[stevebrot]

Suggestions? Just the usual...

• Turn off GPS
• Turn off rear status display
• Set auto-review to something short
• Use live view sparingly
• Use review feature sparingly

Oh...and don't expect good battery life if video is part of the mix. Also remember that AF uses battery power and some lenses are hungrier than others.


Steve

[ajack]

This seems like a crazy low number of shots. You should be getting more like 1000 per charge.

The only 2 things that would explain this are:

1. Having the LCD screen on for an inordinate amount of time (i.e. many hours reviewing photos or in live view)
2. A defective / dead / knockoff battery.

The minor settings like GPS, IBIS, and AF choices are not going to cut your battery life by 90%.

[MossyRocks]

With my K-3 in sub zero temps I haven't gotten that few shots on a charge. I hauled that camera around a cub scout winter day camp this past February and for most of the day it was below 0 and I didn't change batteries yet I took several hundred shots. I have also had it out doing astro shots at night in similar cold temps and not had to do a battery change. I would think that the battery is to blame and spend the ~$50 to get another one as that is a cheap test and then you would have a second battery. If both batteries give around 100 shots then blame the camera and send it in for service.

[SirTomster]

I can only imagine it is the battery too. I have been out late at night and taken a lot of shots and been fine. Did a timelapse that did drain one battery (in the grip) and barely touch the one in the camera.

I know 3rd party do not last as long but they last longer than that. Right now I keep my Pentax batteries ready for my timelapses and use the 3rd party in the other body when I am doing different shots. But still shoot more than that.

[Socrateeze]

Hi All,

Thanks for the input and suggestions.

To give a bit more detail I'm using it mostly with the 28-105mm kit lens (rarely with the 300mm FA f/4) with standard D-Li90 batteries - I have three of them and all seem to give broadly similar results as best I can tell, so I think if there is a problem it lies in the camera rather than the battery. I may have slightly exaggerated the low number of shots a bit, but on a recent trip I took about 200 photos and was well into my second battery.

My settings do not seem to be very unusual, as best I can tell. My "power off" is set to 3 min and IBIS is (I have now realized) off for the vast majority of my shots. I do use live view for every shot, though, after doing the initial composition through the viewfinder. As for cold as a factor, whilst I do live in Canada and head into the mountains, I'm in the Vancouver area and this time of year it stays well above freezing even at night, and I've not noticed it being appreciably better in warmer weather.

I will try a more controlled experiment tomorrow daytime using interval shooting and see how many shots I get. Though not exactly representative of real work usage (especially the lack of repeated focusing, switching one/off, etc.) that will give me a more objective baseline figure. Does anyone have a sense of how many shots I should expect for that from a fresh battery?

Cheers,

Socrateeze

[leekil]

1400+ is typically what I get, if I'm shooting continuously (I'm continuous, not in continuous drive mode, if you know what I mean). But I always use the OVF and not the live view. That's with GPS and IBIS on, repeated focusing as subject change, etc. But if you have GPS on, it will drain the battery slowly over time; so if you shoot very slowly, and take 100 photos over a week or so, you would end up with less battery charge than if you shot 100 photos in a couple hours.

[Kerrowdown]

Improving battery life on K-1

Here's a thought for you, while it doesn't improve your battery life... but by adding a grip with a second battery, it would theoretically double the life.

[eccs19]

Here is a test I did with my K-1 that might be of some interest. It should give you an idea of how many shots you can potentially get doing interval shooting. When I did these tests, I had most things turned off, but I did forget to turn off the GPS, so that was also drawing power during the tests I did. Hope you find it useful.

You Tube

You Tube

[MJKoski]

100 shots is about right if taken with careful live view composing (several minutes per frame) in >= +5C temps. This is with original D-LI90. Continuous 30 seconds stacks allow for 1000+ exposures in same conditions but drops to ~150 in -30C. K-1 MK2 has lower shot count when doing long exposures.

[DSLRnovice]

True, but only if the aftermarket battery actually delivers the stated capacity. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many of these aftermarket batteries
over-promise their capacity.

The aftermarket battery I bought at the same time the K-1 came out is only good for a couple of hours now. The Pentax battery still works fine.

[siegbert]

True, but only if the aftermarket battery actually delivers the stated capacity. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many of these aftermarket batteries
over-promise their capacity.

That's my experience also. My Pentax batteries (1860mAh) have more capacity than other batteries that I bought with a printed value of 2800mAh.


But the ratio of price per capacity normally is better from other vendors, even if you keep in mind, that they over-promise their capacity. So, it's a difficult decision, what to buy.