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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
12-26-2009, 08:24 AM
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I would just use the batteries until the camera turns off, unless you're in a situation where that's unacceptable, in which case I'd change them after the indicator has been red for a while. It's probably worthwhile exhausting them a few times to get an approximate idea of how long your batteries can power your camera after the indicator goes red. Mine can go quite a long time, so I don't rush to change them.
Any "voltage depression" issues caused by non-use will probably get fixed just as effectively after a few such deep usage cycles and you'll have the use of your camera, batteries and charger all that time (40 hrs for a break-in cycle is a long time). It might be worthwhile running a discharge cycle on the C9000 when you pull them from the camera the first time. (If you do decide on a full break-in cycle, make sure you discharge them completely on the charger first.)
You might also want to clean/polish your battery terminals with a white pencil eraser. One set of old batteries started performing a lot better after I did that (when using the original firmware).
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Forum: Pentax Camera and Field Accessories
12-26-2009, 01:25 AM
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Currrently there are two basic kinds of NiMH batteries: high-capacity (around 2700 mAh) or low self-discharge (LSD) (aka hybrid aka pre-charged) at around 2000 mAh. You can have one or the other but not both.
There are two potential problems with the high-capacity cells. The first is that they lose their charge relatively quickly (say a month), so unless you're always using the camera and recharging the battery frequently, there will be times the batteries have lost their charge and you can't use the camera. This invariably happens when the wife needs a photo taken (now!).
The LSD type will keep most of their charge (85%) for six months or more, so they are good to keep in your camera on all the days you're not planning to take a lot of photos.
The high-capacity type work fine when new and will in general last longer than the LSD type for a day or two of intensive use. To make the high-capacity cells, however, the internal components and separators within the battery are very thin and hence fragile. When these internal separators break, the battery develops "rapid self discharge syndrome" in which it will lose all its charge within one or two days. To the best of my knowledge, all the high capacity cells are prone to developing this syndrome relatively quickly, and once it happens it cannot be fixed.
If you have a good single cell charger when it happens, you can identify the bad cell and recycle it. (It's the one that always needs nearly a full charge.) The alternative is to do (that is, wait for) a full charge every day, even if you charged your batteries the day before and didn't manage to actually use the camera at all. This gets old really fast.
If you have a junk charger that only charges cells in pairs (naughty you), you're pretty much "up a creek without a paddle". You'll either never manage to get a decent charge into the junk cell, or you'll overcharge the good cell it's paired with and hasten its demise as well.
Having said all that, I keep LSD cells in my camera 90% of the time. I still buy the occasional pack of high-capacity cells to see if a new type is resistant to developing RSD.
Eneloops (and their repackaged versions) are better than the other LSD cells I've seen, because they have lower internal resistance and hence maintain a higher voltage under the heavy current draw of a digital camera. They also work a lot better in the cold than the other kinds of LSD cell.
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