[Cee Cee]

Good to hear you got it working, interesting that the lithiums don't fire up the camera, only two possible explanations here, the batteries were dodgy straight off ( this can happen due to shelf life ) or the camera is drawing more current than it should and the rechargeable batteries are capable of supplying this extra current and still running the camera. It will be interesting to see how long the batteries last. I hope you just copped some dodgy lithium batteries and that all is ok with the camera.

[ripit]

If it continues to be a problem you might want to invest in a good charger (if you don't have one). Mine is a lacrosse bc-700 which is one of the cheaper ones. It retails for 50$ but can often be found cheaper. It's currently 25$ on amazon.
Amazon.com: La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger: Home & Garden
Its from thomas distributing which according to many on candle power forums is reliable to buy from.
It can recondition batteries (fully charge and discharge repeatedly till capacity stabilizes), It can test (fully charge then measure discharge till it empty to tell the true capacity, which can expose a bad cell). It can discharge and then charge the cells or just charge them too. You could pick up a set of eneloop while you are at it and the charger would get it over the total for free shipping on the batteries. Personally I have been too cheap to get eneloop and have been using the cheap economy rayovac batteries that wal mart sells. Capacity is not listed on them but they are about 1500Ma (got a bunch on clearance at 6.50 per 8 batteries). There is a newer version of them that walmart sells that are low discharge. Rayovac occasionally has 3$ off printable coupons that bring the cost to 4-5$ per 4. I have been using the older version for wuite a while with no problems (they last as long as you would expect a low capacity battery like that to last).
I can shoot on and off all day on a fresh charged set and sometimes can do it on a slightly used or just not fresh charged set.

[patrick9]

Welcome to the world of DL. The DL does seem temperamental on batteries .Mine does not like energizers any thing else it works fine. You just have to find the ones that work the best. Hope you enjoy your new camera.

[Cee Cee]

Check out the link given to you by pixelsaurus " *ist DL and batteries? " check the posts by Mangusta on the 3rd page, I believe he has absolutely nailed this problem. Basically there is a problem with your camera that makes it very picky about batteries. This is due to high current spikes at turn on and the failure of a capacitor in the camera to provide the extra current required during these spikes. Once this capacitor is replaced or an extra capacitor fitted you shouldn't have any more issues. You should seek help to have this done. Any "good" Electronics tech or Engineer should be able to help with this if you refer them to the info in Mangusta's posts.
I have an *ist DS (which I have also seen this problem reported) the capacitor in mine must be ok as I have no issues at all. I use generic type 2700mAhr Nimh batteries and let me tell you they last so long that I've given up keeping track of how long they last, I have Duracell 2100mAhrs I carry as backup - they don't last quite as long, and I have no trouble using standard Alkaline AA batteries ( Duracell or Energizer) When I go on holidays I don't bother with the charger. Its a comfort to know I can just walk into a shop and buy some AA's and make my camera work again!

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Last edited by Cee Cee; 08-28-2011 at 04:05 PM.

[gryphon]

On a gamble I went and bought a set of those eneloops (actually the RayoVac equivilent) dropped 'em in right out of the package and the battery meter shot up to full charge. Took about 50 shots just to see what would happen and they still show full. So I guess they're picky but mine at least really likes the new batteries.

[ripit]

On a gamble I went and bought a set of those eneloops (actually the RayoVac equivilent) dropped 'em in right out of the package and the battery meter shot up to full charge. Took about 50 shots just to see what would happen and they still show full. So I guess they're picky but mine at least really likes the new batteries.

I wasn't aware that rayovac had a version that were eneloops. How do you tell if they are eneloops?
One thing I noticed when I got a decent charger that could test (and built a load tester), is that some of my older batteries that I thought were fine and seemed to work fine, had lost capacity, and would drop in voltage under load a lot more than other identical cells. Once I weeded out the bad ones, they seemed to work longer and perform better. I have pretty much replaced all my really old batteries since then though as all had lost at least some capacity so I figured it was time to replace them.

