K-3 battery life feedback

jimr-pdx · 11-07-2013, 10:03 PM

Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners!

Adam · 11-07-2013, 11:40 PM

Originally posted by jimr-pdx

Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners!

It's definitely more than 600. I just shot about 1000 frames doing continuous burst tests and the battery was still showing 2/3 bars. I believe the 980 figure, if it's per CIPA standards, requires 50% flash use.

Barry Pearson · 11-08-2013, 02:36 AM

Originally posted by jimr-pdx

Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners!

I can shoot 6000 DNGs on my K-5IIs with 2 or 3 batteries, so I don't take such numbers very seriously! (I think they must include a lot of flash, which I don't find very useful for airshows!)

But the K-3 does appear to get through batteries faster. Presumably partly because of the larger sensor, but I suspect being a more "zippy" camera (it just appears to be faster to operate) takes more battery power.

DimC · 11-08-2013, 04:15 AM

I did more than 1280 pics on 2 different battery charge already. I did not shoot video and have pretty much all saving power options to maximize shooting.
I got a grip so I dont think It can be a real issue for me, it's pretty rare when I shoot more than 2000 pics / day.

My K5 was more on the 1650 number with the same settings.

PeteL · 11-08-2013, 09:43 AM

Originally posted by jimr-pdx

Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners!

It is certainly my experience that batteries do not last anything like as long as they do on my K5II.

Winder · 11-08-2013, 09:55 AM

Originally posted by jimr-pdx

Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners!

Shooting a combination of RAW and JPEG I got over 1000 on my old K-5 battery. I used it while my new batter was charging.

I don't use liveView.
I didn't use the AA filter
I have auto-playback turned off
I don't do much chimping

I had AF-C on most of the time.
Center point AF most of the time.

jimr-pdx · 11-10-2013, 04:30 PM

So it's still a very good number but less than the K-5 models, just as one would expect for the performance boost and increase in pixels. Thanks!

OreganicPhotography · 07-30-2015, 05:26 PM

Hey so I just wanted to chime in here I recently put my pentax K3 to a good test I went to a rodeo shot in continuous shooting mode the entire time with highest quality jpeg settings, I shot on a single battery without using flash 2000 photos of the rodeo and the fireworks afterwards then I snapped off 172 photos of the band after the rodeo I had finally depleted my battery after 2172 shots that's pretty impressive

my previous Sony Hx400v and my girl Canon rebel t3i can't touch that kinda battery life. Oh also btw this is with a single battery in the camera no additional battery pack or anything of that sort and as I mentioned no flash the whole time either just worked the ISO range while it got darker. Oh another thing I feel is worthy of noting is I did in fact use live view about 85% of the time I really like being able to fine tune your focus in live view anyways I hope this helps I was able to push out 2,172 photos on a single battery charge with my pentax K3

Tico · 07-31-2015, 06:39 PM

I haven't been able to tell if the battery is failing on my k3 ii or something else is killing my battery life. Twice now I went through 2/3 of my battery in ~ 1-2 hours of use taking only about ~50 shots. I strongly suspect that its the GPS unit thats consuming the power. I'm not using it for continuous route logging, just "on". Since this occurred even faster when I was mostly indoors I think what is happening that the GPS looses signal in buildings and the algorithm used for "finding" the signal consumes a lot of processing power and has a high priority. So rather than timing out or reducing its questing time, it just keeps cranking away. Has any else had this problem?
thanks

kkoether · 08-01-2015, 10:39 AM

I regularly shoot 4000 to 5000 shots a day on boat racing weekends without killing the battery in the body. Those are mostly continuous RAW shots. I've been extremely pleased with the battery life on my K-3.

aleonx3 · 08-01-2015, 10:47 AM

I don't really keep count of how many photos per battery between k-5IIs and k-3; it is probably under 1000 shots. I generally keep 4 extra battery ready any time (each one marked with a date it was charged). On a given day, I usually have 2 batteries ready as spares.

11-07-2013, 10:03 PM	#1
jimr-pdx Pentaxian Join Date: May 2010 Location: now 1 hour north of PDX Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,897	K-3 battery life feedback Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners!

