Pentax Camera Battery Compatibility Charts

Battery finder: Which battery does your Pentax camera take?

At some point, you’re going to need a new battery or spares for your camera.

Lithium batteries do degrade, which is why some cameras even have battery health check features built in.

And a full day of shooting can deplete the charge quite quickly, especially if you spend a lot of it in live view or reviewing shots on the LCD. So carrying spares is always a good idea so your camera doesn’t die just when you want to keep shooting.

But keeping track of which battery model is right for your camera isn’t as straightforward as it could be. The KP and the K-3 II, for example, sit next to each other in the same DSLR line, but their batteries aren’t shared: the K-3 II takes the bigger D-LI90, while the KP runs on the smaller D-LI109.

Which is why I’ve created these charts: in the hope it makes it easier to get the right battery for your camera and get out shooting more quickly.

Pentax Camera Battery Compatibility Charts

Things Worth Knowing

The manufacturers do sometimes come out with newer versions of some batteries. And sometimes there’s more than one model that’s compatible. I’ve noted those cases below.

With Pentax, the battery families are refreshingly clean. Two lithium-ion packs cover most of the DSLR line: the D-LI90, used by the K-1, K-1 II, K-3, K-3 II, K-3 Mark III, K-5, K-5 II, K-5 IIs, K-7, K-01, 645D and 645Z, and the smaller D-LI109, used by the K-r, K-30, K-50, K-S1, K-S2, K-70, KP and KF. The D-LI90 is a 7.2V, 1860mAh pack, and the charger that goes with it is the D-BC90. The odd one out is the Pentax 17, the half-frame film camera: it doesn’t use a rechargeable pack at all, but a single 3V CR2 lithium cell, which Pentax rates for around ten rolls of 36 exposures when the flash fires on about half the shots.

Which battery your Pentax camera uses

The chart above has the full detail. If you just want the one-line answer for your camera — or want to know which of your other bodies can share spares — here’s the same information grouped by battery. It comes from the same verified data as the chart, so it stays in step as new models are added.

Third-Party Batteries for Pentax Cameras

I’m focusing here on original Pentax-branded batteries because those are the ones Ricoh guarantees to work in their cameras.

But there’s also a whole universe of aftermarket batteries out there. They’re often significantly cheaper than the OEM versions. Sometimes they’re the only option that’s available in stock.

I’ve used many aftermarket batteries over the years in many different cameras and have found many of them to work well. I’ve also come across some that don’t. So I can’t give a blanket statement that you should or should not get third-party batteries. Because the reality is that some are better than others.

One thing worth knowing before you buy: the capacity numbers on aftermarket packs are often optimistic. Pentax rates the D-LI90 at 7.2V and 1860mAh, and it’s common to see third-party D-LI90 packs advertised at 2300mAh or more. Sometimes that extra capacity is real, sometimes it isn’t, and there’s no way to tell from the label.

So it’s worth buying from a seller you can return to, and testing a new pack on a normal day of shooting before you count on it for a trip.

I’m not saying don’t buy them. I am saying that if you do decide to buy them, it’s worth doing so knowing that it does come with more risk than buying the Pentax-branded versions.

In nearly all cases, the third-party batteries are listed on retailers’ sites using the original model numbers. So doing a search for those should surface any third-party alternatives that are available.

Still to verify

I’d rather leave a camera out than print a battery type I can’t stand behind. For these, the manuals I can find are scanned as images with no readable text, so I haven’t been able to confirm the spec from the manufacturer’s own words. They’re on the list and get added as soon as I can read the battery page properly:

• Auto 110
• ES
• ME F
• MG
• MZ-5n
• Program A

The ES here is the earlier camera, not the ES II that is already listed, and the ME F is the autofocus body rather than the ME. I’d rather show them as pending than fold them into a row that doesn’t describe them.

This is a growing document that I try to keep updated as new models are released. So please let me know if you spot any issues that need updating or correcting.

There’s one more power option worth knowing about on some of the older bodies. Pentax made an AA battery holder, the D-BH109, that drops into the battery compartment in place of the lithium-ion pack and takes four AA cells — useful if you’re somewhere you can’t recharge. It’s listed for the K-r, K-30, K-50 and K-500, and not for later bodies like the K-70, even though those use the same D-LI109 pack.

Battery charts by brand

Cameras: Canon · Contax · Fujifilm · Leica · Mamiya · Minolta · Nikon · OM System and Olympus · Panasonic Lumix · Pentax · Ricoh · Sigma · Sony · Yashica

Action cameras: DJI Osmo · GoPro · Insta360