Backup battery for K10

Now that i have the K10 i am in the market for a couple of backup batteries. I wandered into a couple of my local camera stores to get some prices and expecting the worse. Well the worst hit me right between the eyes AUD$100. I thought the guy was kidding.
Well after picking myself off the floor i jumped onto the computer and ran a search on E-bay and some of the prices sound too good to be true, Like 10bucks for a 1750mHa. Are these worth using, I suppose even if you get only half the amount of shots than the original Battery then you are still in front. But i don't want to put anything in the camera if there is a chance it will cause problems.
Whats the consensus on this : :

I have a 1500mAh Hahnel (Pentax/Minolta) battery which gives just as many shots as my Pentax battery. Cost £20 compared to £50 for the Pentax battery.

This site sells a lot for Pentax
http://www.digitalmediastore.co.uk/index.php?cPath=107_138_171
Hope this helps.
Tom

Hey
I got cheap compatible batteries from China on the bay and they work absolutely fine.
I've read somewhere that Minolta's would do the dew
http://pentaxlife.com/categories/accessories/
hope this helps

Yep i got a couple of Minolta's NP-400 they work ok and are half the price of the pentax.
They are only 1500mAh

right the Chinese are 1750 and cost about 2 pounds postage included

I've been using a 1750 mAh battery and got 1141 shots out of it at an airshow recently!

Shortly after getting the K10, I bought 2 NP400 batteries from a supplier in Germany. They are 2000mAh ones. They work very well in the camera but if I try to use the Pentax charger, the charge light comes on and then goes off. However, if I use an independant charger they charge beautifully.

Anybody else come across this?

Kim

I've been using the cheapies from Picstop. Only 1450mah it's true but the Pentax charger works OK and I haven't noticed any significant reduction with regard to how many shots I can take in comparison to the original battery. http://www.picstop.co.uk/Digital-Camera-Battery/Pentax-D-Li50-%28NP-400%29-Digital-Camera-Battery---Equivalent

Kim,

Yes, I had the same problem with the 1750 mAh batteries, in the Pentax charger the light would go off after a few seconds but in a third party charger they charge correctly. I wonder if Pentax have done something cunning to lock the two together?

That was my thought.

Kim

Or the 'tax charger simply isn't designed to pump more than 1620mAh into a battery?

I reckon you've probably hit the nail on the head there Ammonyte in that the Pentax charger is sensing an 'over current' when try to charge these larger capacity batteries and shutting down. It would explain why the smaller capacity batteries I've been using charge without problem.

I got compatibles (1750mAh) from digitalmediastore for £9.99 each and they charge fully with no problems. Haven't noticed any obvious difference in the length of time the charge lasts for compared to the Pentax originals either.

http://www.digitalmediastore.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=107_138_171&produc...

Delkin are the best quality after market batteries for the K10D. Cost around $19.00 (US)

Watch out for the cheap brands, they can do some serious camera damage.

I have a KM7D and the K10D. I swap Minolta/Pentax batteries all the time between the two cameras, no problems. Just make sure I use correct charger, they look identical.

RG.