Firmware 2.0 update for Ds

I updated my Ds to version 2.0 about 6 weeks ago, while I can not notice any enhancements that Pentax claim the new version to bring, I have noticed that the battery life with rechargeable AAs to be greatly improved.

I’m sure most Ds users are aware that when using rechargeable batteries the camera dies very quickly, even if they are a freshly charged batch. However when the camera dies if you keep switching it off then on again it keeps on going.

I have found with this new firmware that the batteries last at least 5x longer, however when there empty there is no off and on trick to get more out of them. Im assuming this is the camera using up all the battery's power unlike with the previous firmware.

I was wondering if anyone else had noticed this or any other benefits to the firmware update (aside from the pretty pictures when changing picture modes).

I assume that they have changed something in the interpretation of the battery voltage.
Normally the camera uses the discharge curve of the Lithium batteries that are shipped with it.
Rechargeable batteries (NiMH and NiCD) have completely different discharge curves then Alkaline or Lithium batteries.
With rechargeable batteries the voltage remains fairly constant throughout the discharge cycle and when it is allmost empty it drops very steeply.
That is allso the reason why the camera keeps telling you that the batteries are full and then after a few shots they are completely empty.

Ofutter,

I have downloaded the software but haven't been brave enough to load it yet, how long did it take?

With regard to the rechargeables, like you have experienced that you have to keep turning the camera off and on to get the most out of them. Most disappointing!

The original CRV3's lasted a long time, I'm wondering if they are the best option?

I find rechargeables go on and on for hundreds of shots. Perhaps you have a problem with yours, or with the camera.

G

I second this opinion.

OTOH, What do you mean by "I can not notice any enhancements that Pentax claim the new version to bring" didn't you see at least the "auto" ISO setting or the new AF Mode option (AF-S / AF-C)? Are you sure you didn't have this firmware before the installation?

Cheers.

Are you sure you have installed the firmware correctly? The most obvious difference is the colour pics in the menus as well as the very useful change to the sensitivity mentioned above.

Ken

It only takes a couple of minutes although it isn't a pleasant experience waiting to see if you've been successful or not!

I've also noticed that the battery indicator does funny things with Ni-MH cells and so will be interested to see if things have changed with the latest firmware.

Steve

I think I may have overlooked the auto ISO and the AF mode as by far the most significant improvement for me is the battery life.

I can not stress how poor the battery life was before the update, even freshly charged r-AA batteries (2300mah) would only give me around 10-20 shots max- and that’s without flash! Duracell M3s would raise it up to 30-40 which is still abysmal.

The same rechargeable batteries which before gave me a 10 shots now give me around the 200 mark. Before I would take the r-AA out and put them in another appliance and it would read them as full, however now with the new firmware they read empty.

It could be the software supplied on my Ds and I’m sure others as well are only geared up for the lithium batteries and the new firmware has corrected this.

Ps. Slofts the firmware is very easy to install the only worry is the battery dieing during the 40 second install! However the update should solve future battery issues.

I was put off by the warnings about the batteries needing to be fully charged and having to send the camera back to pentax if they were to fail during the period of the download.

I'm suprised by the lack of umph! of your batteries though. When you said they were performing badly I hadn't imagined that you were only able to get such few shots. May have been a problem with the original software if you think it is now rectified.

My batteries (2500mah's) give a few hundred shots between charges (difficult to tell exactly how many particularly if using the built in flash) however, the original CRV3's lasted for nearly 9 months (thousands of shots). Maybe I expect too much from the ni-mh's?

My CRV's lasted about a month and I seemed to get roughly twice as many shots out of them as I do from a full charged set of NiMH's.

I use Uniross 2100 mAh NiMH batteries and easily get a thousand or more shots from them. However I rarely use the built-in flash, I have switched off Instant Playback and turned all other power-saving options to give me the longest battery life (i.e short auto power off). When transferring images from the camera I always use a card reader, and I have a mains power adapter which I use indoors on the tripod, and when cleaning the sensor or updating firmware. I'd probably get more life out of the batteries if I used autofocus less. At only £9.99 for four they are turning out to be great value.

What helps as well is turning off the information which is displayed when you change the program wheel.

The fact is that anything that can be done to stop the cameras display firing up will help improve battery life. Reviewing photo's/histograms etc is possibly the biggest cause of battery drain other than actually taking the shot & auto-focussing.

I use Hahnel 2350ma/h Ni-Mh batteries with no problems on my *ist D.