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09-01-2019, 03:10 AM   #1
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Can a faulty battery cause a DSLR to behave erratically?

I have a number of batteries which I use on both the K5iis and K3. One of them has always been a bit odd in terms of charge. It seems to drop to a single bar on the camera battery indicator quite quickly, but if you turn the camera off and on, it comes back to two bars. I (unfortunately) had this battery in the camera today when I had the chance for some very close up photos of a Platypus. The camera was set to give priority to the shutter over achieving AF lock, but many times I half depressed the shutter and nothing happened, or fully depressed the shutter release and nothing happened. I'm pretty sure that I wasn't inside the minimum focal distance of the DFA 150-450. Regardless though, the shutter should have released because it had priority. I was using the K3 (as I generally do).

Has anyone experienced a Pentax DSLR behaving erratically when the battery has a low charge, or had a particular battery that caused erratic behaviour? I did get some good photos today, but I also missed a lot because the camera refused to focus or release the shutter at certain times.

09-01-2019, 04:05 AM   #2
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I think this has happened to me, I can recall the camera acting up with shutter and focus when battery is almost depleted.
09-01-2019, 04:20 AM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by Zooland Quote
I think this has happened to me, I can recall the camera acting up with shutter and focus when battery is almost depleted.
Thanks! The frustrating thing is that I took quite a few photos later with the same battery. I might have to label it faulty and avoid using it.
09-01-2019, 04:35 AM - 1 Like   #4
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I haven't had that particular problem, but I have had strange behavior with my DSLRs in some situations where the battery is low and it's cold outside. It's like the battery just can't cough up enough current and the camera responds by either locking up or just refusing to do as I ask.

09-01-2019, 05:17 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by photocles Quote
I haven't had that particular problem, but I have had strange behavior with my DSLRs in some situations where the battery is low and it's cold outside. It's like the battery just can't cough up enough current and the camera responds by either locking up or just refusing to do as I ask.
Thanks! It was the first day of Spring today and the temperature at the time was around 15C, so I don't think the battery was cold.
09-01-2019, 05:26 AM - 2 Likes   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by RobG Quote
Thanks! The frustrating thing is that I took quite a few photos later with the same battery. I might have to label it faulty and avoid using it.
Surely it would make more sense to just dispose of it? No point in keeping on using something you can't trust.
09-01-2019, 05:27 AM   #7
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my K5 had some issues yesterday when one of the batteries got low. If I was in burst mode it would shoot 3-4 shots then the mirror would lock up and the whole thing was frozen. On/Off switch wouldn't do anything, no buttons worked, etc. Pulled battery out and put it back in and all was resolved. It still had one bar left, and I normally change when they go from 2 to 1 bar to prevent it, I just hadn't noticed.
In terms of going one bar to two when you reset, it's possible that the voltage is right at the transition point between the two and when you turn it off the voltage comes back just enough to be at the 2-bar level. Normal behavior for a battery.

09-01-2019, 05:54 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by Saxplayer1004 Quote
my K5 had some issues yesterday when one of the batteries got low. If I was in burst mode it would shoot 3-4 shots then the mirror would lock up and the whole thing was frozen. On/Off switch wouldn't do anything, no buttons worked, etc. Pulled battery out and put it back in and all was resolved. It still had one bar left, and I normally change when they go from 2 to 1 bar to prevent it, I just hadn't noticed.
OK, sounds similar although actually more extreme.

QuoteQuote:
In terms of going one bar to two when you reset, it's possible that the voltage is right at the transition point between the two and when you turn it off the voltage comes back just enough to be at the 2-bar level. Normal behavior for a battery.
Yes, I thought that also, except that would make the misbehaviour stranger, because it's only just at one bar. The thing I find odd is that I took quite a lot of photos later - in high speed shutter mode.
09-01-2019, 06:04 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by RobG Quote
OK, sounds similar although actually more extreme.



Yes, I thought that also, except that would make the misbehaviour stranger, because it's only just at one bar. The thing I find odd is that I took quite a lot of photos later - in high speed shutter mode.
voltage drop under load will increase as the battery voltage drops since the current required goes up. When the battery is mostly full, it won't sag nearly as much as when it's empty so that weird behavior is usually only observed at the lower battery levels. It is standard behavior for all batteries, though lithium are more stable than other chemistries in this department. Batteries are cheap, if you think it's acting weird, recycle it.
09-01-2019, 06:05 AM - 2 Likes   #10
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This can happen with old, weakened, defective, or low-quality batteries. When the camera tries to draw a lot of power, the bad battery's voltage drops too much causing glitches and low battery warnings.

Personally, I'd dispose of that battery. If that bad battery glitches while the camera is writing data to the SD card, you can corrupt the SD card and lose all the images on it.

