battery on digital pentax spot meter died?

[Brad Rippe]

Daniel,
I had a strange experience with my Pentax a few years ago. I thought the battery died but the interior housing for the battery had come loose and the meter worked sporadically as the battery moved around.

Thanks to advice from members of this forum, I was able to disassemble the meter and fix the housing.
-Brad

[Bruce Barlow]

We have a segment on "Camera Repair in the Field with Richard Ritter" where he talks about triggers getting depressed when meters are put in camera bags. draining batteries quickly. Photographers are later depressed when they don't have spare batteries. A year of sporadic use is way too short.

And replacements are expensive, too.

[Sal Santamaura]

The Pentax Digital Spot does not appear to have voltage regulation. It instead seems to rely on the flat discharge curve of a silver PX-28 for consistent performance. I've previously used lithiums in mine, and, since they decline in voltage with use, noticed a 1/3 stop difference in readings near the end of battery life. The meter reads 1/3 stop higher with a low battery than with a fresh one. Silver cells hang on to the end, then drop precipitously. I now use only silver in the meter, and keep a spare with me at all times. Replacing the battery once a year has precluded ever having to install the spare.

[Jeffrey Sipress]

What? You don't carry a spare battery?!?!

[Daniel_Buck]

What? You don't carry a spare battery?!?!

I will now I was expecting it to last a very long time, since it hardly ever gets used. (I guess I was wrong!) And, I didn't even have a spare at home, just didn't think about it since it's the only thing I carry (flashlight aside) that uses electricity. I guess I've just gotten used to the large format stuff not using batteries. When I go shooting digital, I always have spare batteries.

I just picked up a pack of batteries, I'm going to throw a few of them into my tool-kit that I bring with me