Tamron macro draining battery?

[htarragon]

<p>Recently, I acquired a Tamron 90mm macro for my K10D. It seems that my battery is draining faster when I use it. Could this just be the age of the battery (2.5 years) or is it the lens? I limit the zoom and do use the auto focus, although not when I'm really close. I limit the zoom and do use the auto focus, although not when I'm really close. I used to be able to be able to fill or almost fill a 2Gb card on one charge, now it's needs a recharge 2 or three times before card is filled. I shoot jpegs 99% of the time, so we're talking about 400 shots.</p>

[trw]

<p>I do not have that problem with my Tamron 90. Have you left your Camera in the sun? Devices with Lithium batteries don't like overheating. (I've had my K10d for ~2 years and the battery is still going strong)</p>

[htarragon]

<p>No more than carrying it around on a sunny day. I did notice it was getting warm on a hot sunny day but is that enough to shorten battery life? Keeping it in my camera bag would certainly not be conducive to spontaneous shooting even though the bag is on my shoulder.</p>

[michael_elenko]

<p>Howard,<br>

2.5 years! That's it. Time for a new battery. Get the Minolta and save your money. Buy two.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[michael_kuhne]

<p>I can tell you that SDM lenses will be more demanding of battery power. Some moreso than others. My DA* 200mm f/2.8 requires more juice than my DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 does.</p>

<p>The standard screw drive lenses are far less likely to be a drain on the battery. But a macro lens has a much greater focus travel compared to normal lenses, so if used often for going from near to far focus, it makes sense that more battery power will come into play. </p>

[markus maurer]

<p>Maybe you use the LCD review more with closeups?</p>

[htarragon]

<p>ME - I think I'll stay off the macro for a bit and see if there's a difference. I've read that the Minoltas are old since the cameras they go with aren't made anymore (like k10s?). Also wouldn't there be a difference in drain since the Minoltas are 1500mah and the pentaxes 1620. If MK is correct I would think so.<br>

Michael K - I think I'll stay off the macro for a bit and see if there's a difference. I use the limiter so it doesn't have to travel as far. Actually I could just leave it on manual focus.<br>

Markus - no more than usual.<br>

Sounds like I'm talking myself into the Pentax battery.<br>

What's worrying me now is that in a few years it will be time for a new camera - because of an obsolete battery! That's an expensive battery!</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>Howard, you didn't have a spare battery anyway? Can't you compare the two? Whenever I buy a camera I buy a second battery so I can rotate between them--and usually exhaust each fully before swapping in the fresh one.</p>

[michael_elenko]

<p>Howard,<br>

I've been using my Minolta battery for the past 1.5 years with little performance dropoff. At $31 cheaper it may be worth a gamble--and even if it is older, it would still work fine as a 2nd battery. To me most shooters need 3 batteries: 1 for now, the 2nd for backup, and the 3rd for when you forget the 2nd or leave the 1st in the charger. That sounds funny but it happens enough to warrant the purchase of a third battery.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[htarragon]

<p>Andrew - Never occurred to me, since the rechargeables for my Olympus D510 p&S never died. Before that was my KX which used normal batteries. Money, not being unlimited, I felt it was not a priority.</p>

[mountainvisions]

<p>my first 3rd party K1OD battery died recently. Doesn't hold a charge at all.</p>

<p>I've had 2 of the 4 for almost 3 years, and the other 2 for almost 2 years.</p>

<p>It's not really age as much as the full charge discharge cycles...i believe these get about 500 charges, so if it's your only or main battery it might be done.</p>

<p>Personally, I think I will add a few more to the stable. If the K10d runs for another year I might need it.</p>

[shots worth sharing]

<p>Well, this certainly is a heads up--I'd never thought about batteries dying. I'm sharing three batteries of varied vintages between two bodies, It's sort of Pentaixian roulette--which will give out first? </p>

[kfrog]

<p>I have a K10D, the Tamron 90mm macro lens, two Pentax batteries and one minolta battery. I've never had a problem with batteries dying or or running out of juice too soon. I would recommend you have a minimum of two batteries; three of course is better. I just use them for awhile then when they loose charge just rotate in another one while odd one out charges.<br>

Got a battery grip? Any issues with batteries can be helped by having one in the grip for more shooting time.</p>

[htarragon]

<p>Makes you wonder about battery powered cars - sorry battery obsolete, need new car?<br>

Justin - I couldn't possibly have recharged mine anywhere near 500 times.<br>

ME-Maybe I'll by a Pentax and a Minolta and use Manual Focus with the macro.<br>

This topic is not making me happy.</p>

[michael_elenko]

<p>Justin, actually with Li-on batteries, it is mostly about age. About 20% overall capacity loss per year, depending on storage temperatures. Unlike say Ni-Cads, where you have those memory issues, charging completeness is not an issue. Like most of us, Li-on batteries just cannot do as many things as they get older. . .</p>

