You can read K-x battery state via PhotoMe or Exiftool

rawr · 10-31-2009, 01:31 PM

The current battery state of the K-x is recorded in the EXIF data stored in images taken by the camera.

This may or may not be useful for people interested in figuring out how the camera is working with various batteries.

To read this data successfully, you can use PhotoMe (I used 0.79R17 Build 856 works OK, v0.8beta2 build 891 doesn't display the data yet)
PhotoME - Exif, IPTC & ICC Metadata Editor

Open a K-x JPG and look under 'Manufacturers Notes'.

Below is what I see for the Energizer Lithium's supplied with the K-x when I bought it, after 998 RAW+ exposures. The Battery State is 3 out of 4. I'm not too sure what the other fields indicate.

Alternatively, using Phil Harvey's command-line ExifTool,
ExifTool by Phil Harvey
this is what you see based on the same image:

There's also lots of other useful info in there too, but the battery issue seems to be topical atm.

Just for info.

**Ash** · 10-31-2009, 01:39 PM

Interesting observation mate.
Thanks for sharing this.
Would be a project in itself to graph the power consumption with each exposure...

rawr · 10-31-2009, 01:57 PM

Originally posted by Ash

Would be a project in itself to graph the power consumption with each exposure...

Yeah, you could have a lot of fun with all that data, plotting power usage profiles for different battery types, LV usage, video recording etc. Time consuming though.

There's a heap of info there. Camera temperature is recorded in the EXIF as well. I remember this info proved useful a while ago in examining the K7 video green line issue, which was thought to be temperature related. People have also used the battery state data to diagnose some K200D battery usage issues.

vin000 · 11-02-2009, 04:28 AM

Can you explain how to understand battery Info : Power source, Battery states,...., battery A/D grip load ?

rawr · 11-02-2009, 01:30 PM

There doesn't seem to be any guide anywhere as to exactly what the battery fields mean.

"Battery States" seems to be a score (out of 5?) for the current condition of the battery and/or grip. From what I can tell, translated into the camera battery info display, 4 and above = green, 3 = orange, 2 and lower = red.

"Battery A/D Body Load" and "Battery A/D Grip Load" seem to represent the available battery voltage under load, according to the info in PhotoMe, expressed as some score derived from the current voltage of the battery and what percentage of it's load capacity it retained at the time the image was taken (?) - eg in some of the other discussion of this on this forum you could see scores like 176 = 7.7 volts @ 70%.

The 'No Load' score next to each of the above seems to be some indicator of current drain. (?)

The data in the K-x EXIF for Battery Grip makes little sense since the K-x has no battery grip, so perhaps it refers to something else - eg maybe the 2 AA battery pairs in the camera are being metered separately?

Anyway, the data does track something. Eg here is some data from my recent K-x usage, using the supplied Lithiums:

Shuttercount: 234
Battery State: 4
Body NoLoad/Load: 2/215
Grip NoLoad/Load: 2/140

Shuttercount: 569
Battery State: 4
Body NoLoad/Load: 3/11
Grip NoLoad/Load: 2/188

Shuttercount: 998
Battery State: 3
Body NoLoad/Load: 2/185
Grip NoLoad/Load: 2/108

Shuttercount: 1005
Battery State: 2
Body NoLoad/Load: 2/137
Grip NoLoad/Load: 2/65

The data for shuttercount 569 is interesting. I had done a lot of video on that day.

At about 998 or earlier I started regularly getting the orange battery indicator.

After shuttercount 1005 I had to finally change batteries as the battery display went red and the camera kept repeatedly saying 'Battery Depleted', even though it would still let me shoot off one or two shots if I waited a few minutes before turning on/off the camera. But eventually I just changed the batteries (to some eneloops, which are working fine so far).

noblepa · 11-02-2009, 06:20 PM

My K10D also shows battery state information, so this is apparently not something new with the K-x. If the K10D has it, the K20D almost assuredly has it.

Power Source : Body Battery
Battery States : Body Battery Running Low; Grip Battery Empty or Missing
Battery AD Body No Load : 169 (7.4V, 40%)
Battery AD Body Load : 164 (7.2V, 35%)
Battery AD Grip No Load : 5
Battery AD Grip Load : 1

Paul Noble

rawr · 11-02-2009, 06:38 PM

Yeah, it's been recorded in the EXIF for Pentax cameras for a while, inc the K10D, K20D etc.

I should search these forums a bit more. There is probably a good explanation of what all these terms mean, and how they are derived, lurking within the PF somewhere.

