[Fire Angel]

The K-r didn't really suffer from any common defects, so I'd just shoot some pics with it and make sure all the basics are working. And yes, always make sure you're using fresh batteries. Rechargeables tend to die after a couple hundred cycles.

You must be using really bad batteries or a really bad charger. You can expect at least five hundred cycles from good brands of rechargeable AA and AAA batteries. Good rechargeable AA batteries with a good charger will often run through more than a thousand cycles, in some cases fifteen hundred or more. An occasional run through the charger's refresh mode helps though with the best batteries it won't be needed. It isn't just hype, they really do last that long if treated well, though battery makers don't like to admit that their own chargers usually ruin batteries. Get a BC-1000 or the 7 Day Shop equivalent and you will get that performance for real. The charger will cost you more but you'll save a fortune on batteries.

Also the K-r does have one known defect; if you're using it under tungsten lighting many (most?) K-r cameras will not autofocus properly unless you set it to tungsten white balance manually. Getting around the problem is easy enough once you know it's there, setting white balance manually is not hard, though it's easy to forget the need to do so. I guess tungsten lighting is also becoming less common with CFL and LED gradually taking over, so this defect can cause confusion when it does crop up.