[Moby Grape]

I may be doing something wrong. I realize that to achieve the stated image count of 670 for the K-1 II, one must be simply shooting and not using Live View, and reviewing a lot of pics etc. However, I find the battery life to be lacking. With my Pentax brand batteries I have achieved 174 pics and 154 pics. In both instances the batteries remained in the camera when not in use, and in both instances the battery was in the camera for approximately 3 months (so not a lot of photo taking in a single day). A DEK brand gave me 283 pics, again over about a 3 month period.

I have a WASBI brand in my K-3 that has been in camera for 6 months and 193 shots, with about one quarter power remaining.

Does leaving the battery in the camera actually draw down the life that much? Or, and I likely seeing the low count due to moving back and forth between Live View and zooming, etc.?

[steephill]

How long is a piece of string? I can easily get over 800 shots from one Pentax battery in a single day but I don't use Live View and rarely review in camera. My batteries vary in age from the one which came with my K-7 to a couple which are only 2 years old but I don't notice any massive difference in endurance between them.

[biz-engineer]

Battery life is more dependent of time the camera is awake waiting for user commands , than it is of the number of exposures. K1II manual says playback time ~ 340 minutes, a bit less than 6 hours. When camera is switched off, it consumes virtually nothing. Setting auto-power off to a minimum of 1 minute give the highest number of exposures per battery charge. During live view, consumption is double, ~3 hours max operating time on a fully charged D-LI90 with no picture taken.

[Adam]

You didn't happen to enable the GPS function, did you? It tends to be fairly power-hungry (but still doesn't explain the disparity between batteries).

Adam
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All lithium batteries will slowly deplete when sitting idle. 3 months is actually a long time to sit unused or lightly used in a camera and expect to pick it up and have it still be charged. The rated battery life is if you are actively using the camera, like if I charge it up in the morning and go out for the day shooting until the battery dies. Expecting 670 shots with a battery sitting idle for 3 months with just not going to happen. On a single day though I have shot well past 1200 on a single battery. The discrepancy between the battery brands could be a lot of things but I wouldn't read too much into it. I have had many Pentax branded and 3rd party batteries over the past 15 years and my experience is that when new the 3rd party ones are fine and hold a good charge. A few years in though and the Pentax ones are still working like new and the 3rd party are barely staying charged sitting on the shelf let alone once in the camera. I have had Pentax branded D-LI 90's still going strong after 10 years though.

[Moby Grape]

You didn't happen to enable the GPS function, did you? It tends to be fairly power-hungry (but still doesn't explain the disparity between batteries).

GPS not on...checked that...thanks.

---------- Post added 12-10-22 at 08:57 PM ----------

Battery life is more dependent of time the camera is awake waiting for user commands , than it is of the number of exposures. K1II manual says playback time ~ 340 minutes, a bit less than 6 hours. When camera is switched off, it consumes virtually nothing. Setting auto-power off to a minimum of 1 minute give the highest number of exposures per battery charge. During live view, consumption is double, ~3 hours max operating time on a fully charged D-LI90 with no picture taken.

Auto power has always been set to 1 minute...I also turned off the photo wing on the LCD screen after a shot. I think it is a combination of using the LCD to review and zone during shooting, and the battery remaining in the camera for a long period. I rarely shoot more than 20 or so shots in a day, unless on a trip....so I may be the reason for the short battery life.

---------- Post added 12-10-22 at 08:57 PM ----------

All lithium batteries will slowly deplete when sitting idle. 3 months is actually a long time to sit unused or lightly used in a camera and expect to pick it up and have it still be charged. The rated battery life is if you are actively using the camera, like if I charge it up in the morning and go out for the day shooting until the battery dies. Expecting 670 shots with a battery sitting idle for 3 months with just not going to happen. On a single day though I have shot well past 1200 on a single battery. The discrepancy between the battery brands could be a lot of things but I wouldn't read too much into it. I have had many Pentax branded and 3rd party batteries over the past 15 years and my experience is that when new the 3rd party ones are fine and hold a good charge. A few years in though and the Pentax ones are still working like new and the 3rd party are barely staying charged sitting on the shelf let alone once in the camera. I have had Pentax branded D-LI 90's still going strong after 10 years though.

Thanks very much

[AstroDave]

I have had Pentax branded D-LI 90's still going strong after 10 years though.

Yes, indeed - my oldest was, marginally, the best of the bunch: Battery Capacity / Discharge Measurements - Pentax & Canon OEM versus Generic - PentaxForums.com

[biz-engineer]

the battery remaining in the camera for a long period.

I have a battery in my K1II for one year and it hasn't discharged at all. However, when batteries get older, they self discharge (current leaking internal to the cell chemistry).

---------- Post added 11-12-22 at 07:39 ----------

I rarely shoot more than 20 or so shots in a day

Not sure if my message was clear, number of shots is almost irrelevant, it's the time the camera is operating that drains batteries. For example, you can have 1 minute auto-power off, but if you keep the camera from auto-powering off because you play back images, or change camera settings, or half press the shutter for previewing composition, the camera won't shut down and the battery will discharge even without taking any picture. For instance, with the same Pentax K1, I took 2000 shots in burst mode, for a duration of 3 hours, with AF tracking constantly at a ice skating competition (the camera was hot at the end of the shooting!). With the same battery , same camera, I went on holiday for one week, I took 200 landscape shots, the battery was completely discharged after 4 days.

