battery problems with Pentax istDL

[Mike Gammill]

<p>I generally use AA alkalines to power this camera, but sometimes, especially with Ravovac alkalines the dead battery indicator appears and the camera won't operate. I can remove the batteries and reinsert them and it worked. A few days ago, this happed and even new batteries (Lithium Energizers) will not power the camera. Battery holder issue or electronic? Anyone have this problem? Thanks.</p>

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>Rechargable NiMH batteries are recommended, they offer 1.2 Volts. Alkalines and Lithium have higher output voltages, around 1.5 Volts. They should work unless some safety circuit is triggered which is not very probable.<br>

I'd look for contact issues first. </p>

[Jochen_S]

<p>I never used nonrechargeables in my Pentaxes. - I recall them being picky with NiCds which they decalered "too empty" although these still worked fine in flashguns and such.<br>

I would suspect the battery compartment and whipe it with an alcohol soaked q-tip or that kind of glas fiber brush used for battling rust on a car's body.<br>

While the self discharge rate of conventional high capacity NiMhs is vexing Sanyo Eneloop work very well for cameras in glove compartment exile (i.e. "used once in a blue moon"). - I can really recommend these as an alternative to disposable batteries. - High capacity NiMhs only make sense if you are recharge disciplined & machine gunning events on a regular base, but I'd still rather pack more Eneloops for such.<br>

To be sure about battery compartment vs circuit issues maybe get a matching plug from an electronics store and borrow an external PSU from a ham Radio enthusiast to check if the camera is working with these. - The radio freaks are the only group very likely to own something capable of producing the 6.5V demanded by Pentax. - They don't use 6.5V there but a lot of their PSUs can get dialed down that far and still deliver a few Ampere.</p>

[DWScott]

<p>Mike, I generally had NO luck using alkalines in my *ist DL. Rechargeables were ok, but I rarely got more than 150 shots from a set. So I switched to Lithiums completely.<br>

<br />The Lithiums are great and really lasted a long time. The only "gotcha" was when putting a fresh set into the camera. I don't know what was happening exactly, but it seemed like the Lithiums needed to be used a bit to "start them up." When first put in, they would often show low-battery. But shooting five or ten frames with flash, and waiting a bit, the Lithiums would "power up" and be good to go for the long term.</p>

 

[john_shriver]

<p>I second the suggestion of Sanyo Eneloops. Fantastic batteries.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>I actually have some NiMh rechargeables so I will give them a try. Thanks.</p>

[User_502260]

<p>I sometimes see the low battery indicator when I put new alkaline AAs into my K-x. From what I have seen the lithium AAs work best. They cost more but are lighter, last longer and recharge the built-in flash faster. I need to use the separate flash more.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>May be a contact issue as even brand new lithium AA batteries won't power up the camera.</p>

[grant_horan]

<p>your best bet is to get rechargeable lithium batteries CR-V3 it's a voltage problem as the camera gets older<br>

3 <img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Cr-V3_AA_matchstick_comparison-1.jpg/225px-Cr-V3_AA_matchstick_comparison-1.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="185" /></p><div></div>