Poor Battery Life in Pentax K100D

[dingdongbubble]

Hello everyone

I got a Pentax K100D a couple years back and I got some Energizer rechargables and as of right now, they take 15 hours to charge and then take only a 100-200 shots and gets discharged quickly. If this things gonna charge for 15 hours I expect at least 500 shots but this is insane. What should I do? What do you think is the problem? Should I change batteries?

Secondly is there any way to get Lithium Ion batteries for the K100D like on the Nikons? The K100D takes 4 AA size cells. So is there no way to get some batteries which charge fast and last long as well?

Thirdly (I know this is off topic but oh well) when I put the K100D on Auto mode, its performance in incandescent light is horrible. Is there any way to get the performance to acceptable standards? I am forced to use the Program mode or something to adjust the white balance myself.

Thanks

 

[Phrasikleia]

You can't expect 2-year-old rechargeables to perform like new. They definitely lose capacity over time. Try the camera out with some new Alkaline batteries and see how long those last; if it's much longer, then your problem is either the rechargeable batteries or your battery charger.

 

[Chappers]

Have the batteries always performed like this?
What charger are you using? ( I use a 15 minute and a 90 minute charger)
What mAh rating do they have (mine are 2700mAh)

The great thing about Pentax camera's is that they take AA batteries - if your rechargeable batteries run out - pop into a shop any where in the world and you will probably find someone who sells AA's. (normal alkaline batteries however will not last long - but will get the job done)

As for the low light problems you are having - that's the point of having an SLR - you can set it up to take photo's in different conditions - including incandescent light. I suggest you read a good (how to) guide on photography and re-read the instruction manual. (this bit sounds a bit harsh but you'd be amazed what is often missed in the manual)

Do you have any examples of the problem you could post?

 

[aquajet]

Your batteries are worn out. Get new ones. I recommend Sanyo Eneloops or Kodak pre-charged rechargeables. Both have worked really well in my *ist DL. Or alternatively, use Energizer ultimate lithium non-rechargeables.

You're just going to have to manually set the white balance when shooting indoors with incandescent light. It's a well known problem with older Pentax DSLRs -- the auto white balance just doesn't work well when shooting indoors with incandescent light.

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

As far as the issue in incandescent light is concerned, you're going to have that problem to one degree or another with any SLR. The auto-white balance in DSLR's is crap 90% of the time. I shoot a Pentax K10D at the moment, and it's AWB is terrible. There's two ways to go about fixing this this, the first involves setting a custom white point before you shoot anything. The second is to shoot RAW, which doesn't apply a white point setting at all, then assign one in PP with Lightroom, ACR or Aperture.

I greatly prefer the second way of doing things, there are a lot of other advantages of shooting RAW even beyond white balance management.

For the Batteries, yours sound like they're probably worn out.

SLC

 

[compuwar]

The auto-white balance in DSLR's is crap 90% of the time.

I actually find mine to be accurate enough 90% of the time that I've set my raw converter to default to "As shot." Unless I'm shooting in horribly mixed lighting, it works unless I want to change the overall tone most of the time.

Worst lighting I've shot in was sun from windows, electronic flash, sodium vapor, incandescent and florescent all together. I couldn't get the WB where I wanted it- publisher was supposed to PP them, but didn't- still made the back cover, but I'm not proud of the results.

 

[jpfisher]

If you're set on rechargeables, you may want to consider CR-V3 rechargeables - they are Li-ion and should give you much better battery life than NiMH. 1 CR-V3 is the equivalent of 2x AAs -- and if the K100D battery compartment is setup the same way as the *ist DL was, it shouldn't be a problem to use them.

 

[DISCOMUNICATION]

1 CR-V3 is the equivalent of 2x AAs -- and if the K100D battery compartment is setup the same way as the *ist DL was, it shouldn't be a problem to use them.

They will work with the K100D and K110D. Maybe not if you have the Super. Unfortunately with the current series of K200D and K2000 this isn't the case.

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

I actually find mine to be accurate enough 90% of the time that I've set my raw converter to default to "As shot." Unless I'm shooting in horribly mixed lighting, it works unless I want to change the overall tone most of the time.

Worst lighting I've shot in was sun from windows, electronic flash, sodium vapor, incandescent and florescent all together. I couldn't get the WB where I wanted it- publisher was supposed to PP them, but didn't- still made the back cover, but I'm not proud of the results.

Yeah I realized after I typed this that I wasn't specific enough. I rarely have to adjust my white balance in natural lighting. But under a lot of artificial lighting, such as fluorescent tubes etc, the white balance on the K10D is hopeless.

SLC

 

[gkarris]

Your batteries are worn out. Get new ones. I recommend Sanyo Eneloops or Kodak pre-charged rechargeables. Both have worked really well in my *ist DL. Or alternatively, use Energizer ultimate lithium non-rechargeables..

Yes, those pre-charged Hybrid Rechargeables (I use Rayovac) seem to work tons better. I use them for my P&S as well as my game consoles (Wii and XB360). Even if they sit for weeks, they seem to maintain a great charge.