K-3 Power-on issue

Grokh · 01-17-2014, 08:55 AM

I have found one another solution: I usually have the strat-up problem with my K-3, when I have attached my DA* 16-50, but I never had any kind of problem when my Sigma 50-500 is attached.

tram57 · 01-17-2014, 03:48 PM

Originally posted by Neil959

Hello all, hopefully folks are still following this thread. I am new to the forum but, I may have information that will help. Prior to obtaining my K3, I purchased a DBG-5 grip and two third party batteries. I charged up the batteries so I could start shooting when my camera arrived. I had no startup problems at all. After a few hundred shots I switched-in the freshly charged Ricoh-Pentax battery and went birding. I immediately experienced the switch-on startup problems already described by others in this discussion: 2-4 switch actuations to get the camera to boot. After finding and reading this thread, I started testing battery combinations. I have 2- Hoya-Pentax Li90 batteries from my K7, 2- third party Li90s and the Ricoh-Pentax battery that came with the camera. Long story short, any time the Ricoh-Pentax battery was in the camera or grip in combination with either of the other two battery types, I had from 0% to 25% success with first-switch-on startup. With any combination of the Hoya or third party batteries I had 100% success with first-switch-on startup. The camera was set to automatic battery selection. I have sidelined the Ricoh-Pentax battery as a work-around. The one combination I could not test was two Ricoh-Pentax batteries in the camera at the same time. This is of course a limited test with only one camera but, I was wondering if anyone else could confirm my findings?

This is extremely interesting. I await confirmation that others have solved the problem (work around) by using the 'older' pentax batteries.

dbh · 01-17-2014, 04:25 PM

Originally posted by tram57

This is extremely interesting. I await confirmation that others have solved the problem (work around) by using the 'older' pentax batteries.

This is going to be one of the first things I try when I get home - I have exactly 2 batteries from the K-5iis which (hopefully) are both the older type. Be great if this turns out to be it! fingers crossed...

aaalegre · 01-18-2014, 04:56 AM

Originally posted by dbh

This is going to be one of the first things I try when I get home - I have exactly 2 batteries from the K-5iis which (hopefully) are both the older type. Be great if this turns out to be it! fingers crossed...

Interesting let me know how you make out with this.

dbh · 01-18-2014, 03:48 PM

Turns out both of my "old" K5 batteries were also Pentax-Ricoh Imaging vintage also so no joy there. I was surprised and disappointed. I hope it does turn out to be the batteries as that should be addressable in firmware imho.

rskura · 01-21-2014, 07:52 AM

Interesting, I'll have to try it out. I'm not sure what "vintage" my old K-7 battery is. I'll try it out tonight, to see if it makes any difference with a different battery in the grip. I already know that either battery in the body works fine.

dbh · 01-21-2014, 11:01 AM

Originally posted by rskura

Interesting, I'll have to try it out. I'm not sure what "vintage" my old K-7 battery is. I'll try it out tonight, to see if it makes any difference with a different battery in the grip. I already know that either battery in the body works fine.

I've never had the problem when using only one battery, regardless of where it was.

From Neil959's post, it appears that as long as at least one of the pair is a Ricoh-Pentax battery you can get the problem. So they both would have to be something else.
I'm thinking about buying a couple 3rd-party batteries just to see if I can replicate Neil959's result. They're cheaper and usually crappier but may be worthwhile if they solve this, admittedly minor, annoyance.

gosman · 01-21-2014, 11:17 PM

Oh my! My Pentax regional sales rep is sending me a battery grip. Don't tell me I will have this problem? How about a quick poll. Who doesn't have a problem with their K-3 battery grip?

**jbinpg** · 01-22-2014, 01:01 AM

I have never had a problem with my K-3 BG-5 grip using two new batteries. However, I did have the "unstoppable mirror" problem when I lost external power at -20C temperatures and the voltage went below optimal. In that case, I had one battery in the body but since it was at ambient temperature, it was not outputting nominal voltage.

Jack

konquerian · 01-30-2014, 02:03 AM

I finally got a second battery for my k3 camera. The first thing I did after I charged it full was to pop that into the camera and tested out. I got this new battery in my camera and the original one in the grid. I powered on the k3 and everything seemed to work just fine. I switched the batteries around and powered on the camera again. The camera powered on with no problem and everything worked fine. I also left my camera turned off with the batteries in place for over 20 minutes, then power it back on again, and my camera powered on just fine. The power on problem with the previous batch of battery grips seems to be fixed in this new batch from B&H, however I will continue to monitor the behavior of my k3 with the grip to see if the problem is really resolved. So far, I tested my camera for two days and the result I got seemed consistent, no changes yet.

gryhnd · 01-30-2014, 09:45 AM

I've taken about 270 shots so far using the grip that was part of the recent B&H K3 promo. I use Eneloops in my grip. I've not experience the freezing issue yet.

aaalegre · 01-30-2014, 01:11 PM

Originally posted by gryhnd

I've taken about 270 shots so far using the grip that was part of the recent B&H K3 promo. I use Eneloops in my grip. I've not experience the freezing issue yet.

