travels (for example walking and camping a month through Tibet).
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Menno

That's why I love the AA solution. DS, Flash and CompactDrive share AA batteries. Much less spare batteries to carry around, and for the DS I always have a few CRV3s with me for ultimate back-up. Please... no proprietary rechargeable-only batteries!!

Wim

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Belgium, GMT+1

I am using mostly Lithium AAs.

What is the purpose of having a small and light DSLR if one has to take a charger, cables and plug adapters when travelling to charge proprietary batteries.

Li-Ion batteries have a major drawback, they need to be changed after 3-4 years. These 3-4 years are due to the used technology and is not even dependent of how many times they have been charged. Who can tell if a given proprietary Li-Ion battery will still be available new in a few years?
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Dominique

http://www.pbase.com/tcom

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Have a nice day (a picture says more than 1000 words)
Jim

Inspiration Challenge - in depth feedback guaranteed

'Don't overestimate technology - nothing is knowledgefree'

400 shots per charge on my uniross 2500mAh with uniross charger

1000 shots per charge with same batteries but with my lacrosse rs900 charger (!!!)

(figures with no flash, about 1000 shots per month)

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1000 shots on rechargeable AAs, that's not bad at all.

When I am on holiday, the electricity supply is mostly very bad. A lot of short interruptions and a lot of peaks, or no electricity at all on the whole trip.

Even the best charger won't help in these situations. AA lithiums are just fine on holidays, but such a charger could be usefull at home.
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Dominique

http://www.pbase.com/tcom

... (in anyone is interested, that is) ... my OPtio 555 used a proprietary battery, which gets depleated when lying on the shelf. I have a spare battery and feel that I always have to remeber to charge both fully before trusing them to have enough juice to last on an outing.

The CR-V3's lasts must longer and don't get depleated while my DS is sitting on a shelf between outings. I can just grab it and go, and I have the next set of CR-V3's ready in my SlingShot and can replace the old batteries quickly when I need to (actually, the batteries that came with my DS still appear to be fully charged after 8-900 shots).

I don't want to go back to having to plan my camera usage and carefully charge both batteries (I would always want to have a spare battery) before taking the camera with me for shorter or longer outings.

The CR-V3's are also best for travelling; I can buy as many sets I need for even very long vacations and never be dependent on outlets for recharging batteries between daily outings.

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Best regards,
Lars

Both is better;
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=19329750
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Haakon, Norway.

Like many AA's or a dual fit system. The thought of another battery recharger gives me gas

wll

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Simon
long time Pentax user

The relatively small size of Pentax DSLRs & lenses make them ideal travel cameras. For a travel camera, AA batteries make much more sense than LiOn for the many reasons already listed. This key advantage seemed a deliberate Pentax strategy with the the '*ist' generation of DSLR bodies and appears to have been continued with concept behind the latest 'Pancake' primes

However the K10D is bigger than existing bodies - probably similar in size to a Canon 30D - (ie. less 'travel-friendly') and now this suggestion of a bespoke LiOn power-supply surely puts the new camera totally at odds with Pentax's current strengths

The problem of what happens when LiON batteries are discontinued (ie. you have to 'trash' your camera) has already been raised (and that's without considering the standard Pentax 'supply' problems for most items!)... but there is another issue in that 'generic' alternatives will probably be few and expensive - the K10D is unlikely to be a mass-market camera, and as there are no 'big' pentax P&S cameras sharing the battery, the market for aftermarket alternatives is unlikely to be large-enough to interest many manufacturers. LiOn are OK for Canon, Nikon and other large-volume sellers (particularly if one battery is used in many models) - where you can get cheap cells for $5 each on Ebay - but it's a different story for the smaller brands!

I'm hoping this story that "K10D uses LiOn and cannot use AA" batteries will turn-out to be untrue. If it is true then I'm concerned about this camera and about the solidity of the concept behind it

Regards!

I've tried to standardise so that as many of my gadgets as possible use AAs or AAAs, which use a single charger. It makes life so much simper, especially when travelling and trying to keep weight & hassle to a minimum.

For the right camera I'd make an exception, but with so much hardware to choose from, battery type is one of the first filters I apply to narrow my choices down.

Andrew McP

I definitely do not want proprietary batteries, so my preference would be for AAs like I already use in my DS. If Pentax feels the need to switch, it has to be to some other non-proprietary battery.

My two main reasons for this opinion have already been voiced elsewhere:
1) AA batteries are easy to find anywhere when you unexpectedly run out of power

2) AA batteries will be available even if Pentax bites the dust. I don't want my camera to turn into a desk ornament due to lack of power source.

I bought the AA battery grip for my old SF1 film camera specifically to give me that flexibility in power that AA batteries provide. I was happy to pay for this in a bit more bulk and weight in the grip.

If lithium-ion batteries are so much better than NiMH or other technologies, then let's see that technology in a standard battery form factor (AA or AAA or whatever). There's no reason why any camera manufacturer has to build a proprietary battery. Pentax is the best at compatibility for lenses, and should strive to remain the best in compatibility with standard battery types.

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-- Michael

AAs for sure. I wish I could find rechargeable Li-ion AAs. The Ni-MH just don't hold a charge long enough.
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((( Just Shoot It )))

Easy to get, easy to recharge in case of rechargables, long-lasting in case of Litiums.

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Gerard Stafleu

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Jeff

I got my Pentax IstD because it was a good DSLR that used AA batteries. I live in Mexico and the proprietary batteries are hard to get and very expensive. I would consider just keeping my IstD and not upgrading if it meant dealing with proprietary batteries.

If there were a valid reason from a photographer's standpoint I would reconsider but now the availability of AAs and the fact that all of my accessories and other items use AAs is a significant reason to stick with my current batteries.