[Discipulus]

I own a pentax k-50. I know that pentax makes both a lithium ion battery and a AA battery holder. Which would provide better life? The stock lithium ion, the adapter with rechargeable nimh (like eneloops) or the aa adapter with rechargeable lithium ion batteries? What has your experience been? Anyone with a k30 that can chime in?

[EarlVonTapia]

I own a pentax k-50. I know that pentax makes both a lithium ion battery and a AA battery holder. Which would provide better life? The stock lithium ion, the adapter with rechargeable nimh (like eneloops) or the aa adapter with rechargeable lithium ion batteries? What has your experience been? Anyone with a k30 that can chime in?

K30 owner
I get around 450 shots with the stock battery
I can get slightly more with the Wasabi power batteries
Using the AA adapter with Eneloops, I can get around 1000 shots.

These are just casual observations. I haven't done any sort of specific measured testing.

[Discipulus]

So you definitely get more with the adapter and the eneloops?

[EarlVonTapia]

So you definitely get more with the adapter and the eneloops?

Yes, and it's very noticeable.

I should add that I have set up my camera for extreme battery life: The LCD never comes on, there is no automatic picture review, and my LCD is set to the darkest setting. I also turn off all of the in-camera JPG processing. So while you may not get 1000 shots with eneloops (depends on your settings), you should definitely get way more shots with Eneloops compared to the regular batteries.

For funsies, I once tested regular alkaline Duracells with the AA adapter, and I got about 200 shots with them.

[Discipulus]

I will definitely be getting some. Anyone else to chime in with your results?

[Des]

K30 owner
I get around 450 shots with the stock battery
I can get slightly more with the Wasabi power batteries
Using the AA adapter with Eneloops, I can get around 1000 shots.

These are just casual observations. I haven't done any sort of specific measured testing.

This is my experience with the K-30 too. I get longer life from a set of Eneloops than the standard battery, although I also haven't sought to quantify it.

Despite this I still use the standard battery most of the time for the weight saving. I would guess that even two standard batteries (one in the camera and one spare) would weigh less than a set of AAs in the holder.

I leave a holder with a set of long-life rechargeable AAs in the kit as a backup if required.

[Discipulus]

Ah. I didn't think about weight difference and advantage. Are third party batteries safe or should they be avoided?

[EarlVonTapia]

Ah. I didn't think about weight difference and advantage. Are third party batteries safe or should they be avoided?

They should be fine. Just read reviews on them. Amazon is a good source for this.

I use third party batteries on both my K30 and my Q and I have yet to experience any issues related to batteries with either of them.

[Des]

I use third party batteries on both my K30 and my Q and I have yet to experience any issues related to batteries with either of them.

Me too. I got a "Maximal Power" battery for my K-30 for about $US7. I haven't done any test, but I can't say I have noticed any difference in performance from the original.

[Kozlok]

Me too. I got a "Maximal Power" battery for my K-30 for about $US7. I haven't done any test, but I can't say I have noticed any difference in performance from the original.

I've got 2 "Maximal Power" batteries too! I rotate through my batteries to make sure and use them all about the same amount, seem to last the same length of time. I find that with 3 batteries, I never run out. Even the heaviest day for me only uses up 2 of the 3, charge at night, keep on going!

[Discipulus]

Those are pretty cheap too. I might have to pick some up. I love my pentax.

[ramseybuckeye]

I have a K-30 and rotate the OEM, Pearstone (B&H knockoff of OEM, and eneloops. I actually use the OEM and knockoff more since they are easily pocketible. I don't count my shots but the eneloops did give more. However, now that my camera is at 22 months old, the eneloops don't hold the charge as long and don't seem to be performing as well as the OEM and knockoff. Last Friday I took about 1350 pics and used only the OEM and knockoff for the first 1300, then switched toi the eneloops. I like having the option of AAs and recently bought some non rechargeable lithium for an emergency backup, not that I think I would need them, but I got them at a good price.

[penguinsoda]

Yes, and it's very noticeable.

I should add that I have set up my camera for extreme battery life: The LCD never comes on, there is no automatic picture review, and my LCD is set to the darkest setting. I also turn off all of the in-camera JPG processing. So while you may not get 1000 shots with eneloops (depends on your settings), you should definitely get way more shots with Eneloops compared to the regular batteries.

For funsies, I once tested regular alkaline Duracells with the AA adapter, and I got about 200 shots with them.

Good info... I just got a K-50 a few days ago and while I haven't had a lot of time to mess with it, it burned through the 4 AA batteries I put in it in nothing flat. Granted I was spending a lot of time wandering through the menus and playing with settings but I was sure that the batteries should of lasted longer than they did. I'll have to go back and change some of my setting.

Noob question... what does the in camera JPG processing do exactly? I didn't realize it could be turned off in camera.

[SteveB]

There's the usual caveat with rechargeable AAs in that you need a decent charger to get the best performance. Individual cell charging capability, no super fast chargers as a minimum.

[EarlVonTapia]

Noob question... what does the in camera JPG processing do exactly? I didn't realize it could be turned off in camera.

JPG processing happens when you shoot JPGs with your camera (either JPG only, RAW + JPG, or when you shoot RAW only and process one of your RAW pictures into a JPG). You can turn them on and off in the menu.

These options are the shadow and highlight correction, horizon correction, lens correction, and basically anything that will modify your pictures in-camera from the RAW file.

These things only work with Pentax DA lenses (not sure about FA series lenses or older). They won't work with third-party lenses.

To be honest, I'm not sure exactly how much battery the in-camera processing uses up. I'm sure it uses up something because the camera is doing work, and if you multiply that by hundreds of shots, it may be a noticeable difference. But I don't know for sure as I've never formally tested such a thing.

I think the biggest battery drainer is the LCD. The longer it's on, and the brighter it is, the faster the juice goes down. Hence why I've set my settings as they are.