10-31-2009, 01:31 PM	#1
rawr Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 11,913	You can read K-x battery state via PhotoMe or Exiftool The current battery state of the K-x is recorded in the EXIF data stored in images taken by the camera. This may or may not be useful for people interested in figuring out how the camera is working with various batteries. To read this data successfully, you can use PhotoMe (I used 0.79R17 Build 856 works OK, v0.8beta2 build 891 doesn't display the data yet) PhotoME - Exif, IPTC & ICC Metadata Editor Open a K-x JPG and look under 'Manufacturers Notes'. Below is what I see for the Energizer Lithium's supplied with the K-x when I bought it, after 998 RAW+ exposures. The Battery State is 3 out of 4. I'm not too sure what the other fields indicate. Alternatively, using Phil Harvey's command-line ExifTool, ExifTool by Phil Harvey this is what you see based on the same image: There's also lots of other useful info in there too, but the battery issue seems to be topical atm. Just for info.

11-02-2009, 06:20 PM	#6
noblepa Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bay Village, Ohio USA Posts: 1,142	K10D Has Battery Info in Exif as well My K10D also shows battery state information, so this is apparently not something new with the K-x. If the K10D has it, the K20D almost assuredly has it. Power Source : Body Battery Battery States : Body Battery Running Low; Grip Battery Empty or Missing Battery AD Body No Load : 169 (7.4V, 40%) Battery AD Body Load : 164 (7.2V, 35%) Battery AD Grip No Load : 5 Battery AD Grip Load : 1 Paul Noble

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10-31-2009, 01:39 PM	#2
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	Interesting observation mate. Thanks for sharing this. Would be a project in itself to graph the power consumption with each exposure...

10-31-2009, 01:57 PM	#3
rawr Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 11,913 Original Poster	Originally posted by Ash Would be a project in itself to graph the power consumption with each exposure... Yeah, you could have a lot of fun with all that data, plotting power usage profiles for different battery types, LV usage, video recording etc. Time consuming though. There's a heap of info there. Camera temperature is recorded in the EXIF as well. I remember this info proved useful a while ago in examining the K7 video green line issue, which was thought to be temperature related. People have also used the battery state data to diagnose some K200D battery usage issues.

11-02-2009, 04:28 AM	#4
vin000 Inactive Account Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 7	Can you explain how to understand battery Info : Power source, Battery states,...., battery A/D grip load ?

11-02-2009, 01:30 PM	#5
rawr Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 11,913 Original Poster	There doesn't seem to be any guide anywhere as to exactly what the battery fields mean. "Battery States" seems to be a score (out of 5?) for the current condition of the battery and/or grip. From what I can tell, translated into the camera battery info display, 4 and above = green, 3 = orange, 2 and lower = red. "Battery A/D Body Load" and "Battery A/D Grip Load" seem to represent the available battery voltage under load, according to the info in PhotoMe, expressed as some score derived from the current voltage of the battery and what percentage of it's load capacity it retained at the time the image was taken (?) - eg in some of the other discussion of this on this forum you could see scores like 176 = 7.7 volts @ 70%. The 'No Load' score next to each of the above seems to be some indicator of current drain. (?) The data in the K-x EXIF for Battery Grip makes little sense since the K-x has no battery grip, so perhaps it refers to something else - eg maybe the 2 AA battery pairs in the camera are being metered separately? Anyway, the data does track something. Eg here is some data from my recent K-x usage, using the supplied Lithiums: Shuttercount: 234 Battery State: 4 Body NoLoad/Load: 2/215 Grip NoLoad/Load: 2/140 Shuttercount: 569 Battery State: 4 Body NoLoad/Load: 3/11 Grip NoLoad/Load: 2/188 Shuttercount: 998 Battery State: 3 Body NoLoad/Load: 2/185 Grip NoLoad/Load: 2/108 Shuttercount: 1005 Battery State: 2 Body NoLoad/Load: 2/137 Grip NoLoad/Load: 2/65 The data for shuttercount 569 is interesting. I had done a lot of video on that day. At about 998 or earlier I started regularly getting the orange battery indicator. After shuttercount 1005 I had to finally change batteries as the battery display went red and the camera kept repeatedly saying 'Battery Depleted', even though it would still let me shoot off one or two shots if I waited a few minutes before turning on/off the camera. But eventually I just changed the batteries (to some eneloops, which are working fine so far).

11-02-2009, 06:38 PM	#7
rawr Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 11,913 Original Poster	Yeah, it's been recorded in the EXIF for Pentax cameras for a while, inc the K10D, K20D etc. I should search these forums a bit more. There is probably a good explanation of what all these terms mean, and how they are derived, lurking within the PF somewhere.