[gaweidert]

Battery life with my K3 is definitely worse than my K5-IIs. I recently purchased two, third party, Kapaxen batteries and they really die early in my K3. Even though their mA ratings are higher than the Pentax batteries.

[Nicolas06]

Well, I took only 4 shots with pixel shift resolution activated, and about 20 shots (night landscape in a park, with shutter speed set at 4 or 6 seconds, from tripod). The rest of the shots was taken in daylight. Even if the battery will last for 500 shots, it's still disappointing. With my K-5 II, I maid at least 850 shots with a full battery charged.

I typically find tripod usage (typically with live view and long exposure) to be very consuming in term of power. I'd make maybe 100 photos in 2-3 hours and need to change the battery at some point... While on handled shooting I can get many shoots and be ok for 2-3 days.

Officially K3 is arround 700 photos, K5 arround 900. Counting you did some night landscape and that the K3-II may consume a bit more you are not that far to me.

On the contrary you can do many pictures in burst mode without consuming that much.

[JimmyDranox]

At night shots, camera must keep the mirror up for as long as you shot, and that's energy consuming. And also the sensor is consuming in all that time. A 6 second shot consumes many times more than a short time shot.

[ea1to]

A picture taken with K-3 II and DA35mm f2.4 (this image is cropped about 45%, but the details are just amazing).



---------- Post added 05-31-15 at 09:58 AM ----------

Pentax K-3 II, DA 35mm f2.4 (resized at 2048mpx).



---------- Post added 05-31-15 at 10:01 AM ----------

Pentax K-3 II, DA 35mm f2.4 (this is a 60% crop). Click on the picture and look at the details. Amazing camera.

amazing sharpness

[Matthew Saville]

Your battery life will increase over the first half dozen or so empty & recharge cycles. Make sure you do run the battery down almost all the way, then recharge to full after each cycle. Once the break-in cycles have been completed you will see a significant increase in shots available.

I was told this about my Nikon D200, but at best I got a 5-10% increase in shots. Then when I bought a D300, using the same exact batteries, battery life jumped by 100% or 150%!!!!

---------- Post added 06-02-15 at 10:13 AM ----------

At night shots, camera must keep the mirror up for as long as you shot, and that's energy consuming. And also the sensor is consuming in all that time. A 6 second shot consumes many times more than a short time shot.

This is certainly true, however a 6 second shot should be nothing for cameras these days; it is the 30-60+ second shots that really do in your battery quickly.

I do astro-landscape photography as my main passion and hobby, and I've tested numerous different cameras to see how long they could do 30 sec exposure timelapses back-to-back. A decent camera, IMO, should be able to get at least 300 shots created entirely from 30 sec exposures. (So, 150 mins of almost continuous shooting)

Two of my more recent reviews, of the Canon 7D mk2 and my own Nikon D750, were able to pull off 30 sec exposures continuously for 3-4 hours on a single 1800-1900 mAh battery, which I found to be downright impressive.

Thankfully I also have external battery adapters with DC couplings for all-night timelapse footage, so I should still be good to go with the K-3 II hopefully. Unfortunately LiPo batteries have a nasty habit of exploding if you abuse them, so I'll have to perform some careful testing before I just go for broke I guess...

Thanks everyone for the input and info, this is very helpful!

[Gimbal]

Yesterday I shot about 950 pictures with my K5, and the battery was still "full".

Now that was a special occasion where I knew that I would have to shoot like mad for about one hour, so no preview (no time for that), only jpeg, but lots of auto focusing though. I've done it before and the record is over 1500 pictures in one go, and the battery was still ok. This was action so no SR, and short exposure times, I guess that might explain it.

So those numbers for the K3II sounds really really bad.

[Nicolas06]

Yesterday I shot about 950 pictures with my K5, and the battery was still "full".

Now that was a special occasion where I knew that I would have to shoot like mad for about one hour, so no preview (no time for that), only jpeg, but lots of auto focusing though. I've done it before and the record is over 1500 pictures in one go, and the battery was still ok. This was action so no SR, and short exposure times, I guess that might explain it.

So those numbers for the K3II sounds really really bad.

Not the same shooting condition, action shoot do not drain that much battery.

[Matthew Saville]

Yesterday I shot about 950 pictures with my K5, and the battery was still "full".

Now that was a special occasion where I knew that I would have to shoot like mad for about one hour, so no preview (no time for that), only jpeg, but lots of auto focusing though. I've done it before and the record is over 1500 pictures in one go, and the battery was still ok. This was action so no SR, and short exposure times, I guess that might explain it.

So those numbers for the K3II sounds really really bad.

No sensor stabilization, and shooting JPG instead of RAW, will definitely give you oodles of battery life. However using sensor (or lens) stabilization, and shooting RAW, will easily cut your battery life in half, if not worse. At least this is my experience in general, reviewing various cameras.

As a landscape photographer, I don't plan to use Shake Reduction all the time, so that's good, but I do plan to shoot RAW 100% of the time, so that's bad.

Shooting with low amounts of chiming and live view, at shutter speeds ranging from "fast" to 15-30 sec, I'll hope to see at least 500-750 shots from the K-3 II. I'll certainly put the results of any or all testing I do in my final review.

[Gimbal]

Not the same shooting condition, action shoot do not drain that much battery.

I know, and I stated that.

---------- Post added 06-02-2015 at 09:39 PM ----------

No sensor stabilization, and shooting JPG instead of RAW, will definitely give you oodles of battery life. However using sensor (or lens) stabilization, and shooting RAW, will easily cut your battery life in half, if not worse.