<p>Howard, what's the big deal? Just $9-40 bucks each for a couple of batteries over a three year lifecycle. Film used to cost way more. Just a few week's worth of the New York Times. Shoot AF. Your camera will not be obsolete, there are many third party battery makers out there in that size.<br>

ME</p>

[htarragon]

<p>Michael - You're right, no big deal. And, in between posting, I googled around re Canon and Nikon batteries and found out that Nikon batteries for the D50, 60 are almost exactly the same specifications as the pentax (20Mah) difference with same 7.4 voltage. So, these batteries will not disappear anytime soon. Thanks for putting it into perspective.<br>

Howard</p>

[stanrb]

<p>Had my Tammy 90 for several days now and have taken 70 shots. Battery appears to be fine and still shows full charge.</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>OK Guys, I've posted this before, but it bears repeating seeing as we're talking about batteris:</p>

<p><strong><big>To prolong the life of your Li-Ion camera batteries <em>DO NOT DRAIN THEM</em> . Unlike older NiCad batteries that suffered from <a href="http://www.zbattery.com/memoryeffect-pf.html">"memory loss"</a> if charged before they were fully drained, Li-Ion batteries will last longer if they are charged often, but with less juice, as they do not suffer from memory effect.</big> </strong></p>

<p>Frequent, shallow charges put less stress on the battery, and as an added bonus, your camera is going to perform much better with a near-fully loaded battery than with a nearly drained one. I think it was Javier who noticed a difference in AF speeds on one of his cameras depending on how charged the battery was; he might like to repost about this.</p>

<p>I have 3 batteries for my K10D and use them like so: 1 is in the camera, another is in the bag, and another is on the shelf. I rarely use up a whole battery while out shooting, so as soon as I get home I take the battery out of the camera and put it on the charger. The battery I had in the bag goes into the camera and the battery that was on the shelf goes into the bag. Once the battery in the charger is fully charged it sits on the shelf. I've been using this rotation for the last 4-5 months, since I bought a 3rd battery. Before that I simply rotated between the 2 batteries I've had since buying the camera 2 years ago--I just didn't have one on the shelf, that's all.</p>

<p>In fact, today marks my K10D's 2nd anniversary :-) My two original batteries are still running strong and I can't tell a difference between them and the new one.</p>

[kfrog]

<p>I'm with you MM. Three batteries is the way to go as far as I'm concerned.</p>

[jgredline]

<p>I know I have had wonderful luck with the Minlota Batteries. As for speed, the K20D with grip and both batteries, the AF speed and fps is definitely faster. In the K10D with grip, I see no difference.</p>

<p>If others have the K20D grip try it with out the grip. U will notice the difference right away. When the batteries start to drain, the camera will loose some performance.</p>

[htarragon]

<p>I'm getting the strong feeling here that should have more than one battery :-). Thanks Mis about the fact that one should not take the batteries to the end of the charge. I think I've been doing that lately.<br>

Methinks I will be buying at least one new battery, soon.</p>

<p>Thanks again, guys!<br>

Howard</p>

[les_lammers]

<p>Howard,<br>

I bought a couple of 3rd party batteries on the auction site and have had no issues with the camera...however I now glow in the dark. :-)<br>

Just buy a couple and be happy!</p>

[htarragon]

<p>Les - I just ordered 1 pentax battery and 1 minolta from adorama. Hopefully, this will hold me for awhile. So now you're a modeling light? :-)</p>

[mountainvisions]

<p>ME,</p>

<p>Li-Ion might lose capacity with age as well, but they are rated for X number of full charge discharge cycles. Usually this is 300-500. A lot of products specifically state this, for instance, my bluetooth stereo headphones state a 500 charge life.</p>

<p>Full discharge means not topping it off when it's at 90% to 100% but 1-100% recharge. that 10% top off only counts as a fraction of a full discharge cycle and my understanding is top offs are actually beneficial to Li-Ion batteries.</p>

<p>I'm going to go on a limb and say that the way they are stored and handled affects the yearly dropoff more than just age alone. Lithiums are sturdy and work in heat and cold, but those conditions seem to have an impact on long term life. Also, the level at which they are stored for long periods without being used seems to have some impact.</p>

<p> </p>

[htarragon]

<p>I've received my batteries from Adorama. Topped off my already used Pentax and then Charged my new Minolta which is 1700 mAh rather than the 1500 that was listed in the ad. It took no more than 1/2 hour to charge - was it pre-charged?. The battery is a Power 2000 branded battery with a two year warranty. Not bad for a battery for less than a third of the price of a full price Pentax battery.</p>

<p>I haven't opened the Pentax battery because Adorama charged me the full price even though there was supposed to be a $20 discount. I will call them tomorrow.</p>

<p>On the warning insert for the Power 2000 it says "Exposure to temperatures below 32F will render the battery inoperative". My Pentax worked after being out all night in single digit temperatures and worked the next morning. I guess I shouldn't do that again.</p>