Battery life on a K20D

I got my K20D back in November charged my battery up. Them picked up a battery grip 2 weeks later and charged up that battery.
I just now got a low battery indicator on the screen. I must say I am very please with how long you can go with 2 batteries on the K20D.

You obviously don't use your camera as much as me and most of the time I don't use auto focus. I am lucky if my batteries last me 2 weeks.

They are relatively new as I buy new rechargables every 6 months.
I have always had battery grips for both my K10 and K20.

I use the cameras more or less everyday.

How often do you use your camera and what do you use it for, by that I mean what subjects?

Paul

I use it 1 or 2 times a week.
With flash sometimes.
Most of the time Landscape.
What I do do is turn off the camera after I take a shot or 2.
Sometimes auto focus on sometimes off.
I never review my photos till I get home.
Remove the SD card and upload them to PC.
Not viewing them comes from all my years with MX.
When using a roll of 36 you spend a lot of time making the shot count.
Even with my K20D I can take 300 shots. Still do not to waste a shot.
Could be the reason I get battery life.
Did not get the same with my *istDL. Had to always make sure my batteries were fully charged. Kept extra with me at all times and a car charger if I need a quick charge. Was using 2700 too.

Ok comparing like for like on what you do

-I use it 6-7 days a week
-I hardly ever use the flash
-Portraits, landscapes and macro
-I leave it on for how ever long I need it, it powers off after some time anyway. Most of the time it's in use
- Ditto about AF
-I review my photo's now and again, depends what shot I am doing, wildlife and macro, yes. Portraits alot, weddings hardly at all unless I have the time.
-Always remove the SD for upload

I have been using digital for 5 or 6 years now so the viewing is a must in certain circumstances, you may change how you do it in time.
I try very hard not to waste my shots, well it's not a matter of wastage really. Lets just say I'm not trigger happy!

I do class myself as a heavy user to my cameras. They are looked after extremely well. I have a K10 and a K20 and am thinking of getting another K20 to replace the K10. Not sure about the K7 as yet, still in 2 minds.


Paul

I think I am a medium to heavy user of my K20 and I also think the battery life is pretty amazing. I do have the grip and additional battery in there too.

But even so, I was lucky enough to be in the Maldives a few weeks ago and I took just over 1000 shots in two weeks (needless to say I didn't get 1000 good ones! ) and my batteries never ran out!
They were running low on the very last day when I recharged them for the trip home when I knew I wouldn't be able find accessable power.

I have always been of the thought that you should fully charge batteries when they are as empty as they can be, so I never charge from only half full and this seems to do the trick for me.

To be honest I suspect i will run out one day just becasue I never worry about how much charge is in the thing! But just to make sure i always carry a spare charger in my bag, they're so light anyway.

Adrian

Remember that battery latency fool meters. You can turn on a camera and it can show a full battery, then show nearly empty after a few images. Or you can use a full battery in a very aggressive manner and it can show nearly empty when it's still nearly full.

And the older and more used a battery is, the less power it will store.

But it is pleasing to see that the K7's battery grip will take AAs!

I have the OEM Pentax Battery and also 5 off brand that I rotate through the K20D body and grip. I have the grip set as the primary. #1 in the body, #2 in grip, when #2 in grip runs low, I put #1 from body in grip and #2 on the charger, #3 goes in camera and so on . It's a good rotation to keep all batteries at their peak.

I use my K20D every day at work for about 15-25 shot w/flash and w/o for industrial photos. The camera is used extensively on weekends for wildlife/nature and landscape shots (since January when I bought the K20D, I have over 12000 shots) I rotate the batteries when I see the "half-full" indication on the upper LCD.