[Pentaxlvr]

I posted a message on another thread about the exact same problem with my *ist DL. Only my old set of Nickel Metal Hydride rechargables will start the camera up, alkalines and lithiums don't work. How strange is that?
Perhaps it has something to do with the voltage of each individual battery cell. My rechargeables each measure about 1.2 volts while the alkalines are 1.5 volts and the lithium are an average of 1.7volts.

This problem didn't start for me until yesterday when I attempted to shoot some pictures for World Pentax Day. I wonder if this is a problem just with the *ist DL or if other Pentax DSLRs have the same problem? I would be curious to know the answer. I hate this problem. I take good care of my equipment.

[Stone G.]

I have a *ist DL and it too isn't the easiest one, when it comes to batteries:

Alkalines: No way! (The manual also recommends against them). No sign of life at all.

Lithium Energizers: I had the camera accept them twice only. Since then, no sign of life with them either. (Even though they ARE endorsed in the manual).

CR-V3: That worked fine for me with the non-rechargeable ones. Note that the manual recommends against the rechargeables.

NiMH: That has always worked for me. Today I only use Eneloops with my *ist DL.

Eneloops are kind of "your last resort". There is however one way to check your camera further, and that is to use an external 6.5 Volt DC-powersupply designed for digital cameras, (such as 'Hama Digi' or similar). If your camera will not start up with such an external power supply there is definitely something more seriously wrong.

The cause of your problems is most likely a weakness in one component (the capacitor mentioned above). This components stores some extra "power" that is needed when the camera starts up and there is a sudden extra load on the batteries.

[gp1806]

I had an ist DL that would work only with Eneloops. Seems to be a common thing with the DL. Do not dump your DL until you have tried Eneloops. And get a good charger, read the specs, and make sure that the charger can charge one cell alone. A charger like that will charge each cell to full charge, a charger that charges cells in pairs will charge the cells to the level of one cell in the pair. The other cell may not get to full charge. There are several good, reasonably priced chargers available, Sony makes such a charger, Duracell made one in the past (can be found on ebay). I use the Duracell charger, and it works well (I paid $11 on ebay). The Duracell model is CEF 23.

[joannam7]

remembered the solution to this. Hold the menu and the ok buttons at the same time while turning it on.

[SJS]

Hi Folks,

Here was the fix, I tried several batteries went to Lithium brand new- that didn't work either. Then I took a bit of rubbing alcohol on a Qtip and cleaned all the contacts, blow dry him with your breath. Bingo- no problem. So clean your contacts and that should take care of things!


Good luck, glad it worked for me I have always liked this camera even those its an older one.

[Pentaxlvr]

I just got an ist DL used (of course) that looks to be in mint condition. The previous owner claims to have had no problems with it. however, all I can get is the flashing dead battery sign. I tried Lithiums and that didn't work so I went ahead and bought a couple of new CR-V3's thinking that would take care of it and still is flashes dead. Last owner didn't use it much and says they had used alkalines in it with no problems but I cannot get it to power up. Anything here I should try before asking to return it.

Try rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries, they have a 1.2 voltage. That works for me.

-Stephen

[pentasonic49]

My K100D had the battery voltage problems all of its life. CRV3 lithium's have a voltage of 3v each for 6v total, which is probably not enough. Putting in a set of 4 AA Energiser Ultimate lithium's will give you 7.2v with new cells.

[photogem]

My K100D had the battery voltage problems all of its life. CRV3 lithium's have a voltage of 3v each for 6v total, which is probably not enough. Putting in a set of 4 AA Energizer Ultimate lithium's will give you 7.2v with new cells.

That's correct:

All older Pentaxbodies using just AA's work very well with Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA's.
Also those cannot leak and if left inside the Pentax, can survive up to 20 years.... not bad.


Second best will be similar Lithiums,

and then Eneloop Pro's but with a good charger only (i.e. no Panasonic).
Best value-money is the Technoline BC700:
https://www.tme.com/us/en-us/details/bc-700/chargers/technoline/+