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12-08-2009, 12:30 PM   #241
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QuoteOriginally posted by HogRider Quote
Interesting. Yes I have set it to Auto Detect. I just checked and it was green when I turned it on.
Here's something that seems the opposite to your experience
I posted this in the 1.01 firmware thread but think it's as relevant here -

pasted below:

Just did my Kx Firmware update -
being the cautious type I topped up a set of eneloops
- and took a picture of that, and the SD card I was using, just for evidence....

After the successful update - I replaced the just topped up eneloops with the set that was in the Kx before the update, ie: the set I took my evidence photo with.

I was somewhat surprised that the set of eneloops which showed Green full, now shows half Orange. I did all the usual tricks of turning off, LV, trying battery type NiMH and Auto-Detect and back; and even reinserting that set and waiting a good 15 secs before turning on - but the state remained a consistent half orange.

I had used that set (shot count 381, no flash) but on version 1.00 it would have continued to show full Green -
now with 1.01 it is showing consistently half orange.

This may well be more accurate -
but I thought people would like to know that perhaps version 1.01 may not show full Green as often now.

Here are the PhotoMe extracts of the battery information:

BEFORE Update -

in field Battery States - Body Battery: 4 which I think means Green Full

AFTER Update to 1.01 -

Battery States - Body Battery: 3 = half Orange.

EDIT to ADD -

I discharged that set of eneloops which now show half Orange to see the remaining charge/capacity.

1345; 1333; 1381; 1355 mAh (average = 1353.5mAh)

This means that those eneloops were roughly between 68-71% charged ie: more than 2/3 full - I would have expected to see as Green battery - but they definitely showed a half Orange - and according to the manual this is supposed to mean:

"Batteries are running low" -

over 2/3 full eneloops canNOT be considered as "running low" by any stretch of the imagination as they have really only taken 381 shots at that stage (and I have shown they are capable of nearly 1,300 shots per charge and the ending capacity is more like in the range of 20-40mAh) -

so could there be a possible problem still with battery level indication even in firmware version 1.01?


Last edited by UnknownVT; 12-08-2009 at 11:42 PM. Reason: added remaining capacity of "half Orange" eneloops
12-30-2009, 02:01 PM   #242
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I know this is an older thread and probably not of current interest -
But I just finished a set of DuraLoops (Duracell Pre-Charged made in Japan with white tops - confirmed re-badged eneloops)

To K-x (FW 1.01.00.05) shutdown total count count was 1,252.

The K-x did show battery depleted sometime/shots before probably about 9 shots previously - but because I was about to shoot and didn't want to miss the opportunity - I simply turned the K-x off and back on again, and sure enough I was able to shoot again - probably for about 4-5 shots, when the K-x indicated depleted again - but since I was still in the middle of the "sequence" again off then on allowed me to shoot another 4-5 shots when I finally relented and went and changed my batteries.

So if we count only to the first shutdown - then the count was only 1,243.

[ending remaining capacities using Maha C-9000 discharge at 0.2C = 400mA were 20, 28, 25, 24 mAh]

This is still very much in line with the 1,295 shots I got previously with FW 1.00.

So I would say for FWs 1.01 and 1.00
there is no difference between the actual total consumption/shot count of batteries -

what appears to have improved seems to be battery type detection (from reading other people's reports)
and perhaps the battery level indicator.

Although I feel the battery indicator may be a bit on the conservative/pessimistic side.

I again saw half Orange at 406 shots in, although that recovered pretty quickly to full Green during the course of my shoot, but would come up occasionally.

Empty Red came up at 992 with a few bounce back to half Orange.

I shot again the next day K-x battery indicator started with half Orange lasted for 12 shots then showed empty Red again (at shot 1,049) - remained that way (despite rests for 22 minutes and another for 14 minutes) until the first shutdown at 1,243.

So for my shooting (mostly no flash)
using recently topped-up charged eneloops -

full Green lasts for about 400 shots
half Orange lasts for about 600 shots
empty Red lasts for about 200 shots before first shutdown.

Total shot count about 1,250.

So for my shooting (a few but mostly without flash, set for 1 sec review, no movies or Live View - a fair amount of review/play of shots, and quite a bit of setting changes)
- the shot count is well above the specifications
- at almost double for NiMH.

But it's not quite half the astonishing reported shot count from OutOfFocus of 2,600 earlier in this thread (post #214)

Hope that helps

Last edited by UnknownVT; 12-30-2009 at 03:48 PM. Reason: typos, and ending remaining mAh capacities
12-30-2009, 02:09 PM   #243
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hi vincent,

i noticed the same thing about the Orange battery level. i was about to swap the batteries out, but decided to let it go and was able to shoot about 400+ shots more w/ my eneloops.

i think the new FW makes the battery meter more conservative in a way it's good that it doesn't continuously show green all the time then suddenly drop to red w/o warning. this was the case w/ my k10 and *ist DL.

hmm... what do you think the latest japan fw has improved on this time?

regards,

jordan
12-30-2009, 02:27 PM   #244
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QuoteOriginally posted by opiedog Quote
i noticed the same thing about the Orange battery level. i was about to swap the batteries out, but decided to let it go and was able to shoot about 400+ shots more w/ my eneloops.

i think the new FW makes the battery meter more conservative in a way it's good that it doesn't continuously show green all the time then suddenly drop to red w/o warning. this was the case w/ my k10 and *ist DL.
OK I would tend to agree -
but Pentax ought to change their wording in the K-x manual -
to say half Orange indicates about half used -
which actually makes good intuitive sense
(and may seem "obvious" now)
instead of the current wording of -
"Batteries are running low"

QuoteOriginally posted by opiedog Quote
hmm... what do you think the latest japan fw has improved on this time?
I have no real idea -
I am not brave enough to try it out on my K-x
until an official Pentax USA announcement -
and even then I'd wait for a few braver souls to report before any updating....

