AA Batteries are a life saver. (or a picture saver)

[jsundin]

Not to be overly meodramatic, but...

Today, I was taking pictures at my daughters water polo match. I have CRV3 batteries in there, and had over 1500 shots and it just went to the "half battery" icon last night. I figured I had plenty to go. 2 minutes left in the half, and I get the dreaded "battery depleted" message. Well, I ran across the street to Home Depot and picked up an 8 pack of Lithium AA's and was back before the 3rd quarter started.

This is one reason I chose the K100D and it paid off. In the 4th quarter, my daughter shot and scored a goal. Had I not had the option of AA batteries, I would have missed this.

Only about 1700 shots on the set of SRV3 batteries, but I have been doing a lot of AF, screening, and playing. Not much flash. Oh, and a bunch of high ISO shots, that probably causes the noise reduction processor to churn quite a bit.

Jeff

 

[jsundin]

So, here is my experience so far with batteries.

Set included with new K100D - about 200 shots.
First set of recharge 2500s - about 80 shots.
Set of CRV3 - about 1500 shots.
just replaced with Lithium disposables. (We'll see how that goes.)

Jeff

 

[arnelie]

Hi,

Can you please specify more clearly, I find your numbers a bit confusing:

So, here is my experience so far with batteries.

Set included with new K100D - about 200 shots.

These are AA Alcaline? The manual says 80 shots (no flash)!

First set of recharge 2500s - about 80 shots.

These are AA Ni-MH? In that case, # of shots is very low I think, manual says 400 shots.

Set of CRV3 - about 1500 shots.

These are non-AA non-rechargable (K100D is suuposed not to take recharagable CVR3)? What price? Your # of shots is way above the manual specs, which says 700.

just replaced with Lithium disposables. (We'll see how that goes.)

AA? What price? manual promises you 600.

• Arne

Jeff

 

[steephill]

I wouldn't put too much store in the manual numbers as personal styles will have a big impact on capacity. For example people have reported anything up to 2000 shots from CRV3s.

Initial performance of new NiMH AAs can be poor, it can take up to five recharge cycles before they reach full performance.

There are some safe brands of RCRV3s - I think Samsung supplied these with their version of the *istDx series. There have been lots of posts so it will be worth searching but from memory Delkin seem OK.

There are also the new Eneloops to think about - again a search will bring up some info.

It is great to have so many options.
--
Steve

http://www.pbase.com/steephill

 

[McSpin339855]

So, here is my experience so far with batteries.

First set of recharge 2500s - about 80 shots.

Just goes to show how different uses, result in different numbers. I use 2500 rechargables, and get 600-800 shots on a newer set. I don't use on-camera flash and many of my lenses are manual focus, so my numbers are probably higher than average, but I can't even imagine what you're doing to get only 80.

 

[JensR]

Hi Steve!

There are some safe brands of RCRV3s - I think Samsung supplied
these with their version of the *istDx series.

The Swedish distributor, did so, IIRC.

It is great to have so many options.

Enjoy it while it lasts, with the K10D using proprietary batteries, I'd assume the K200D (should it come) to use the same battery.

Cheers
Jens

--

'Well, 'Zooming with your feet' is usually a stupid thing as zoom rings are designed for hands.' (Me, 2006)
http://www.jensroesner.de/
--=! Condemning proprietary batteries since 1976 !=--

Currently hosting Bandwidth Challenge #2 'So Sweet It Hurts'
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[jsundin]

Arne, I agree the numbers are a bit confusing, but as the saying goes, "Your mileage may vary."

Can you please specify more clearly, I find your numbers a bit
confusing:

So, here is my experience so far with batteries.

Set included with new K100D - about 200 shots.

These are AA Alcaline? The manual says 80 shots (no flash)!

These were AA ALkaline batteries that came with the camera out of the box. I was surprised, myself. But, I was not using flash and I think the camera has an easier time moving the gears on the small kit lens, making the motor work less, yielding more shots.

First set of recharge 2500s - about 80 shots.

These are AA Ni-MH? In that case, # of shots is very low I think,
manual says 400 shots.

This was the first time I had used these batteries, and people in the forum have stated in many posts that it takes a few charges for these to get to their true potential. So, I am not worried about this number at present.

Set of CRV3 - about 1500 shots.

These are non-AA non-rechargable (K100D is suuposed not to take
recharagable CVR3)? What price? Your # of shots is way above the
manual specs, which says 700.

Yes, these are non-AA. I got them at Walgreens (local drug store chain) a few weeks ago for $9.99. THey normally run about $15-18 in stores.

just replaced with Lithium disposables. (We'll see how that goes.)

AA? What price? manual promises you 600.

I got an 8 pack for $18. I won't hold the manual to its word, but more a as a guideline. Users here have experienced much higher numbers (and I am sure a few have experienced lower numbers).

• Arne

Jeff

 

[Reid133934]

I'd like to see how you shoot water polo! My daughter was a swimmer on our high school team a couple of years ago and shooting that was tough.

You'll like the AA Lithiums. I use them in my *istD all the time now.

Thanks,
Reid

 

[D TONG]

Not to be overly meodramatic, but...

Today, I was taking pictures at my daughters water polo match. I
have CRV3 batteries in there, and had over 1500 shots and it just
went to the "half battery" icon last night. I figured I had plenty
to go. 2 minutes left in the half, and I get the dreaded "battery
depleted" message. Well, I ran across the street to Home Depot and
picked up an 8 pack of Lithium AA's and was back before the 3rd
quarter started.

This is one reason I chose the K100D and it paid off. In the 4th
quarter, my daughter shot and scored a goal. Had I not had the
option of AA batteries, I would have missed this.

Only about 1700 shots on the set of SRV3 batteries, but I have been
doing a lot of AF, screening, and playing. Not much flash. Oh, and
a bunch of high ISO shots, that probably causes the noise reduction
processor to churn quite a bit.

Jeff

I have in my car 5 sets of NiMH batteries in my car/camera bag for my DL. K100D and AF360. The only inconvenience is taking off the depleted ones and putting in newly charged ones. That is the beauty of it.

Daniel, Toronto
http://www.pbase.com/danieltong

 

[insulglass]

I recently got about 2100 shots on a set of four Energizer Lithium AA's. I keep a set of extras at all times in my camera bag. Those batteries also got another 100-150 shots of extra life when I stuck them in my old Fuji S7000 camera.

I also got a set of Duracell CRV3's when they were on sale for $9.99/2-pack and I'm still on the first set at about 1800 shots and just received my first "half battery" sign, so the end is near. All in all, I can't be unhappy about either the CRV3's or the AA lithiums at all.

Pentax DL, btw. Very little onboard flash, but back panel preview on 100% of shots.

David

 

[SteveB]

I get about the same, 800+ shots on new 2500mAh NiMh, but so far I've only used them straight after charging, so I don't yet know if leaving them a week or two will severely dent the no. of shots. The K100D likes newish low internal resistance NiMhs. An emergency set of alkalines or lithiums in the camera bag is probably a good idea if using NiMhs.

 

[lak]

Initial performance of new NiMH AAs can be poor, it can take up to
five recharge cycles before they reach full performance.

But 80 shots is REALLY poor, something is not right especially if the batteries are brand new. I would test them to see if one or more of them are defective. Some of the cheaper brands have high defective rate.

Actually, I have been testing new some NiMHs - majority of the good quality NiMH (e.g. Made in Japan Sanyo's) achieve their rated performance on the FIRST charge. After a few recharge cycles, the performance has slight improvement or little change. Other cheaper brands never quite achieve their rated output, even after repeated charge/discharge cycles.