K100D Super and Battery Life

[channeler]

Bought a K100D Super for my daughter in December. At first she used the alkaline batteries supplied with it. The batteries seemed to show half life and then low power after a relatively small number of shots. Admitedly, she was using the flash for quite a number of consecutive shots. The battery seemed to recover and show full power again after a while but seemed to then lose power even more quickly. We replaced them with fully charged rechargables yesterday, but after only something like 20 shots these showed half power and after a further 20 or so showed low power. Left to recover they now show full power again (at the moment). What experience have other people had with batteries and the K100D Super?

Paul

[Stratman]

Get some Eneloops, or Ray O Vac Hybrids, problem solved !! I have a K110D, and I get a LOT of shots with those, and they don't lose their charge when not in use for long periods of time.

Edit: not sure if the Ray O Vacs are available in the UK, but I am pretty sure the Sanyo Eneloops are.

[borno]

Yeah I second Stratman, I've got a set of each and they work great

[k100d]

if it's more casual use, consider AA Lithiums or 2 CR-V3s ... should last a very long time and lighter than NiMH batteries

[spanky12]

If you already bought fully charged rechargeables, then that is what everyone is recommending to you. I had the same problem, and after buying several sets of Kodak pre-charged recharegables, I get great battery life out of them (hundreds of shots). I still get the battery indicator showing half life, etc, but it just keeps going, and after turning it off for a minute, it will usually show full again.

The precharged/low discharge type like the Eneloop, Kodak, Rayovac, etc just have a more stable characteristic than the older rechargeable types do.

[ixc]

+1 for eneloops!

the alakaline batteries shipped with the cam are for powering on and testing the basic functionality - mine didnt last long at all.

next i threw some Energizer 2700mh rechargeables in and they worked decent but i was still draining them pretty quick. After suggestions on this forum i looked into Low Discharge batteries and decided to pickup the Kodaks as they were cheapest. My camera was sucking the juice out of these like crazy so i finally buckled down and got the eneloop kit from Costco.

Since then i couldnt be happier. The kit comes with 8AA and 4AAA as well as charger and adapters for C/D batteries. I very rarely have to switch between the pair and they have been going strong for about a month casual shooting

[szbrozek]

please have a look out for Vapex Batteries, they offer 2900mAh AA's . Not too expensive, I swear by them and have used them for the last few years in my k100 and my point-and-shoot samsung d103, they seem to last forever!

[DJey]

+1 for Eneloops or Hybrids like Uniross

[Kayaker1]

Another vote for Eneloops - they solved the problem for me with a K100D. Kodaks I already had worked so-so - the Energizer rechargabless I got are junk.

[axl]

Originally Posted by channeler

...What experience have other people had with batteries and the K100D Super?

Paul

I have 2x K100Dso...
Similar to yours with regural rechargables and alkalines...
In my camera I've been using Energizer Lithiums AAs. They are great. I don't do lot of flas photography but some chimping. I can get around 400 shots out of them, maybe even more..
My girlfriend is using enrgizer rechargables 2500mAH. She practicly not using flash but LCD is on very often. But these batteries are doing really well, maybe not as well as lithiums but they are worth trying.
And recently I bought Uniross Hybrio (should be UK version on Eneloops) but after first charge they gave only handfull of shots and then behaved very erraticaly. I recharged them but have yet to test them.
Anyway, my advice, go for Energizer Lithium, eihter AA or CR3V

[Aegon]

Use Eneloops. The sticker says 2000mAH, your brain will tell you that this is somehow worse than 2500 or 2900 mAH, but your camera will tell you that it is better. (if you care, the voltage is slightly higher, so the battery has a similar energy density to those higher mAH rechargeables, but the batteries don't self-discharge so they don't lose much power when they are just sitting).

When I switched from regular rechargeables to eneloops, I bought 12 batteries, enough for 3 sets. That was overkill for my needs. The eneloops wouldn't die.

Non self-discharge means:
(1) batteries can sit in your camera bag for a year and still be useful.
(2) they are precharged when you buy a new set
(3) you won't be throwing as many batteries away
(4) lasts a long time in a digital camera
(5) you know how much charge is in a battery. If you used it up, 0%. If you haven't touched it, then 95%-100%. Regular rechargeables are a crap-shoot.
(6) you don't have to recharge batteries that haven't been used for a while, which saves battery charge cycles and improves battery life

I spent $30 on regular rechargeables before I bought eneloops. I wish I could get that $30 back.

[MrApollinax]

+1 for eneloops. Just put a fresh set in on Thursday and have taken almost 700 shots so far and I still show full charge. Hybrids are the way to go.

[davlee]

I find the performance of nimh cells, both hybrid and the ordinary kind, increases after a few cycles. Throw them in the charger, take a bunch of pictures, charge them again, and then see how they are.

By the way, I'm another K100D Super owner who has nothing but good things to say about Ray-O-Vac Hybrids.

[jdg]

+1 for eneloops these batts are great!

[Fritz]

The best batteries I have used for my K100D are the Engergizer E2 Lithium batteries. By far the best life and performance, and light weight to boot. But they are a bit on the spendy side, so I have been using the Rayovac Hybrid batteries lately. They work pretty good, but only about half the number of shots as I got with the lithiums. It's ok though, because I can recharge them.