Non genuine batteries

not had any problems so far (touch wood) with the Powerplanet 3rd party battery on the k-30

The 3rd party battery that I bought for my K30 was branded Ittou and it would last as long as the original. I also carry a set of 4 AA Lithium for emergencies.

If it is then yes, or get it swapped by the supplier. But it sounds like it needs to be established still that it is a battery issue and not something else. So wouldn't rush into the disposing of it until that is proven.

John K

I've not had any battery problems with my K30 but camera did freeze up now and again with the previous firmware version when using manual lenses - this seems to have been sorted with the latest update.

Oh that's interesting. Can't remember which lens i was using at the time but could have been the 50mm 1.7 or the 135mm 2.8.... Firmware is still the original. I'll do a firmware update. Thanks.

Just updated the firmware from 1.02 to 1.04. Pentax battery fully charged, Samsung SDHC card in camera and formatted. All ready for tomorrow.

Also just looking for a replacement battery (just in case that proves to be the case). LCE sell the original Pentax D-LI109 for £49. Just looking on Ebay and the Hama replacement costs £29-£49......blimey not the cheap option i was imagining.
Anyway Duracell Direct do a replacement for £17....is that likely to be any good?

The K-30 draws more current than the K-5, it has a smaller battery, and so it will be magnitude more fussy about battery quality.

The 2 non-OEM K-30 batteries I bought for £5 and £9 are both pathetic compared to the Pentax 1100mAh original. I measured their mAh and they're both in actuality about half the Pentax even though their label ratings were one 1100mAh and the other 2000mAh.

Shot 340 photos today, used a whole battery charge and not a single lock up. Which is great news.

Only problem, not sure if its the battery or firmware that fixed the problem, as i did a firmware update last night...

Why not wait and see?
If it happens again then note which battery you are using and then see if it happens again with the same one and not the other. If it doesn't, then it could be the firmware. It could be something entirely different and it is just the removal of the power that is clearing the fault. Sounds more like a computery type fault, than power to me. Removing and replacing the battery is restarting the computer in your camera. A three pin reset works wonders on PC's that get their programing it a twist, gets all the ones and naughts in the right places. That is what you do when you remove the battery.

In the end, There is nothing magic in a battery but it does supply the fuel for the camera. If it fails to supply enough fuel, then the camera is likely to to tell you the battery is flat! They don't last for ever and have to be replaced sometime, even £50 ones!

I have 2 spares (ebay specials about £7) for my k5 and had 2 for my k10. All of them work fine and I usually rotate them to make sure they get regular use. I think I remember reading that Lithium ion batteries like to be kept charged up and not left uncharged and also prefer partial discharge/recharge rather than full discharge/recharge cycles. If I have that wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.

Been using the camera with the Hama battery today. No problems. I think you are right. Will now carry on using both and make a note if it does lock up. Hopefully the firmware was the key.

Highly unlikely a battery is goign to cause the camera to lock up

Now gone through two whole battery charges, even used some AA's. The camera was locking up on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times a session. That's now 3 days and 700 odd photos and touch wood, not a hint of a lock up....

Chuck the knackered battery, but it doesn't mean that all non original ones are bad. The generic spare I use, I had with my K7, and it still gives me more shots that the Pentax one that came with my K5.

As an aside to this, I was looking at the battery spec published by Pentax and they have within the casing an overload protection circuit board, the cell itself and a gas vent valve; I wonder how many of the really cheap ones have all that? It would be interesting if someone dissected a dud.

I have all my batteries and chargers numbered to make it easier to find faulty ones.