P.S. Dirty contacts on the battery or camera can also cause this behavior. Cleaning the contacts is the first line of defense against power glitches.
09-01-2019, 06:09 AM   #11
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It could be an internal resistance problem as this increases with age and burst mode with its high current draw over a longer period than for single shots would be more likely to cause prolonged voltage drops.

09-01-2019, 07:59 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by RobG Quote
Can a faulty battery cause a DSLR to behave erratically?
The short answer is yes. A voltage drop on load may result in electronic fault in the same sense as holding one's breath may result in one passing out.


Steve
09-01-2019, 08:59 AM   #13
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What brand batteries are you using? Some of the Chinese-made batteries for Pentax are truly horrible. They don't actually have the milliamp-hour ratings they advertise, they don't hold charge (self-discharge), etc. Some members here will only use genuine Pentax batteries; they're expensive, and you get what you pay for. My used K-5IIs came with one Pentax and two Watson batteries. The Pentax is rated 1860mAh; the Watsons are 1800mAh, so basically the same as far as the labeling goes. However, the Watsons drain much faster than the Pentax. This could be due to their age or number of charge/discharge cycles they've seen, but I suspect it's because they are simply inferior. They work OK, and I'm not slamming Watson, but I do have to charge them more often.
09-01-2019, 09:44 AM   #14
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I’ve had things like this happen with my K-01 and my K1.

Soon afterward, the batteries started holding noticeably less charge...

I’ve used it as a hint it’s time to buy some new batteries...

-Eric
09-01-2019, 03:48 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by JohnX Quote
Surely it would make more sense to just dispose of it? No point in keeping on using something you can't trust.
If it's the battery at fault, agreed.


QuoteOriginally posted by Saxplayer1004 Quote
voltage drop under load will increase as the battery voltage drops since the current required goes up. When the battery is mostly full, it won't sag nearly as much as when it's empty so that weird behavior is usually only observed at the lower battery levels. It is standard behavior for all batteries, though lithium are more stable than other chemistries in this department. Batteries are cheap, if you think it's acting weird, recycle it.
I agree, but in this case I'm not certain that the battery is faulty.


QuoteOriginally posted by photoptimist Quote
This can happen with old, weakened, defective, or low-quality batteries. When the camera tries to draw a lot of power, the bad battery's voltage drops too much causing glitches and low battery warnings. Personally, I'd dispose of that battery. If that bad battery glitches while the camera is writing data to the SD card, you can corrupt the SD card and lose all the images on it. P.S. Dirty contacts on the battery or camera can also cause this behavior. Cleaning the contacts is the first line of defense against power glitches.
I did get a corrupted SD card once previously, but I can't be certain that it was this battery causing it. I wondered what caused that corruption.



QuoteOriginally posted by slartibartfast01 Quote
It could be an internal resistance problem as this increases with age and burst mode with its high current draw over a longer period than for single shots would be more likely to cause prolonged voltage drops.
True. Good point.

QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
The short answer is yes. A voltage drop on load may result in electronic fault in the same sense as holding one's breath may result in one passing out.
Except that at the point where the camera wasn't responding, it was only doing AF and attempting to trigger the shutter, rather than being in the middle of a series of shutter releases.


QuoteOriginally posted by Apet-Sure Quote
What brand batteries are you using? Some of the Chinese-made batteries for Pentax are truly horrible. They don't actually have the milliamp-hour ratings they advertise, they don't hold charge (self-discharge), etc. Some members here will only use genuine Pentax batteries; they're expensive, and you get what you pay for. My used K-5IIs came with one Pentax and two Watson batteries. The Pentax is rated 1860mAh; the Watsons are 1800mAh, so basically the same as far as the labeling goes. However, the Watsons drain much faster than the Pentax. This could be due to their age or number of charge/discharge cycles they've seen, but I suspect it's because they are simply inferior. They work OK, and I'm not slamming Watson, but I do have to charge them more often.
It's a Pentax battery. I checked when I took it off the charger.


QuoteOriginally posted by TwoUptons Quote
I’ve had things like this happen with my K-01 and my K1.

Soon afterward, the batteries started holding noticeably less charge...
I’ve used it as a hint it’s time to buy some new batteries...
OK, thanks!

Thanks to everyone who responded!


I think I may have assigned the cause to the wrong source. I think the reason that the shutter refused the fire was because the camera was still writing the data to the SD card from the previous burst. I'm a bit surprised that it stops the camera from performing AF, but it was the blocking of the shutter release that was the most frustrating. I realise that AF is likely to be a very CPU intensive activity, but you wouldn't expect writing data to be CPU intensive. I'll have to look at configuring a mode which works better for burst mode - minimising image processing and writing RAW only, perhaps. It's really frustrating having a Platypus in focus and filling the viewfinder but the shutter release is blocked. By the way, the SD cards are Sandisk Extreme Plus which are rated to 80mb/s.

I wonder whether the faster CPU in the KP or K1 handles burst mode better than the K3?
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