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06-27-2009, 06:23 PM   #16
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My battery experiences, FWIW:

- alkalines work and give you a few hundred shots but are only suitable for emergencies;
- rechargeables of the right sort work fine(see below);
- Lithium's work best but not all brands are have the same capacity/quality as Energizer. (A batch of cheapo lithiums I bought at a hardware store recently only gave about 40% of the usage of the Energizer's).

On the subject of rechargable NiMhs, I only use the Sanyo Eneloop's. They have been most reliable. Energizer NiMh's seem to have real quality issues - out of about 12 Energizer AA NiMh's I've purchased and charged with an Energizer charger, probably only about 4 out of 12 ever managed to hold a usable charge for greater than 24 hours even in storage.

06-27-2009, 10:18 PM   #17
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I haven't tried alkalines myself, but based on reports here and elsewhere, I don't think one can really depend on getting hundreds of shots from them. Only a few dozen seems more typical of what people report.
07-08-2009, 02:04 AM   #18
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Let me tell you my experiences with rechargeable batteries on the K200. Please sit back because this is going to be a little long.

After the amazing bundled Energizer lithiums I used two sets of Energizer 2500 mAh, which I will call "set A" and set "B". A was made in China and B in Japan. By the way, my charger is a LaCrosse BC700 (or RS700, as it's called in some countries).

Set A was not totally bad: after a full charge I managed to get 150-200 shoots. The problem was, when I picked up the camera after a few days it won't even turn on! And this even though the batteries were still displayed at 100% the previous time. Now, I know about self-discharge, but I thought it occurred over months, not days!

Set B was much worse. In fact, I never got a single shoot out of it. The self-discharge was extremely fast, i.e. the day right after a full charge the camera won't turn on. You can easily imagine how useless this set was as a backup. After it let me down two times in a row, I switched it to the "hopeless" drawer. This pack must be a defective one, as it has an extremely poor performance even on a low-drain device such as my portable CD player. I can barely get 10 hours of playing while any two batteries from set A run well over 50 hours. I tested set B in my compact Sony DSC-S60 camera. I charged it and waited for three days. Then I took a shoot (with flash burst) and the battery meter immediately dropped from 100% to 50%. That was the last straw: I shall never be buying Energizer rechargeables again.

I am currently using four Varta Ready2Use LSD batteries. Two came straight from the pack, while I had been using the other two for a few weeks in the DSC-S60. I made about 200 shoots with them and the battery meter is still at 100%. Please note that about 50% of the shoots were taken with long exposure times (30 seconds to 2 minutes and over) so this is already a good performance, considered that none of the batteries was at full charge.

This week I'm buying a set of Duracell Pre-Charged, which I am told are nothing but re-branded Eneloops. I certainly hope this is correct, as here in Italy Sanyo Eneloops are really hard to find in stores and expensive to get online. The fact that Duracells are Eneloops with a different label is stated by knowledgeable people on many Italian forums, and also on the influential Candle Power Forum, so I can reasonably assume it's true. Someone even goes as far as calling them "Duraloops". More will follow in this thread.

A final note: at the end of August I'm going to Scotland for ten days: I'll be bringing two sets of rechargeable batteries (still don't know which brand) but I will rely mainly on a fresh pack of Energizer Lithiums.

Last edited by P. U. Laster; 07-08-2009 at 02:13 AM.
07-08-2009, 07:06 AM   #19
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One note on Duracell LSD, not all are eneloops. They seem to have two suppliers you need to look carefully at the plastic top around the button if it is white and the button top is sort of squared off then they are eneloops rebadged, otherwise I am not sure who makes the black tops.



07-08-2009, 07:38 AM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by shiestmiester Quote
So i own a K200d, and have for about a year now. It's been quite fun having all the flexibility of digital, but now something has gone a rye. The batteries in the K200 seem to die really fast. I have been using rechargable NiMh batts, but just stuck a pair of alkalines in there to see what happened.

ANything like this happen to anyone else? Would cleaning contacts, aka DIY maintenance fix this?
Eneloop as everyone said are just fantastic but there is one thing I believe people do not pay attention enough, it's the charger. I noticed many times with my K-m that one or two indidual battery was much more discharged than the others. When you have a low-end charger that charge the batteries by pair you don't see it, and one of the battery will not be completely charged and your entire set will have a compromised stamina as a consequence.

So do yourself a favor, buy a good charger like the MaHa or LaCrosse that can charge batteries individually. And a good set of hybrid batteries of course.
07-08-2009, 09:02 AM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by P. U. Laster Quote
Set A was not totally bad: after a full charge I managed to get 150-200 shoots. The problem was, when I picked up the camera after a few days it won't even turn on! And this even though the batteries were still displayed at 100% the previous time. Now, I know about self-discharge, but I thought it occurred over months, not days!
It would take months for self-discharge to *fully* drain the batteries but remember, Pentax cameras can't deal with batteries that are even close to fully drained. It's tough to put a number on it, but I'd say a Pentax DSLR can only use 30% or so of the charge - the camera won't work if the batteries are less than 70% full as measured by some other device. And yes, NiMH cells - especially ones that are several years old (and who knows how long those were sitting on the store shelves?) do discharge down to that level in a matter of days. Maybe not just one or two days, but I wouldn't expect them to stay usable more than a couple of weeks. Ones that drain in just a couple of days are probably just old, or defective.

