K3iii Battery Charging

Having recently bought a K3iii I was surprised that no battery charger is supplied with the camera, apparently you are expected to charge in the camera via the USB cable. As part of the camera offer SRS also gave me a battery grip and so charging the 2 batteries in the camera is taking forever. I am now looking at a separate battery charger and would welcome advice as to what other people use.

It's a D-LI90 I believe, like previous K-3's, so a charger for one of those would do the job.
I bought a USB charger from Amazon for my K-3 batteries - 20 quid-ish including 2 x DTSE branded batteries, which seem to work just as well as the OEM battery.

I did see these on Amazon, but was concerned about how cheap they were and would they work ok. How long does the charger take to charge the D-LI90?

There is the new Pentax fast charge kit for the D-LI90 type batteries the k-bc177 - it can charge a battery in approx. 2.5 hours - very good but expensive...

https://www.pentaxforums.com/accessoryreviews/pentax-k-bc177.html

I don't know enough about the subject to comment on potential battery degradation from using other chargers, but I have used a Hahnel Unipal Plus for several years when I travel - it allows me to charge almost any battery (inc D-LI90, AA, Mobile Phones, etc.). It's not a quick charger, it's not small, but it's cheapish (around £30 from several UK camera shops) and versatile.

https://www.hahnel.ie/irish-shop/unipal_plus/

Hope that helps

p.s. I've just spotted there is also a "mini" version of the Unipal - but I've no experience of it, might be worth investigating!

I bought something similar and while the batteries never held as much charge as an original and didn't last more than two years holding any charge, the charger works fine and I still use it.

Fair comment - I've heard similar elsewhere, but obviously I can only speak as I find. I've just checked, and I bought my DLI90 USB charger - with 2 aftermarket batteries - in March 2017. I rotate them with the OEM battery that came with my K-3, and I really can't tell which one's in the camera without checking.

I like USB chargers, as I find them much more convenient when I'm travelling etc, as I already carry the necessary leads etc for mobile 'phone, tablet, powerbank etc, and I can charge a battery in the car as well if I need to.

I've got the same USB charger for my Fuji & Lumix batterires too.

Not including a seperate charger seems to be a common trend these days. I've got 2 Lumix cameras, and they don't come with a dedicated charger either.

As far as charge times go...yes, the USB ones are slower than mains chargers, but fast charging isn't a Good Thing in my book. Faster charging necessitates higher current, which means more heat, which isn't genarally good for rechargable batteries.

Many thanks for the replies. Does anybody use either of the Pentax chargers, the D-BC90 slow charger or the D-BC177 fast charger? According to SRS the D-BC90 takes around 6 hrs and the D-BC177 between 2 to 2.5 hrs.

As I have some SRS Customer Rewards whilst not making the Pentax charger as cheap as a third party charger it does mean that they are not as silly expensive as full price.

Isn't that the standard charger shipped with the K-5/K-3/K-1 ?

I'm guessing it could be but as I say you don't get a charger with the K3iii so seeking people's opinions before committing.

I do like the idea of a usb powered charger which I believe the D-BC177 is, but also have concerns about fast chargers damaging batteries. I have read that the Pentax charger has a third temperature sensing pin to prevent overheating damaging the battery.

Back home now, and having checked - yes, the D-BC90 is the standard K-5, K-3 etc charger. I think any issues with that would've been reported by now

Yes, the D-BC177 is USB powered, but it's not really a fast charger. Or is it? Info seems a bit confused...
The Pentax fast charger is the K-BC177, which is mains powered (and eye wateringly expensive...)

Apart from the price, I'm sure I'd be happy with any of them...

I've been using USB chargers from Amazon for several years - they look like this one but with a different brand name:



I have three - one for each type of Pentax camera battery (KP, K-5iis, and MX-1). One of my Pentax D-Li109 batteries is dated 2011 (from a K-r) and is still working fine, so it would appear that these chargers are doing no harm.

Philip

Yup, that looks like the ones I've got. They're all the same, but with a different carrier plate on top to accomodate different battery types.

I suspect they all come from the same factory in China, under many different brandings.

I had a K-3 so have just kept using that charger for the K-3iii. Given my clumsiness, having the camera plugged into a USB port is a recipe for disaster...

An observation: I recently grabbed one of my Lumix cameras that I haven't used for a while, and the battery in it was dead. Real dead.
I popped it into my USB charger (like in the photo above) and it wouldn't charge. My working theory is that the battery voltage had dropped below the threshold of what the USB charger saw as acceptable, so it assumed it was beyond help or faulty.
I popped the battery back onto the camera and plugged a USB cable in, and the charge light came on. Left it overnight, and come morning the charge light was out and the battery was charged, and it's been fine since.

So, if you've got what appers to be a dead battery, that one of these USB chargers won't revive, try charging it in camera - you never know.

Done a bit more digging and you are correct. The fast charger is the extortionately priced mains powered K-BC177 at around 2.5 hrs. The D-BC177 is USB powered and the charging rate depends on the mains USB power supply you use. I have seen 4.5 hrs quoted if you use the Ricoh 5 volt 1.0A power source supplied with the K3iii which is ok with me and better than the cheaper D-BC90 which appears to take over 6 hours to charge a battery.

Many thanks for the advice on this.