The Pentax SR system doesn't draw that much extra power as it is only active during the exposure, which normally is a very short time. Unless you are using live view of course. RAW does draw more power but I doubt it's cutting battery life in half. I always shoot raw as well, except during this type of events where the shear number of photos is more then my memory cards can handle.

[Matthew Saville]

I know, and I stated that.

---------- Post added 06-02-2015 at 09:39 PM ----------



The Pentax SR system doesn't draw that much extra power as it is only active during the exposure, which normally is a very short time. Unless you are using live view of course. RAW does draw more power but I doubt it's cutting battery life in half. I always shoot raw as well, except during this type of events where the shear number of photos is more then my memory cards can handle.

Both good bits of info, thanks.

I also wonder how redundancy affects battery life; when I shoot a wedding I have to use my dual card slots for instant backup, (two RAW files being written) whereas when I'm out on an adventure I use the 2nd card slot for overflow instead.


One last thing I wanted to mention, I saw someone stated that they've also tested third-party batteries that had a higher mAh rating, only to discover that they died quickly too. This, in my experience, (I review cameras and photography products for a living) is very common for third-party batteries. Never trust their mAh rating; always go by the long-term reviews that state whether or not such a battery can stand the test of time and keep its health for at least 6 months. Most of the cheaper knock-offs that claim higher mAh ratings simply don't have the quality control to actually do much better than, well, die a slow death over the course of the first 1-2 months of use. (meaning, they simply stop holding a charge...)

Of course maybe this is already a known situation to y'all, and the third party batteries in question were of higher quality, I don't know. Just wanted to point that out. I've learned to stick with name-brand batteries, or at least the most reputable third-party brands.

[rawr]

the most reputable third-party brands

That can certainly work. I suspect finding good third party batteries depends on the QC approach of the reseller you use, since ultimately 99% of lithium batteries on the market seem to all come from factories in the same region of China.

So eBay-sourced third party batteries: no thanks. BetterBatt sourced third-party batteries: yes.

[Nicolas06]

Both good bits of info, thanks.

I also wonder how redundancy affects battery life; when I shoot a wedding I have to use my dual card slots for instant backup, (two RAW files being written) whereas when I'm out on an adventure I use the 2nd card slot for overflow instead.


One last thing I wanted to mention, I saw someone stated that they've also tested third-party batteries that had a higher mAh rating, only to discover that they died quickly too. This, in my experience, (I review cameras and photography products for a living) is very common for third-party batteries. Never trust their mAh rating; always go by the long-term reviews that state whether or not such a battery can stand the test of time and keep its health for at least 6 months. Most of the cheaper knock-offs that claim higher mAh ratings simply don't have the quality control to actually do much better than, well, die a slow death over the course of the first 1-2 months of use. (meaning, they simply stop holding a charge...)

Of course maybe this is already a known situation to y'all, and the third party batteries in question were of higher quality, I don't know. Just wanted to point that out. I've learned to stick with name-brand batteries, or at least the most reputable third-party brands.

I must say that the about batteries one I got latest me arround 2 years while the Pentax genuine is still good. But the price difference made buy another third party because honestly a genuine is the price of 3 third party and I buy a second one just in case of. Also it is very possible the model might be different for the next camera. If you are not rich, there no point in always buying the best most expensive stuff available.

[vsgvietnam]

... and that's why they released the AF-201 'mini' flash unit. Problem solved.

[Canada_Rockies]

I must say that the about batteries one I got latest me arround 2 years while the Pentax genuine is still good. But the price difference made buy another third party because honestly a genuine is the price of 3 third party and I buy a second one just in case of. Also it is very possible the model might be different for the next camera. If you are not rich, there no point in always buying the best most expensive stuff available.

I bought my K10D in November, 2007 including a grip. Pentax battery in camera, Pentax battery in grip. They are still both going strong. That's almost 8 years per battery. In 2012 I got two weeks out of them on a trip. I forgot my charger. I'll stick with the C$80 batteries vs the C$20 ones, thank you very much. I must in all honesty admit that I don't chimp much, never use the built in flash except for unusual circumstances, and the camera is only showing 15,000 frames total. I'm also noticing they are finally losing some of their endurance, but I won't change them. We are going on a long trailer trip in September, and I plan on using a K-3 or K-3 II with grip for the trip. Got a nice bonus income yesterday for half the money.

[Matthew Saville]

I bought my K10D in November, 2007 including a grip. Pentax battery in camera, Pentax battery in grip. They are still both going strong. That's almost 8 years per battery. In 2012 I got two weeks out of them on a trip. I forgot my charger. I'll stick with the C$80 batteries vs the C$20 ones, thank you very much. I must in all honesty admit that I don't chimp much, never use the built in flash except for unusual circumstances, and the camera is only showing 15,000 frames total. I'm also noticing they are finally losing some of their endurance, but I won't change them. We are going on a long trailer trip in September, and I plan on using a K-3 or K-3 II with grip for the trip. Got a nice bonus income yesterday for half the money.

Indeed, fair enough for most folks, even serious adventures and great travels. However as a timelapse and astro-landscape photographer, I sometimes go on trips that generate 9,000 images in just a few days, and as a wedding photographer I regularly put 10,000-20,000 "clicks on my shutter" per month.

All in all, this sharing of information will only make us all wiser, so thanks!

=Matt=