I never thought of using AA batteries in the grip I will have to give it a try. I am still having issues with freezing. Being that I have a Silver addition I don't know what to do. Any suggestions ?

gryhnd · 01-30-2014, 01:15 PM

I should try the opposite some time soon: take the Li90 out of my K5-IIs and put it in the K3's grip and see what happens.

mactrash · 02-04-2014, 01:18 PM

Firmware 1.02 still act same.

Originally posted by mactrash

To repeat the GRIP / Battery error in movie mode.

1. Put both battery in K-3
2. Turn on the camera
3. menu select grip battery use first (it is normal setting in my other pentax camera with grip)
4. shoot movie

Result = it work fine.

Pretend your grip battery is empty
5. Turn off the camera
6. Take the battery from the grip
7. Turn on the camera
8. Shoot movie

Result = capture 1-2s and K-3 hang

* The hang will not happen if camera menu set to use body battery first or auto.

Lets see any guy can repeat that... then it is a confirmed issue.

gosman · 02-04-2014, 05:11 PM

Well I was at the Ft. Worth stock show today photographing the barrel racing, with my new K-3 and grip. I put Mmh batteries in the grip. I set to grip first. When the grip batteries went out, the whole camera turned off. It did not switch over to the standard battery in the camera body. I had to reload the grip with a fresh battery to turn the camera back on. I now have set to Auto to see what that setting does. I normally would want the battery to expire first in the grip so I can easily replace it if I want to. I don't want to have to take the grip off and replace the battery in the body. Does this make sense? What are others doing? I also had a few freeze ups but not sure what caused it? I just turned off and back on and it continued to work. I did have my 360 flash mounted on the camera too.

02-04-2014, 01:18 PM	#89
mactrash Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: China Posts: 117	Firmware 1.02 still act same. Firmware 1.02 still act same. Originally posted by mactrash To repeat the GRIP / Battery error in movie mode. 1. Put both battery in K-3 2. Turn on the camera 3. menu select grip battery use first (it is normal setting in my other pentax camera with grip) 4. shoot movie Result = it work fine. Pretend your grip battery is empty 5. Turn off the camera 6. Take the battery from the grip 7. Turn on the camera 8. Shoot movie Result = capture 1-2s and K-3 hang * The hang will not happen if camera menu set to use body battery first or auto. Lets see any guy can repeat that... then it is a confirmed issue.

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01-17-2014, 08:55 AM	#76
Grokh Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: St.-Petersburg Photos: Albums Posts: 267	I have found one another solution: I usually have the strat-up problem with my K-3, when I have attached my DA* 16-50, but I never had any kind of problem when my Sigma 50-500 is attached.

01-17-2014, 03:48 PM	#77
tram57 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Photos: Gallery Posts: 176	Originally posted by Neil959 Hello all, hopefully folks are still following this thread. I am new to the forum but, I may have information that will help. Prior to obtaining my K3, I purchased a DBG-5 grip and two third party batteries. I charged up the batteries so I could start shooting when my camera arrived. I had no startup problems at all. After a few hundred shots I switched-in the freshly charged Ricoh-Pentax battery and went birding. I immediately experienced the switch-on startup problems already described by others in this discussion: 2-4 switch actuations to get the camera to boot. After finding and reading this thread, I started testing battery combinations. I have 2- Hoya-Pentax Li90 batteries from my K7, 2- third party Li90s and the Ricoh-Pentax battery that came with the camera. Long story short, any time the Ricoh-Pentax battery was in the camera or grip in combination with either of the other two battery types, I had from 0% to 25% success with first-switch-on startup. With any combination of the Hoya or third party batteries I had 100% success with first-switch-on startup. The camera was set to automatic battery selection. I have sidelined the Ricoh-Pentax battery as a work-around. The one combination I could not test was two Ricoh-Pentax batteries in the camera at the same time. This is of course a limited test with only one camera but, I was wondering if anyone else could confirm my findings? This is extremely interesting. I await confirmation that others have solved the problem (work around) by using the 'older' pentax batteries.

01-17-2014, 04:25 PM	#78
dbh Inactive Account Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Edmonton Photos: Gallery Posts: 404	Originally posted by tram57 This is extremely interesting. I await confirmation that others have solved the problem (work around) by using the 'older' pentax batteries. This is going to be one of the first things I try when I get home - I have exactly 2 batteries from the K-5iis which (hopefully) are both the older type. Be great if this turns out to be it! fingers crossed...

