[madbrain]

I decided to check the battery life for various types of batteries on my K-1 II.

The test protocol was simple :
No battery was in the camera body, only in the battery grip, with either the Li-on tray or AA tray.
All batteries tested were fresh out of the charger.
Camera had all power savings disabled (no auto-off).
LCD brightness was set to maximum.
Camera was set to Live View.

I then started recording video on another camera, my Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, that doesn't have any silly 4GB or 25 minute limit to see when the camera would show the "Battery depleted" message.

Results below :



This may not be fully representative of real life battery life, but I was still quite surprised that the 6 AA Ikea Ladda outperformed the Pentax battery by such a huge margin. The camera lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes in Live view with the AAs, vs 1 hour and 3 minutes with the Pentax branded D-Li90.
One of my generic D-Li90 batteries lasted only 26 minutes and is a dud. The other nearly matched the Pentax branded at 1 hour.
The generics were both bought at the same time in 2019 as a set.
The brand name Pentax has a date code of 2017/11 and came with my K-1 II in April 2018.
I have had these AA Ikea Ladda for many years, don't know how long because I have hundreds of AAs.

[MossyRocks]

Aren't the Ikea Ladda batteries supposedly just repackaged/rebranded eneloops which from what I have found are very good batteries?

I will use them (eneloops) in the battery grip for my K-3/K-3ii when doing astro shooting when it isn't super cold. They don't seem to do as well when it gets below 0F as the Pentax lithium ions do. I also use them in my Vivitar 285HV flashes where they are a godsend.

[madbrain]

They are supposed to be similar to Eneloop Pro. I haven't used them in cold conditions. Agree they are good for flash.

Hard to beat $6.99 for a set of 4. $21 gets you 12 which is 2 sets. Better than playing the lottery with 3rd party D-li90 IMO.

[UncleVanya]

re: IKEA batteries

Are the Ikea Ladda batteries just as good as Eneloops?

My recollection is that the 6 AA batteries weigh more than a single lithium ion battery for the k-1. That weight isn’t directly transferable to capacity given the difference in chemistry but it is relevant to what you want to carry.

Also bear in mind that continuous drain isn’t how most of us use these devices excluding video) the more intermittent use may reveal a different pattern.

[madbrain]

re: IKEA batteries

Are the Ikea Ladda batteries just as good as Eneloops?

My recollection is that the 6 AA batteries weigh more than a single lithium ion battery for the k-1. That weight isn’t directly transferable to capacity given the difference in chemistry but it is relevant to what you want to carry.

Also bear in mind that continuous drain isn’t how most of us use these devices excluding video) the more intermittent use may reveal a different pattern.

Yes, the 6 Ikea AA do weigh more than a D-Li90 . And I agree with you the current draw will be different for other usages. This is the best test I could come up with that would run unattended.

A few weeks ago, I tested the intervalometer with the 6 AAs and the display off. I ended up hitting the limit of 2000 shots and restarting it several times. I got 5330 files before the batteries were out.

I'm not going to repeat that test with Lion, as I don't want to wear out my shutter any more than I have to.

Perhaps there should be a way to use the intervalometer with electronic shutter. I think the electronic shutter on the K-1 requires Live view, though, so it's not going to consume any less power than my test, except by turning brightness back to normal.

[UncleVanya]

All good points.

[madbrain]

I recharged those 6 Ikea Ladda, that are actually rated at 2450 mAh, not 2500 as in my photo. 5 of them took about 1700 mAh. The 6th took almost 2000 mAh.

Also, just tested some Panasonic Eneloop, non-pro model, rated for 1900 mAh. They only lasted 1 hour and 13 minutes in my test. Much less than the Ladda. Still 10 minutes better than the Pentax D-Li90.

[ProfessorBuzz]

Interesting results; not really that surprising. I'd repeat the test with a brand new Pentax DLI90 and 6 brand new AA rechargeables. Then maybe 2 brand new DLI90 - one in grip, one in camera. And then 6 brand new AA alkalines. Figure out the best weight-to-performance.

[UncleVanya]

Interesting results; not really that surprising. I'd repeat the test with a brand new Pentax DLI90 and 6 brand new AA rechargeables. Then maybe 2 brand new DLI90 - one in grip, one in camera. And then 6 brand new AA alkalines. Figure out the best weight-to-performance.

Lithium AA batteries (not rechargeable) are likely the highest run time but they are pricey.

Energizer Ultimate Lithium Batteries Review - The Gadgeteer

[Not a Number]

More volume, more storage capacity/potential energy. D cells last longer than AA cells of same chemistry..

[UncleVanya]

More volume, more storage capacity/potential energy. D cells last longer than AA cells of same chemistry..

Very true. But I’ve never seen a camera that takes D cells. Back in high school I made an external battery pack for my HP LED based calculator - two C cells lasted a very long time when two AA cells would die far more rapidly.

[leekil]

Perhaps there should be a way to use the intervalometer with electronic shutter. I think the electronic shutter on the K-1 requires Live view, though, so it's not going to consume any less power than my test, except by turning brightness back to normal.

But how do you really use your camera? Do you usually use the intervalometer? In general I haven't had any lack of power for shooting like 2000 photos in one night on an LI-90, but I don't do time lapse or astrophotography usually, and those might require more power.

[madbrain]

But how do you really use your camera? Do you usually use the intervalometer? In general I haven't had any lack of power for shooting like 2000 photos in one night on an LI-90, but I don't do time lapse or astrophotography usually, and those might require more power.

No, I don't normally use the intervalometer. I just used it to simulate a large number of shots. I think the LCD display is the biggest power consumption in the camera. If you are shooting 2000 in one night, you are probably not reviewing each of them at length.