[dehanson1]

Why would anyone actually WANT to use AA batteries in a K-r? The K-x eats them up like peanuts and is one of my biggest gripes about the camera. Ill probobly buy a K-r if for no ther reason just to get away from AA's. Better off buying an extra lithium than actually reverting to aa's. I dont get it why they would offer the camera at all with a AA adapter, unless of course its just to cash in on selling adapters?

[dgaies]

Why would anyone actually WANT to use AA batteries in a K-r? The K-x eats them up like peanuts and is one of my biggest gripes about the camera. Ill probobly buy a K-r if for no ther reason just to get away from AA's. Better off buying an extra lithium than actually reverting to aa's. I dont get it why they would offer the camera at all with a AA adapter, unless of course its just to cash in on selling adapters?

While I also prefer Li-ion batteries to AA batteries for DSLR bodies, I have to wonder what type of AA batteries you are using in your Kx.

If you are using standard alkaline batteries, then that would explain why you are going through them so quickly as they only last 100-150 shots.

Rechargeable hybrids last 400-600 shots and are pretty inexpensive (about $10/set).

The AA-lithiums that came with your Kx last the longest, but are about $10/set and aren't rechargeable. That said, I got over 2000 shots out of my first set.

EDIT: just curious, do you use a lot of live view and/or video?

[96p993]

I like the convenience of being able to be just about anywhere and still be able to buy batteries for my camera...I just back from Costa Rica, if something were to go wrong with my Li-ions I would have been up the creek for the entire trip, the AA's just bring a level of ease to me and my camera...Im also interested in what batteries you are using.

[JACOBY]

Why not just use the enloups that is what I learned to use from info on this site no problem what so ever.

[wed7]

A set of eneloops will give around 500 shots per charge.

[KevinR]

The AA battery feature was actually one of the reasons I was drawn to the K200D. I already had a load of rechargeable AA batteries for other purposes and P&S cameras.

Other benefits of AA: you can get them anywhere if desperate; they are a STANDARD; they also work in the flash; good rechargeables are really cheap now; they are useful for many things around the house and camping (WII remotes; torches; camping latterns; electric toothbush.....)

The new Eneloops/Hybrio low self-discharge NiMH are really good. Avoid Alkalines as they are rubbish for cameras. And I always have a few spare sets of rechargeables to hand.

Cheers
Kevin

[Brangdon]

Better off buying an extra lithium than actually reverting to aa's.

Being able to use AAs is why I picked the K-x. I already had a good Eneloop system, with a smart charger, and I wanted my camera to fall under that umbrella. I'm a bit put-off the K-r because it sounds like it makes AA is second-best - although from the stats it will last longer on 4 Eneloops than on the li-ion.

Any idea how much a second D-LI109 li-ion will cost? Part of the problem is that any battery has a finite shelf-life, usually just a few years, and you are at the mercy of the manufacturer as regards pricing of a proprietary format.

[Marc Sabatella]

500+ plus shots per charge using batteries and a charger I can share with all my other electronic devices. What's not to like?

[UnknownVT]

Some of us are getting well over 1,100 shots/charge on eneloops on the K-x -
admittedly without much flash, no live-view or movies.......

Every single Pentax dSLR using AA batteries says quite clearly that although alkalines can be used to test the camera they are not recommended - and that includes the K-x - crop from Page 39 of the K-x manual:

[mlatour]

Like one of my co-workers always said :

"cheap thing no good,
good thing no cheap"

Invest in a couple of sets of good rechargeable AA's,
(not Wal-Mart's Energizer or Duracell Ni-MH specials with a cheap charger)
and your K-x will perform just as well as if it had a dedicated camera type battery.

I picked up a few sets of Ansmann AA's from the local camera shop
after using Energizers in my camera for the first few weeks
ANSMANN AG: Batteries & battery packs
expensive at 30$ for 4 x AA's, double the price of Energizer Ni-MH AA's
but more importantly they keep their charge perhaps 3+ times longer in my K-x

The ONLY reason I initially chose the Pentax K-x over other entry level Canikons
was that it used AA's!

[tibbitts]

If you have to travel with AAs for other devices, the dedicated battery charger become yet another device you have to travel with. And if you lose it, or it fails in the middle of a trip... well, you basically have to travel with two of them, just like many of us travel with two camera bodies, and overlapping lens ranges. With AAs, if the charger fails, you can always buy a bunch of AAs almost wherever you are.

Paul

[Adam]

There's a new battery type called nickel zinc which has 1.6v rather than the crappy 1.2v from NiMh's. If someone had a set of those, I'm sure the K-r's AA capabilities would come in handy

(then again, my K-7 lasts me for 3 months on a set of 2 fully charged batteries!)

[opiedog]

cause AA's are readily available.

use as what others have already mentioned, the good kind of NiMh like eneloops and you should be all set.

[dehanson1]

Ive used 4 or 5 brands of aa bat and none of them last very long.always find myself having to chande batteries in the middle of shooting. Can anyone recommend soma aa's that last a decent amount of time?

[dehanson1]

Thanks, Tell me. Which Ansmanns are you using in your Kx?