01-18-2014, 04:56 AM	#79
aaalegre Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: new jersey Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 112	Originally posted by dbh This is going to be one of the first things I try when I get home - I have exactly 2 batteries from the K-5iis which (hopefully) are both the older type. Be great if this turns out to be it! fingers crossed... Interesting let me know how you make out with this.

01-18-2014, 03:48 PM	#80
dbh Inactive Account Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Edmonton Photos: Gallery Posts: 404	Turns out both of my "old" K5 batteries were also Pentax-Ricoh Imaging vintage also so no joy there. I was surprised and disappointed. I hope it does turn out to be the batteries as that should be addressable in firmware imho.

01-21-2014, 07:52 AM	#81
rskura Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Edmonton, AB Photos: Gallery Posts: 50 Original Poster	Interesting, I'll have to try it out. I'm not sure what "vintage" my old K-7 battery is. I'll try it out tonight, to see if it makes any difference with a different battery in the grip. I already know that either battery in the body works fine.

01-21-2014, 11:01 AM	#82
dbh Inactive Account Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Edmonton Photos: Gallery Posts: 404	Originally posted by rskura Interesting, I'll have to try it out. I'm not sure what "vintage" my old K-7 battery is. I'll try it out tonight, to see if it makes any difference with a different battery in the grip. I already know that either battery in the body works fine. I've never had the problem when using only one battery, regardless of where it was. From Neil959's post, it appears that as long as at least one of the pair is a Ricoh-Pentax battery you can get the problem. So they both would have to be something else. I'm thinking about buying a couple 3rd-party batteries just to see if I can replicate Neil959's result. They're cheaper and usually crappier but may be worthwhile if they solve this, admittedly minor, annoyance.

01-21-2014, 11:17 PM	#83
gosman Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Texas Posts: 263	Oh my! My Pentax regional sales rep is sending me a battery grip. Don't tell me I will have this problem? How about a quick poll. Who doesn't have a problem with their K-3 battery grip?

01-22-2014, 01:01 AM	#84
jbinpg Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Prince George, BC Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,546	I have never had a problem with my K-3 BG-5 grip using two new batteries. However, I did have the "unstoppable mirror" problem when I lost external power at -20C temperatures and the voltage went below optimal. In that case, I had one battery in the body but since it was at ambient temperature, it was not outputting nominal voltage. Jack

01-30-2014, 02:03 AM	#85
konquerian Inactive Account Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: California, USA Posts: 18	I finally got a second battery for my k3 camera. The first thing I did after I charged it full was to pop that into the camera and tested out. I got this new battery in my camera and the original one in the grid. I powered on the k3 and everything seemed to work just fine. I switched the batteries around and powered on the camera again. The camera powered on with no problem and everything worked fine. I also left my camera turned off with the batteries in place for over 20 minutes, then power it back on again, and my camera powered on just fine. The power on problem with the previous batch of battery grips seems to be fixed in this new batch from B&H, however I will continue to monitor the behavior of my k3 with the grip to see if the problem is really resolved. So far, I tested my camera for two days and the result I got seemed consistent, no changes yet.

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01-30-2014, 09:45 AM	#86
gryhnd Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southeastern MA Posts: 240	I've taken about 270 shots so far using the grip that was part of the recent B&H K3 promo. I use Eneloops in my grip. I've not experience the freezing issue yet.

01-30-2014, 01:11 PM	#87
aaalegre Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: new jersey Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 112	Originally posted by gryhnd I've taken about 270 shots so far using the grip that was part of the recent B&H K3 promo. I use Eneloops in my grip. I've not experience the freezing issue yet. I never thought of using AA batteries in the grip I will have to give it a try. I am still having issues with freezing. Being that I have a Silver addition I don't know what to do. Any suggestions ?

01-30-2014, 01:15 PM	#88
gryhnd Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southeastern MA Posts: 240	I should try the opposite some time soon: take the Li90 out of my K5-IIs and put it in the K3's grip and see what happens.

02-04-2014, 05:11 PM	#90
gosman Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Texas Posts: 263	Well I was at the Ft. Worth stock show today photographing the barrel racing, with my new K-3 and grip. I put Mmh batteries in the grip. I set to grip first. When the grip batteries went out, the whole camera turned off. It did not switch over to the standard battery in the camera body. I had to reload the grip with a fresh battery to turn the camera back on. I now have set to Auto to see what that setting does. I normally would want the battery to expire first in the grip so I can easily replace it if I want to. I don't want to have to take the grip off and replace the battery in the body. Does this make sense? What are others doing? I also had a few freeze ups but not sure what caused it? I just turned off and back on and it continued to work. I did have my 360 flash mounted on the camera too.