Since the Pentax.jp version is still FW 1.01 - perhaps (this is only GUESSwork) all they did was to make the Japanese language the default or more easily accessible setting?

12-30-2009, 03:07 PM   #245
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QuoteQuote:
I have no real idea -
I am not brave enough to try it out on my K-x
until an official Pentax USA announcement -
and even then I'd wait for a few braver souls to report before any updating....

Since the Pentax.jp version is still FW 1.01 - perhaps (this is only GUESSwork) all they did was to make the Japanese language the default or more easily accessible setting?
i doubt if that's the only change.

there was quite a bit of difference. about 1.5MB worth.
i have it on my kx now and will report back.
12-30-2009, 06:10 PM   #246
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QuoteOriginally posted by UnknownVT Quote
But it's not quite half the astonishing reported shot count from OutOfFocus of 2,600 earlier in this thread (post #214)
Well, that was just clicking away as fast as I could (and with lots of continuous shooting too if I recall correctly), so not very realistic. I guess I used up 2.6% of my shutter activations doing that .

I suspect 'taking a shot' only needs a high current for a very short time, so it doesn't use a lot of battery power compared to just having the camera turned on.

The proportion of time your power indicator spent in the different states sounds pretty reasonable to me. Thanks a lot for your report.

I haven't tried running my batteries to exhaustion lately. If I see a non-green indicator I'll replace/recharge the batteries that night, and I haven't been shooting enough to exhaust them that way.
12-30-2009, 07:07 PM   #247
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QuoteOriginally posted by OutOfFocus Quote
Well, that was just clicking away as fast as I could (and with lots of continuous shooting too if I recall correctly), so not very realistic. I guess I used up 2.6% of my shutter activations doing that .
I suspect 'taking a shot' only needs a high current for a very short time, so it doesn't use a lot of battery power compared to just having the camera turned on.
That's what I kind of figured too -
but your 2,600 shots is still impressive.....

QuoteOriginally posted by OutOfFocus Quote
The proportion of time your power indicator spent in the different states sounds pretty reasonable to me.
I haven't tried running my batteries to exhaustion lately. If I see a non-green indicator I'll replace/recharge the batteries that night, and I haven't been shooting enough to exhaust them that way.
I normally do run my batteries until shutdown - it's actually good for the batteries (so I read) -
I would change them out "sooner" - if I know I'm going to have to shoot something important and the indicator is showing empty Red. Otherwise I kind of now know that I have about 200 shots to go when the indicator first shows empty Red -

Or looking at it another way
full Green lasts for 1/3 (33%) usage -
half Orange first shows when there is still 2/3 (66%) capacity left -
empty Red shows when there is about 1/6 (16.7%) capacity left.


Last edited by UnknownVT; 12-30-2009 at 07:46 PM. Reason: typo
12-30-2009, 08:38 PM   #248
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QuoteOriginally posted by UnknownVT Quote
I normally do run my batteries until shutdown - it's actually good for the batteries (so I read).
My understanding (from reading CPF) is that you should do so at least once every few months, but not necessarily every time. Still, it's probably better to run them down a bit more than I have been, and so going forward I'll wait until I see red at least. There still appears to be plenty of leeway to find a good time to change them.
01-09-2010, 11:36 AM   #249
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Now this is interesting...

Current set of eneloops in the K-x first shot IMGP3601.JPG

At shot count 335 half Orange started to show - lasts for about 4-5 shots and goes back to full Green then would show half Orange intermittently.

By shot count 400 when I go to use the K-x (the next day) - I get full Green on switching on but the indicator reverts back to half Orange within 8 shots.

At shot count 416 later on that night on turning on I get full Green - but the next shot gets half Orange and remained that way.

The next day at shot count 431 the K-x turned on at half Orange - I took 7 flash shots and indicator remained at half Orange - so i thought that was it - the K-x had reached its steady state at half Orange - this would be in-line with my previous observations......

(are you still with me?)

So last night later the same day - I went to a gig traveled in the cold (below freezing outside) - the K-x turned on in full Green which kind of surprised me - but reverted back to half orange at about the 6th shot - OK perhaps the room was warmer but the battery state was now back to "normal" at half Orange..... and remained that way to the end of that set some 31 shots (total shot count = 470) all seemed "normal" and kind of within expectations.....

Not so fast, at the start of the next set almost 30 minutes later -
started at full Green - perhaps not that surprising since the room was pretty warm -
but remained at full Green all the way to the end of the gig -
that's 200 (no flash) shots later - shot count 670 it was still full Green - but in a very warm room.

So the point is batteries are temperature dependent -
at the previous half Orange I was mostly in the cold -
once in good warmth - the battery indication will show "better".

So I would expect the K-x battery indicator to show full Green longer during the warmer seasons -

PhotoME crops -

at shot count 470 showing battery state = 3 = half Orange (end of first set of gig) 8:26PM


at shot count 670 showing battery state = 4 = full Green (end of gig) 200 shots later..... 11:04PM



01-16-2010, 02:40 PM   #250
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The eneloops reported above were depleted to the point of shutdown on the K-x the other night -
total shot count was 1,102 -
less than the two previous counts - shooting was similar - perhaps a few more flash shots and more in cooler conditions which could account for the lower shot count.

I am on FW 1.01.05 -
I probably will do the "silent" upgrade to 1.01.07 early next week.
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