Pentax digital spotmeter battery drain?

[andreios]

A quick question to those of you who use the Pentax Digital spotmeter.

Situation: I have put a fresh (or at least newly bought) battery (from a well known brand) maybe two or three weeks ago, today went out shooting, found that the meter was dead. Luckily had a spare in my bag, so was able to proceed, but I became slightly worried - is there something wrong with the meter? The previous battery lasted many months...

Is such quick drain common? Or was it just that I must have pushed the trigger somehow when packing the meter so that it was "on" the whole time? (That was the only possible explanation that occurred to me.)
Is there a way to "switch" the whole meter off?

Any tips and tricks would be most welcome.

Thanks!

[nolindan]

Battery drain when the meter is off is nil (or close to it). I've never had a battery go flat before I went and changed it because it was 5+ years old.

It could be a defective battery, or, as you say, the meter somehow got stored with pressure on the trigger switch. Last of all, I would suspect a problem with the meter.

[Drew Wiley]

Ditto. I've had batteries last an entire decade of use. Check for any corrosion inside the battery hole. Always have a fresh spare battery on hand just in case. Don't assume every newly-purchased battery is good.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Same here. My Z6 Digital has had the same battery for 10+ years or so

[sharktooth]

Sometimes it's something as simple as some condensation preventing proper contact. This is the time of year where it's likely to happen, since the humidity can still be high and the temperature can vary widely. Try wiping off the battery contacts and the meter contacts, and reinstalling the battery to see if it works. Better yet, check the battery voltage with a multimeter to see if the battery really is drained. If the voltage is well below normal, then you really might have a problem with the meter or the battery.

Loss of contact due to condensation is very common in battery powered devices that are used outside. Thankfully, it just needs a quick removal and wipe down to get things working again.

[andreios]

Thanks everyone for your input - the idea of condensation did not occur to me, but that might be the case.
Having learned the "hard way" some time ago I always carry a spare (or two) nowadays. Taking Drew's point I will try to carry two different brands of battery in the future

[Ivangenasiphotography]

Hello to all, I have one question about Pentax digital spot meter.
I've just got one used, that seems to work ok.
I've tryed to compare meterings with my own Sekonic L508 and the Pentax digital it's 3, 4 Ev higher then then Sekonic, obviously same iso and same reading place.
Is that normal, or happen to you also? Or the Pentax maybe have something wrong...?
Thanks a lot for the help!
Best
Ivan

[nbagno]

Hello to all, I have one question about Pentax digital spot meter.
I've just got one used, that seems to work ok.
I've tryed to compare meterings with my own Sekonic L508 and the Pentax digital it's 3, 4 Ev higher then then Sekonic, obviously same iso and same reading place.
Is that normal, or happen to you also? Or the Pentax maybe have something wrong...?
Thanks a lot for the help!
Best
Ivan

I compared my Pentax with my sekonic after the Pentax was calibrated. Both read the same.


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[Conrad . Marvin]

I have used my battery for so long that the spare was almost outdated. Then I worried that I wouldn’t be able to get another. So I bought two again…

[Ivangenasiphotography]

I compared my Pentax with my sekonic after the Pentax was calibrated. Both read the same.

Thank you, where you calibrate your pentax? Is a operation that a camera repair can do?
Thanks
Ivan

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