[Ex Finn.]

....and I agree with you, but I prefer 1000+ shots and the reliability of Lithiums
(cold weather, hot weather and a lighter camera).

I know for some it's a cost factor but with Wal-Mart and Target competing lately,
the price of lithiums have dropped. I have used Eneloops and I was lucky to get
200 shots (long exposures) and the shelf life wasn't the greatest.
Does that mean something is wrong with my camera? No, I don't think so.






I'll pay for lithiums...that's just me, but I think others should try them before
determining there is a voltage problem with their camera.


Also, something to understand. Lithiums can deliver high pulse currents and they
can recover from fast current draws. There is no NiCad or NiMh that can do that.

I really do not understand why the cost factor is involved when someone spends
the money on a modern day DSLR then they cheap out on the batteries.

I agree 100%. And the high peak current ability seems to make focus faster also.

Just got back in, after long exposures of my miserable attempt of catching ISS and the space shuttle, running out of juice never crossed my mind.

Bottom line, Lithiums , there is no substitute

[WheresWaldo]

I agree 100%. And the high peak current ability seems to make focus faster also.

Just got back in, after long exposures of my miserable attempt of catching ISS and the space shuttle, running out of juice never crossed my mind.

Bottom line, Lithiums , there is no substitute

I saw the faster focus also using RCRV3 batteries, although you could only use regulated cells as the cheap Chinese versions could burn out your camera electronics. I used some of the Delkin, but after a year of use they do not hold a charge for very long.

[blwnhr]

I really do not understand why the cost factor is involved when someone spends
the money on a modern day DSLR then they cheap out on the batteries.

I will admit I am trying to cheap out on this. Simple fact is, I got the camera for nothing, I don't need the camera, but if I can get it going for free then it'll make a good home for my one remaining Pentax lens.

@ the last two posts Auto-focus is not an issue in my case, the only lens that will be fixed to this camera is my M50 f/2.

Someone mentioned a page or so back whether I had everything turned off, well it's a full manual lens and SR is turned off. I'm doing all the metering, am using fixed ISO and manual WB so the camera really isn't thinking about much at all (actuating the shutter when I push the shiney button).

I'm begining to think that this camera has been off fo so long it has needed some use to burst it back to life. I picked it up on Tuesday night, after leaving batteries in it since Sunday, and it fired up and said full battery. I took 30 shots with it over the night (turning it off and on pretty regularly). Every time I turned it on it would read full battery, take 2-3 shots and it would read half, do some reviewing and it was still on half. However it didn't tell me low battery once.

So, as the posts from many suggest, I think the K100D is just genuinely very hard on batteries. Despite a quality charger and very good quality, new, Ni-Mh's I think it is the best I'm going to get it.

It's fine, it isn't even like a backup body to me, it is more just a screw around, see what the world looks like at 50mm, keep my eye into manual focus, sacrificial body.

Cheers for all the feedback guys.

[Marc Sabatella]

I know for some it's a cost factor but with Wal-Mart and Target competing lately,
the price of lithiums have dropped.

Fair enough, although there's also the environmental factor.

I have used Eneloops and I was lucky to get
200 shots (long exposures) and the shelf life wasn't the greatest.
Does that mean something is wrong with my camera? No, I don't think so.

When you say long exposures, you mean, many seconds? Yeah, i could see that this might give you lower battery life. 200 shots under "normal" usage would indicate a problem - most of us get 2-3 times that at least, but sure, very long exposures could easily change that.

As for shelf life, I guess I don't ever go without using my camera long enough for that to be an issue with Eneloops, although it was with standard NiMH's - even a week without use would show a noticeable drop in battery life. I don't know how long I'd hav to go without using my camera with Eneloops in order to notice a drop off, but it's a heck of a lot longer than week, and I rarely go more than a day or two without shooting. I tend to recharge every couple of weeks whether I need to or not.

Anyhow, sure, lithiums do have advantages over Eneloops, just as the reverse is also true. My point is just that you shouldn't write off your camera as defective just because it doesn't work well with alkaline or older-technology NiMH cells, nor should you accept as "normal" a camera that doesn't get many hundreds of shots under "normal" use with Eneloops.

[Fritz]

I've always had the best performance from my k100d with the lithium Energizer e2's. I get about 550-700 shots from these batteries. With the Rayovac Hybrid batteries it's about half that.

[al_undy]

I have had good experience with GP and Powerex, not so good with energizer. Get the right batteries and it is not a problem.

[SteveB]

My K100D is quite average and typical in its battery habits. The cutoff voltage is 1.19v per cell in my cam, this was carefully measured. I ran some discharge curves with 2500mAh Energizers which work very well in the short term in my cam (900 shots same day as charging) and 2100mAh Uniross Hybrios low self discharge types which work excellently long term (600 shots over months).

These curves were made 2 weeks after charging, and show how marginal ordinary NiMh batteries are in the K100D as the flat part of their 3 ohm loaded curve is almost at the cutoff. 3 ohms is about 400mA and is more than the K100D's 'doing nothing much' current but much less than when using AF or flash.



As a point of interest, the battery meter shows half full around the 1.24v mark.