K-3iii and in-camera battery recharging

With my K-3, standard practice for me was to carry a spare battery, and on the days I actually had to use it, just charge the previous battery overnight--it then became the spare.

What I find myself doing now is not carrying a spare at all, just plugging the camera in at night. I'm using the same USB charger that I use for my cell.

So that raises the question: is never having the battery fully discharge likely to hurt battery life? Should I go back to carrying a spare and recharging the battery in-use only when the camera complains about a low charge?

Anyone aware of official Pentax guidance on this? I'm only using real Pentax batteries, so they're expensive enough that I'd rather not be guilty of mistreating them.

Thanks for your thoughts

votive offerings, Nuremberg Cathedral (Frauenkirche)  using Pentax 16-85mm

bob5050 wrote:

With my K-3, standard practice for me was to carry a spare battery, and on the days I actually had to use it, just charge the previous battery overnight--it then became the spare.

What I find myself doing now is not carrying a spare at all, just plugging the camera in at night. I'm using the same USB charger that I use for my cell.

So that raises the question: is never having the battery fully discharge likely to hurt battery life?

I think it's the opposite, we should keep the battery always loaded, between 30-70% something like that.

But I'd be interested too if anyone who really knows for sure can confirm.

Should I go back to carrying a spare and recharging the battery in-use only when the camera complains about a low charge?

Anyone aware of official Pentax guidance on this? I'm only using real Pentax batteries, so they're expensive enough that I'd rather not be guilty of mistreating them.

Thanks for your thoughts

votive offerings, Nuremberg Cathedral (Frauenkirche) using Pentax 16-85mm

From what I've read and personal experience, I'm fairly confident that, assuming the use of a "proper" charger, the only way you can expect to damage a rechargeable lithium battery is to leave it in a totally discharged state for an extended period of time … viz: the failed internal clock batteries in cameras that have been left unused in drawers for years!

A "proper" charger, which would include the built-in circuitry in the K-3iii, will monitor the battery charge and temperature and not allow either to become problematic.

Lithium ion (or NiMH) batteries don't suffer the "memory" effect that Ni-Cad batteries were noted for, so can be recharged at any state of discharge to their full capacity.

Personally, I carry a spare battery and swap as required, much as you used to do, but that's mostly because I have a surfeit of appropriate Pentax chargers, so my camera is never occupied charging a battery, nor ever in a situation where it might be accidentally dragged off a desk or table by a trailing lead!

Best thing these days is you can top them up in the car.

No idea on the battery question, I pretty much keep mine charged up.  None of them have died yet.

But, hey, that's a nice image you posted.  Highish ISO and IBS sure works well.  

JeremieB wrote:

I think it's the opposite, we should keep the battery always loaded, between 30-70% something like that.

That +/- 70% is sort of the hard part. My new laptop has an automatic setting that will stop charging at 65%. If I'm taking it on a plane I can charge it to 100, but since most of the time it stays plugged in at home, the manufacturer suggests that this setting helps preserve battery capacity over the long term versus keeping it 100% charged.

Anyway, that's what made me wonder about the wisdom of always going out fully loaded.

RBIV wrote:

But, hey, that's a nice image you posted. Highish ISO and IBS sure works well.

Thanks, I'm VERY happy with the K3iii's low-light capabilities. I just don't get the film nostalgia--these are the kinds of pictures I just couldn't capture with my SLR.

A few more examples: telephoto and wider angle

pulpit detail, St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna

Votive candle stand, St. Stephen's Cathedral, Passau

And just for a change up....

hoarfrost along the river at morning

I have never used in-camera charging with my K3.3. I still use the charger that came with my K5/K3. I always have the battery grip on my K3.3. BTW, the batteries that came with and I bought with the K5 are still working.

LDBOK wrote:

I have never used in-camera charging with my K3.3. I still use the charger that came with my K5/K3. I always have the battery grip on my K3.3. BTW, the batteries that came with and I bought with the K5 are still working.

Never bought the battery grip, I suppose because I never ran through an entire battery in a day, so seemed an unnecessary weight. No doubt I'd feel different if I were a pro.

