Originally posted by David C. until I downloaded the owner's manual to find that NiMH batteries while discussed extensively are not recommmended because their voltage caracteristics may cause a malfunction
As others have pointed out that's a typo.
The current K200D pdf manual
Download
actually does say NiM
n
Lots of people are using NiMH rechargeable batteries with success.
However even better are the Low Self-Discharge (LSD) rechargeables - among those - the (Sanyo) eneloop stand out.
The reason the eneloop stands out is because it maintains higher operating voltage underload better than any other NiMH or LSD - and this is very important for the Pentax dSLR series using AA batteries - as the cutoff threshold is set too high resulting in a lot of NiMH unable to power on the dSLR despite still having a lot of remaining charge left.
It should not be a surprise that the K200D has inherited a lot of family traits of the K100D which in turn inherited from the *istD series, and all of them have been very battery fussy/sensitive.
Please see Post #
62 link in
k100d battery recommendation for a lot of relevant information.
There are confirmed re-badges of eneloops that may be easier to get -
Duracell Pre-Charged (must be the made in Japan with white top surrounding the +ve button)
Sony Cycle-Energy (blue)