QuoteQuote:
This pack must be a defective one, as it has an extremely poor performance even on a low-drain device such as my portable CD player.
BTW, it's possible that only one of the cells is actually problematic, but I'm not sure how to figure that out. I have one set that behaves similarly - and they are Rayovac Hybrids, so they shouldn't have self-discharge issues like this. My voltmeter doesn't indicate any problem with any of them, and neither does my Lacrosse charger - and I even did a full recondition (took about a week!).

QuoteQuote:
That was the last straw: I shall never be buying Energizer rechargeables again.
I think that's harsh. Like I said, who knows how old those are. But the occasional bad batch can happen with *any* brand.

QuoteQuote:
A final note: at the end of August I'm going to Scotland for ten days: I'll be bringing two sets of rechargeable batteries (still don't know which brand) but I will rely mainly on a fresh pack of Energizer Lithiums.
Sounds like your Vartas are good. If I were you, I'd rely on those for day to day use, and keep the lithiums for the spares. no sense throwing money away unnecessarily.
07-08-2009, 09:08 AM   #22
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Jut got my eneloop set and can tell that it is just great. No more problems

07-08-2009, 12:08 PM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
Sounds like your Vartas are good. If I were you, I'd rely on those for day to day use, and keep the lithiums for the spares. no sense throwing money away unnecessarily.
That's right, I didn't put it clear at first but that's what I had in mind: I'll'use the rechargeables until they're depleted, and the lithiums will be my safety net. I meant that the lithiums certainly won't let me down.

QuoteOriginally posted by WheresWaldo Quote
One note on Duracell LSD, not all are eneloops. They seem to have two suppliers you need to look carefully at the plastic top around the button if it is white and the button top is sort of squared off then they are eneloops rebadged, otherwise I am not sure who makes the black tops.
The black ones are most probably re-badged Rayovac Hybrids. They are not bad at all, but are said to be not as good as Eneloops regarding voltage consistency under load. Please note that I'm just reporting some opinions as I haven't had the opportunity to personally test a brand against the other.

Small update: today I went to an electronics store to check the Duraloops: they actually are the white-top, Japanese-made ones but they had an outrageous price (15,44 euros for a 4-pack) so I will be buying "real" Eneloops by mail. That will still be cheaper in spite of shipping costs. Go figure!
09-03-2009, 01:35 PM   #24
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Lately, the white-topped duraloops have been disappearing, replaced with the black-topped pre-charged rechargables, at the same price. However Target has then on sale for 7/four pack, instead of the usual 13/ four pack.

Thoughts?

Are these the Rayovac, if so are they worth it? Or has Sanyo changed their packaging?
09-14-2009, 05:01 AM   #25
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A quick update on the subject: from August 28th to September 5th I have been in Scotland, taking at least 100 shots every day. That was a good opportunity to test the two sets of white-topped "Duraloops" I had bought (after I found a shop selling them for 9 euros each -very cheap).
Each set gave me a little more than 500 shots (520-550), so I'm very satisfied with the result. Flash was shot only a few times, but I'm still more than happy. For me, it's PROBLEM SOLVED!

Another note about Eneloops in Scotland: I checked a couple of shops there (Perth and Edinburgh), where I had seen Sanyo Eneloops in the shop window: know what? Both were selling them at the outrageous price of 20 English pounds for a 4-pack.

Last edited by P. U. Laster; 09-14-2009 at 05:08 AM.
09-14-2009, 06:58 AM   #26
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eneloop alternative ?

I bought my K200D about a year ago and wanted to use rechargeable batteries. I hadn't found this forum or heard of eneloops yet, but I had been disappointed with rechargeable battery performance many times.
After doing a little research and reading some reviews I bought Pearstone 2900 mAh in a 10-pack from B&h for @$25.
Pearstone | "AA" Nickel-Metal Hydride | AA-2900-10
I was skeptical at first especially because they are rated 1.2V. After charging in a good charger (not a "quick charger") the output is @1.45-1.47V even after a year of almost daily usage. The set that's been in my cam for the last week output @1.35V and still show 100% on the battery meter.
IMO, these are excellent and still don't need replacing.
This thread reminded me to test my batteries (thanks!) and to do a quick search. There's a US seller on Ebay offering 8 eneloops for @$25 delivered, but I'm very skeptical of the cheaper offerings from overseas.
Also just tested the original lithium batteries that came with the camera. I've used the many times when necessary and in very cold weather. They all output 1.73V...amazing ! Too bad they're toxic and difficult to recycle.

cheers
09-14-2009, 11:14 AM   #27
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I generally get over 500 shots from my NIMH Duracells and Energizers. Lately, I started having problems with them not lasting as long. I was using a rapid 2 hour charger, but when I went back to my normal (several hour) Energizer charger, the problem was solved.
09-14-2009, 12:43 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by madbrain Quote
Other than that, I do agree eneloops are the way to go. That's all I use now with the K200D . And with most other devices I have that take AAs/AAAs too. You can get 700 shots out of the eneloops easily.
The Lithium will last longer (1000 shots), but are not rechargeable.
I second that, your answer is Eneloops, genuine ones.
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