[noou]

UPDATE: a new firmware (v1.01) has just been released!
...and it seems to effectively tackle the battery issue!

...therefore the list hereafter is probably totally useless . It was just an experiment, anyway!


ORIGINAL POST:

Dear K-x owners,

in this thread, I suggest we collect a list of batteries of any kind (e.g. Ni-Mh, Lithium, Ni-Zn) both working - i.e. reaching at least a few hundreds (e.g. at least 100/200) of shots in various conditions as best result - and non-working ones - i.e. reaching a few tens (e.g. 20/30) of shots.

Please don't take into account your K-x: I suggest we collect results from both "working" and "faulty" K-x's, since one could be owning a "faulty" K-x while using it with "the right" batteries: just share the name of those batteries.

Notice: of course one shouldn't test batteries while taking all her/his photos with 30" of exposure time, or using LV all the time, or in burst mode: just use a little of good sense.

This way I think such informal evaluation would be enough to eventually draw a trend.

We know already that some of the results will be contradictory, as e.g. there are a few people having problems even with Eneloops and Lithium cells, despite the fact that they are generally considered as the safest choices.

END OF ORIGINAL POST


work in progress RESULTS, based both on my and other experiences I found going through forums:

working:
CamPower 2500mAh
Digipower 2700mah
Duracell 1800mAh
Duracell 2650mah
Duracell alkalines
Duracell precharged (black top and white top: Rayovac hybrids and Eneloop rebadges)
Energizer 2000mah
Energizer 2650mAh (old ones) - with manual lens trick
Energizer Lithium
Energizer Ultimate Lithium
GP ReCyko+ hybrid
Kodak 2500mah
Maha Imedion 2100mah hybrid
Maha Powerex 2700mah
Panasonic 2100mah
Panasonic 2300mah
Power2000 1800mAh (old ones)
PowerGenix Ni-Zn
Rayovac 1600mAh
Rayovac hybrid
Rayovac IC3 2000mAh
Ready To Use (R2U) 2300mAh hybrid
Sanyo 2700mah (old ones)
Sanyo Eneloop hybrid
Sony CycleEnergy 2500mAh
Uniross 2500mAh (old ones)
Varta 2300mAh
Varta 2500mAh

non working:
Camilion AlwaysReady
Duracell alkalines
Duracell 2650mAh
Energizer 1600mah (old ones)
Energizer 2100mAh
Energizer Advanced Lithium
Energizer Lithium (brand new) - rarely
GP 2700mAh - normally not recognized; 50 shots with manual lens trick
GP ReCyko+ hybrid
Kodak 1600mAh (old ones)
Kodak 1850mAh (old ones)
LaCrosse
Maha Imedion 2100mah hybrid
Maha Powerex
Panasonic 2000mAh
Panasonic recharge accu 2600mAh (almost new)
Rayovac hybrid
Sanyo 2500mAh
Sanyo 2700mAh
Sanyo Eneloop hybrid - rarely
Sony CycleEnergy 2500mAh (old ones)
UltraPro 2500mAh

---

Last edited by noou; 12-03-2009 at 02:23 PM. Reason: new firmware released: problem solved?

[Aristophanes]

The single biggest variable to account for is new batteries vs. used, of any type/brand/model.

[noou]

The single biggest variable to account for is new batteries vs. used, of any type/brand/model.

well, as for me, the only working rechargeables I could find (didn't personally try hybrids yet) are the most worn out in my possession: 2 years old Uniross 2500mAh. On the contrary, my brand new GP 2700mAh don't work.
However, I updated the list a little bit.

[jk333]

Use Eneloops. there is no excuse for any other battery.

[OutOfFocus]

I dug some old Sanyo 2700 mAh batteries out of my junk box and managed to find 4 that haven't yet turned into nickel rich rocks. I had to pull these 4 from multiple sets and some are in much worse shape than others: two only managed to accept about 300 mAh on my first charge attempt. Cycled them once, but the voltages were all over the place so I didn't bother trying them in the camera. Cycled them again and had to turn the camera on twice before it would, got a red battery indicator, and took 40 shots before the camera shut off. Cycled them again, and got an orange indicator for a short while, and took 156 shots before the camera shut down. Perhaps they'll improve a bit with a few more cycles, but I can't be bothered. These are truly worn out old cells that are ready for the recycle bin.

Update: I deep cycled the two worst performing cells again, and now I get a green indicator when I first turn on.

[wll]

A few reports of Eneloops taking 150 shots or so then battery light turning orange.

Rayovac Hybrids do not work in my 2ea K-X's at all !

Waiting for Firmware upgrade ..... BTW, NiZn rechargeables work great !


wll

[noou]

A few reports of Eneloops taking 150 shots or so then battery light turning orange.

Rayovac Hybrids do not work in my 2ea K-X's at all !

Waiting for Firmware upgrade ..... BTW, NiZn rechargeables work great !


wll

thanks, I updated the list.

how many shots do you typically take out of the NiZn's?

[SteveB]

Why are GP ReCyko+ hybrids in both working and non-working lists?

[-Joe-]

I think the working and non working lists are for a camera thats working and for a nonworking camera.. Otherwise I think the list needs a revamp.

Alot of cameras that use (4) aa's will deplete only (2) of the batteries before saying low battery. Are you checking the batteries afterwards and seeing if all (4) need a full recharge or only partial?

[MSsuper]

I think the working and non working lists are for a camera thats working and for a nonworking camera.. Otherwise I think the list needs a revamp.

Alot of cameras that use (4) aa's will deplete only (2) of the batteries before saying low battery. Are you checking the batteries afterwards and seeing if all (4) need a full recharge or only partial?

Too many variables here. Quality of charger can affect things too.

[-Joe-]

Too many variables here. Quality of charger can affect things too.

Yes and i dont see that listed in the OP..


Its easy enough to check with a lacrosse charger as you can see what it took to top the battery off.

[Eruditass]

Thought I'd add this:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/77835-k-x-owners-n...please-10.html

btw, I did somewhere around 20 cycles of deep discharges (< 1.0 volts) followed by immediate recharges (keeping NiMH less than 1v can damage if not immediately charged) with an independent cell charger, then 1+ hour waits, and my 5+ year old 2650 energizers are showing green after some picture taking without even going into LV in my K-x when they previously would show red and depleted even immediately out of the charger.

I was pretty skeptical but I was about to throw them away. I'm not sure how well charger's do their "recycling", but i did some research on candlepowerforums for doing it.

This may have decreased the internal resistance or something but the self discharge and capacity may not be too much better. I've taken maybe 20 pictures with it still green, didn't get a chance to open the battery compartment for 10s to see how it detects it again.

And then there's how it fares in a couple days. Nevertheless, they are certainly working better than before.

[noou]

Why are GP ReCyko+ hybrids in both working and non-working lists?

i'm just collecting reports around: there are people who've found ReCyko's working and others not. This is true also for the much praised Eneloops.
I know this is a bit confusing: this thread is more or less an experiment to see if there's a trend in order to blacklist determinate batteries... Don't take it too seriously

[noou]

please have a look here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/812911-post139.html

i updated the first post accordingly

[noou]

maybe i am the only unfortunate one, but after the initial excitement i found that my previously unrecognized brand new GP 2700mAh only lasted 50 shots with the manual lens trick
not happy