[kypfer]

Assuming the batteries haven't actually reached the end of their useful life, there's a possibility the internal clock battery is failing, consequently drawing too much power from the main battery.
A test for this would be to leave the camera with the battery removed for maybe an hour, then refit the battery and check if the clock/calendar needs resetting.
I have two bodies with this problem, my K-01 and a Samsung NX5, and I simply leave the camera with no battery fitted until I want to use it, at which point I fit the battery and reset the clock/calendar … takes but a few seconds
This is not a big deal … no other stored camera settings are affected by a flat battery!
A test for the batteries might be to fully charge them, then leave them not in the camera for an extended period of time before fitting them and checking the charge state.
If it's noticeably diminished, the battery is reaching the end of it's usable life.
Do note, in my experience, OEM batteries, both D-Li90 and D-Li109, will both hold a relatively full charge for very many months, whereas third-party batteries will often fail this test, even when relatively new!

[xs4all]

My two oldest D-Li90s are from 2011; no problems with them. Not even after months of inactivity.

[Moby Grape]

All lithium batteries will slowly deplete when sitting idle. 3 months is actually a long time to sit unused or lightly used in a camera and expect to pick it up and have it still be charged. The rated battery life is if you are actively using the camera, like if I charge it up in the morning and go out for the day shooting until the battery dies. Expecting 670 shots with a battery sitting idle for 3 months with just not going to happen. On a single day though I have shot well past 1200 on a single battery. The discrepancy between the battery brands could be a lot of things but I wouldn't read too much into it. I have had many Pentax branded and 3rd party batteries over the past 15 years and my experience is that when new the 3rd party ones are fine and hold a good charge. A few years in though and the Pentax ones are still working like new and the 3rd party are barely staying charged sitting on the shelf let alone once in the camera. I have had Pentax branded D-LI 90's still going strong after 10 years though.

I agree with you, BUT, keep in mind that the battery in my K-3 has been there for over SIX months and still has 25% charge. It is a Wasbi brand battery.

[Moby Grape]

Assuming the batteries haven't actually reached the end of their useful life, there's a possibility the internal clock battery is failing, consequently drawing too much power from the main battery.
A test for this would be to leave the camera with the battery removed for maybe an hour, then refit the battery and check if the clock/calendar needs resetting.
I have two bodies with this problem, my K-01 and a Samsung NX5, and I simply leave the camera with no battery fitted until I want to use it, at which point I fit the battery and reset the clock/calendar … takes but a few seconds
This is not a big deal … no other stored camera settings are affected by a flat battery!
A test for the batteries might be to fully charge them, then leave them not in the camera for an extended period of time before fitting them and checking the charge state.
If it's noticeably diminished, the battery is reaching the end of it's usable life.
Do note, in my experience, OEM batteries, both D-Li90 and D-Li109, will both hold a relatively full charge for very many months, whereas third-party batteries will often fail this test, even when relatively new!

thanks

---------- Post added 12-11-22 at 08:52 PM ----------

I have a battery in my K1II for one year and it hasn't discharged at all. However, when batteries get older, they self discharge (current leaking internal to the cell chemistry).

---------- Post added 11-12-22 at 07:39 ----------


Not sure if my message was clear, number of shots is almost irrelevant, it's the time the camera is operating that drains batteries. For example, you can have 1 minute auto-power off, but if you keep the camera from auto-powering off because you play back images, or change camera settings, or half press the shutter for previewing composition, the camera won't shut down and the battery will discharge even without taking any picture. For instance, with the same Pentax K1, I took 2000 shots in burst mode, for a duration of 3 hours, with AF tracking constantly at a ice skating competition (the camera was hot at the end of the shooting!). With the same battery , same camera, I went on holiday for one week, I took 200 landscape shots, the battery was completely discharged after 4 days.

Good point....my newest camera is the K-1 II. It was bought new so a new battery came with it...however, I did not mark the battery so I don't know which of my Pentax batteries is the newest. Other Pentax batteries came with the K-30 and K-3. Only six months ago did I create a log and number the batteries so I could track life. I have enough batteries that having them on hand to pop in when needed is not a problem....I was just concerned at the low shutter counts: 174 and 154. But, I know that I have examined shots in live view and zoomed a lot...and the age of the batteries, plus my use of live view may be the main culprit.

[kypfer]

....my newest camera is the K-1 II. It was bought new so a new battery came with it...however, I did not mark the battery so I don't know which of my Pentax batteries is the newest

Pentax original batteries have a date code on them, (unless they're very old), printed next to the PENTAX logo on the label, eg. "202007" for July 2020, so, unless you bought your batteries in close proximity, you should be able to tell one from the other
There have been some reports of old stock turning up in some areas, so maybe not fool-proof, but a good indicator.

[Moby Grape]

Pentax original batteries have a date code on them, (unless they're very old), printed next to the PENTAX logo on the label, eg. "202007" for July 2020, so, unless you bought your batteries in close proximity, you should be able to tell one from the other
There have been some reports of old stock turning up in some areas, so maybe not fool-proof, but a good indicator.

Thanks for the info...Just checked a couple of batteries....both Pentax branded....one has the date, the other does not....and, two of my Pentax batteries that are dated are from 2014 and 2016...so that is a clue right there.

---------- Post added 12-12-22 at 07:32 PM ----------

Pentax original batteries have a date code on them, (unless they're very old), printed next to the PENTAX logo on the label, eg. "202007" for July 2020, so, unless you bought your batteries in close proximity, you should be able to tell one from the other
There have been some reports of old stock turning up in some areas, so maybe not fool-proof, but a good indicator.

I was looking at Pentax batteries at B&H. They have what is supposed to be a NEW battery, but the date (if I read it correctly) is 201512.

[kypfer]

I was looking at Pentax batteries at B&H. They have what is supposed to be a NEW battery, but the date (if I read it correctly) is 201512.

I'd have reservations about that one at a "new" price
Most modern batteries are very good, especially high quality ones, but whether it'd be "as good as new" after being not re-charged for seven years … I'd shop around!