The charger is still traveling with me, but I noted that it never came out of the bag the last two trips--I have a multi-USB port converter, so even competing for a single outlet with the computer and phone, the camera can always be plugged in overnight.

bob5050 wrote:

LDBOK wrote:

I have never used in-camera charging with my K3.3. I still use the charger that came with my K5/K3. I always have the battery grip on my K3.3. BTW, the batteries that came with and I bought with the K5 are still working.

Never bought the battery grip, I suppose because I never ran through an entire battery in a day, so seemed an unnecessary weight. No doubt I'd feel different if I were a pro.

The charger is still traveling with me, but I noted that it never came out of the bag the last two trips--I have a multi-USB port converter, so even competing for a single outlet with the computer and phone, the camera can always be plugged in overnight.

I have a long lens on the K3.3 (300mm or longer) about 97% of the time, and the grip improves the balance and handling for me. I shoot almost entirely wildlife with the K3.3 and usually shoot at 7 FPS. It isn’t unusual for me to shoot 300 plus shots a day, and don’t want to run out of power mid sequence.

LDBOK wrote:

bob5050 wrote:

Never bought the battery grip, I suppose because I never ran through an entire battery in a day, so seemed an unnecessary weight.

I have a long lens on the K3.3 (300mm or longer) about 97% of the time, and the grip improves the balance and handling for me. I shoot almost entirely wildlife with the K3.3 and usually shoot at 7 FPS. It isn’t unusual for me to shoot 300 plus shots a day, and don’t want to run out of power mid sequence.

Sounds perfectly reasonable--different shooting habits/subjects, so different preferred configrations <g>

bob5050 wrote:

LDBOK wrote:

bob5050 wrote:

Never bought the battery grip, I suppose because I never ran through an entire battery in a day, so seemed an unnecessary weight.

I have a long lens on the K3.3 (300mm or longer) about 97% of the time, and the grip improves the balance and handling for me. I shoot almost entirely wildlife with the K3.3 and usually shoot at 7 FPS. It isn’t unusual for me to shoot 300 plus shots a day, and don’t want to run out of power mid sequence.

Sounds perfectly reasonable--different shooting habits/subjects, so different preferred configrations <g>

Different strokes for different folks as the old saying goes😀

altis wrote:

Just avoid extended periods sat above 80% or below 25%. Otherwise, use as is convenient.

https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries

really interesting article. My initial read suggests the following for longer battery life:

1. It's not a problem charging the LI90 frequently, and probably better to do that than use one to exhaustion before replacing. So plugging in the camera in the evenings shouldn't be a problem.
2. On the final day of use, don't top off the battery for storage--leave it at a reduced charge. If carrying the camera and a spare battery, swap out the main battery for the spare (without charging the main), for the last day/session, so that neither is stored at full charge.

Past that, it's hard to translate the information into operational rules such as "above 80% or below 25%" without better instrumentation or documentation on the camera itself. For example:

At what charge level does the status screen battery indicator actually indicate a low charge?

What does 'low' actually mean? The only terms the manual generally uses are insufficient, low, and full or fully charged. None of these terms are actually defined either technically or operationally AFAICS.

How accurate is the charge level icon? For example, at what level of charge does the battery no longer read full? If the icon shows 'half full' (say two little fill indicators down, but not indicating low charge yet), what's the actual charge level? My experience with the K-3 was that it would indicate it was fine/full until suddenly it wasn't--there was really no way to know "okay, I'm at 35% charge." And the final fill indicator on the battery icon went away much faster than the first did--the icon didn't seem reliably linear.

At what level of battery charge does the USB charging turn off? The manual says it turns off when "fully charged" so I assume that means 100% I don't know any way to charge to 80%, nor really any way to estimate remaining charge in percent-of-fill.

Suppose a battery is at 100%, but I've just returned from a trip and know I won't need it for a while why I process trip pictures. How would I de-stress it (reduce to say 75% charge) for storage?

Perhaps this is all a bit obsessive, but I do try to take care of my gear as best I can. I had a laptop that was usually/generally/always plugged in at home, and it became totally useless for the road. Working capacity unplugged dropped down to maybe 10 minutes simply because I almost always had it plugged in. My new laptop provides a way to avoid that by limiting/shutting-down charging even when plugged in. I wish I had the same level of control with the camera.

Anyone have the PF ebook? Does it add any useful information here?