I had a similar experience. When I loaded a charged battery I immediately noticed the GPS light was on.

Whilst I'm sure the GPS should switch off when you switch the camera off it could be it doesn't?.

I now make sure GPS is off before I switch the camera off and haven't had the problem since.

Yes, 64gb will be fine, but less to lose if there's a problem with an 8gb card.

K3 will use any SD, SDHC or SDHX standard card, but the speed of fast cards might be lost due to its lower write speed so unless you're also using kit that needs fast cards - something that shoots 4k video for example - you might want to just buy capacity not speed.

Mr B. There was nothing in the article to define what period constitutes 'storage', but I doubt a couple of weeks would hurt.

Gwyn. How do you determine 40-50% charge? Also, I have too many battery powered things around to be able to keep on top of their battery state and therefore avoid fully discharged batteries. I'm guessing it needs discipline or a good diary in order to check them all regularly.

As said, part of my issue is charging batteries in anticipation of use, but then not using them and putting them on one side for weeks or months.

There used to be battery discharge devices around some years ago. Can't find then today, compounded by the fact that there are a lot of battery formats.

I read an article a few days ago that unfortunately I can't now trace, but came sharply to mind this morning when one of my li-on batteries wouldn't charge.

The article (written in 2010) stated that storing li-on batteries fully charged caused premature failure due to oxidation, that li-on batteries should be stored at 40% charge, and NEVER let one fully discharge as the internal protection circuitry would (should) not allow it to be charged again.

Here's a little bit of reading on the subject of li-on battery storage I found this morning> http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_store_batteries

(There's plenty more on the Battery University site).

In my case the Pentax battery would not charge on a Pentax charger, but would after I had tried it for a short spell on a charger branded 'DSTE'. The significant difference between the chargers is the absence of a 'T' terminal on the DSTE one, which is, I assume, something to do with the batteries internal charge state monitoring circuitry? I'm assuming that using the DSTE charger bypassed the batteries internal protection circuitry, putting enough 'juice' into the battery to subsequently allow the Pentax charger to get on with charging again by changing the batteries internal 'don't charge me' flag? (Maybe this is why over the years by trying different chargers I've found batteries that would accept a charge again and continued to perform well thereafter.)

I'm in the habit of charging batteries before I go out to play, so know there will be some in my collection which will have been fully charged and put in storage unused. I also know that I have too many batteries and there will be some that have probably self-discharged over time to 0v.

So, the question I have is what do 'you' do to care for your batteries, or don't you bother, just accepting that you have to replace them from time to time?

FROM DP REVIEW;

Method of Downgrading 1.31 K10D

The method is pretty easy, simply change the rom's header file to 1.31 and the Camera will then be able to load the older firmware.


So here is file you can use to downgrade 1.31 to 1.10. After applying this rom, apply the original 1.10 rom, so you can get the system version right.

Patched 1.10 ROM: http://file01.tnder.org/207002-Patched-1.10.zip
Original 1.10 ROM: http://file01.tnder.org/177002-Original-1.10.zip

Just put the ,bin file at the root of the SD card. Power the camera off, then power on with menu pressed and hold. The Patched 1.10 ROM will prompt to be 1.31, but it is actually 1.10.

Or, Asahi Photo Technical.

I was interested to see the recent news about a class action against MasterCard. Why? Because it would seem to be driven by the new UK Consumer protection legislation.

Perhaps those of you with this Pentax problem could look at banding together and approach Johnson's/Pentax en masse for a resolution to this issue?

You may all be interested in this. http://www.thepentaxforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3290&p=34781&sid=34727e6ab4a...

Looks like someone has acknowledged the issue at last!!!

Good luck.

Your rights under the Sale of Goods Act are against the retailer, and you'll need an expert to say that the fault was inherent and not due to wear and tear, etc. Given the high number of reports about this issue hopefully an expert will have no problem giving you what you need. If the retailer won't play ball, then you'll probably need to sue. You have up to 6 years from purchase to take action.

It is for use with Live view as far as I know.