I should clarify that I have several sets of Ni-MH rechargables. I use them in sets of 8 - 4 in the camera and 4 in the battery grip. I have two sets of 8 Duracell rechargable AAs (2300 mAh), one set of 8 Energizer rechargable AAs (2300 mAh) and several sets of house brand batteries I acquired in various places (US, Scotland & Iraq - 1500 to 2000 mAh).
None of these will give me a full charge indicator on the camera. I've acquired them over a 3 year period, and have recharged them enough there should be no further burn in period required. The higher rated batteries I acquired in 2005 & 2006. With the Energizers & Duracells, if I install them fresh off the charger, I can get just about 4 gig of raw images (282 raw) ... two 2 gig cards full before I have to change out batteries; IF I'm filling the two cards in one outing. I get significantly less with the OEM batteries, but I expect that's due to the lower capacity. And, if I'm shooting and taking several days to fill the cards, self discharge does seem to reduce the number of images I can get off of a charge. Filling the camera and grip with Duracell alkaline batteries *does* give me a full charge indicator on the camera and gives me almost the same number of exposures as the 2300 mAh rechargeables, and there's no problem with self discharge. Because of a recent project where I had to be sure the camera would perform and continue to perform, I broke down and filled it and the grip with disposable CR-V3s, which have so far given me about six cards worth of images. OTOH, that burns through $50 USD every time I have to change batteries. I don't know if I can afford that, especially as I need to carry a spare set. I'd really like info from anyone who has used rechargable CR-V3s in the *ist-D. If I have to, I'll continue to use CR-V3 disposables and back them up with Duracell Alkaline AAs. I'm not really interested in alternative versions of Ni-MH AAs. I've tried too many different ones already that just don't do the job. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