11-07-2013, 11:40 PM	#2
Adam Administrator Site Webmaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 51,597	Originally posted by jimr-pdx Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners! It's definitely more than 600. I just shot about 1000 frames doing continuous burst tests and the battery was still showing 2/3 bars. I believe the 980 figure, if it's per CIPA standards, requires 50% flash use. Adam PentaxForums.com Webmaster (Site Usage Guide \| Site Help \| My Photography) PentaxForums.com server and development costs are user-supported. You can help cover these costs by donating or purchasing one of our Pentax eBooks. Or, buy your photo gear from our affiliates, Adorama, B&H Photo, KEH, or Topaz Labs, and get FREE Marketplace access - click here to see how! Trusted Pentax retailers:

07-31-2015, 06:39 PM	#9
Tico New Member Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 6	battery life & GPS I haven't been able to tell if the battery is failing on my k3 ii or something else is killing my battery life. Twice now I went through 2/3 of my battery in ~ 1-2 hours of use taking only about ~50 shots. I strongly suspect that its the GPS unit thats consuming the power. I'm not using it for continuous route logging, just "on". Since this occurred even faster when I was mostly indoors I think what is happening that the GPS looses signal in buildings and the algorithm used for "finding" the signal consumes a lot of processing power and has a high priority. So rather than timing out or reducing its questing time, it just keeps cranking away. Has any else had this problem? thanks

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
K-5 battery life	chromo	Pentax K-5 & K-5 II	11	04-29-2013 04:13 PM
K-30 Battery Life	theoicarry	Troubleshooting and Beginner Help	6	12-24-2012 02:44 PM
K-X battery life	Boker	Troubleshooting and Beginner Help	5	08-14-2012 11:59 AM
K-5 Battery Life and Backpacking	MagnificentMath	Pentax K-5 & K-5 II	34	05-08-2012 06:36 PM
K-x Battery Life with Video	bhuntington	Troubleshooting and Beginner Help	2	02-17-2012 10:54 PM

11-08-2013, 02:36 AM	#3
Barry Pearson Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Stockport Posts: 964	Originally posted by jimr-pdx Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners! I can shoot 6000 DNGs on my K-5IIs with 2 or 3 batteries, so I don't take such numbers very seriously! (I think they must include a lot of flash, which I don't find very useful for airshows!) But the K-3 does appear to get through batteries faster. Presumably partly because of the larger sensor, but I suspect being a more "zippy" camera (it just appears to be faster to operate) takes more battery power.

11-08-2013, 04:15 AM	#4
DimC Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Paris Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 813	I did more than 1280 pics on 2 different battery charge already. I did not shoot video and have pretty much all saving power options to maximize shooting. I got a grip so I dont think It can be a real issue for me, it's pretty rare when I shoot more than 2000 pics / day. My K5 was more on the 1650 number with the same settings.

11-08-2013, 09:43 AM	#5
PeteL Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 25	Originally posted by jimr-pdx Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners! It is certainly my experience that batteries do not last anything like as long as they do on my K5II.

11-08-2013, 09:55 AM	#6
Winder Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tennessee Posts: 6,617	Originally posted by jimr-pdx Have enough people gone through a cycle or two now, to provide a better estimate than some I've read? DPR shows 980 for K-5, under 600 for the K-3. Yes it's pushing more pixels faster and has a larger screen, but I'd be surprised to see this discrepancy turning out to be so great. Thanks all you new K-3 owners! Shooting a combination of RAW and JPEG I got over 1000 on my old K-5 battery. I used it while my new batter was charging. I don't use liveView. I didn't use the AA filter I have auto-playback turned off I don't do much chimping I had AF-C on most of the time. Center point AF most of the time.

11-10-2013, 04:30 PM	#7
jimr-pdx Pentaxian Join Date: May 2010 Location: now 1 hour north of PDX Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,897 Original Poster	So it's still a very good number but less than the K-5 models, just as one would expect for the performance boost and increase in pixels. Thanks!

07-30-2015, 05:26 PM	#8
OreganicPhotography Inactive Account Join Date: May 2015 Location: Oregon Posts: 9	Hey so I just wanted to chime in here I recently put my pentax K3 to a good test I went to a rodeo shot in continuous shooting mode the entire time with highest quality jpeg settings, I shot on a single battery without using flash 2000 photos of the rodeo and the fireworks afterwards then I snapped off 172 photos of the band after the rodeo I had finally depleted my battery after 2172 shots that's pretty impressive my previous Sony Hx400v and my girl Canon rebel t3i can't touch that kinda battery life. Oh also btw this is with a single battery in the camera no additional battery pack or anything of that sort and as I mentioned no flash the whole time either just worked the ISO range while it got darker. Oh another thing I feel is worthy of noting is I did in fact use live view about 85% of the time I really like being able to fine tune your focus in live view anyways I hope this helps I was able to push out 2,172 photos on a single battery charge with my pentax K3

08-01-2015, 10:39 AM	#10
kkoether Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Huber Heights, OH, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 731	I regularly shoot 4000 to 5000 shots a day on boat racing weekends without killing the battery in the body. Those are mostly continuous RAW shots. I've been extremely pleased with the battery life on my K-3.

08-01-2015, 10:47 AM	#11
aleonx3 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Brampton, Ontario Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,996	I don't really keep count of how many photos per battery between k-5IIs and k-3; it is probably under 1000 shots. I generally keep 4 extra battery ready any time (each one marked with a date it was charged). On a given day, I usually have 2 batteries ready as spares.