Can anyone advise on battery problem with digital SLR?

[thehamburglar]

I have a 2nd hand Pentax istD L2. When I insert batteries the display is showing that the batteries are empty but I purchased brand new ones so the fault isn't with the batteries. I think the contacts may need cleaning but I don't know how to do this. I'd like to give this a go before I take it to a repair shop and they charge me £££. Can anyone talk me through this? Thanks.

If there was a fault with the contacts, I'd expect the camera not to power on and therefore you'd never get the display which tells you the batteries are empty.

What sort of batteries are you using? Rechargeables or AA's? If the latter are you using good quality akaline batteries such as Duracell?

The camera only displays the flashing symbol for empty batteries when I turn it on.

I have some Energiser Ultimate Lithium batteries, also tried Duracell.

OK so good makes then. In that case I suspect your camera has seen better days. You could use a cotton wool bud with a little dash of nail polish remover to clean the contacts with but I suspect it won't work.

I have the same camera and the last time i tried to use it had the same problem. Tried brand new batteries from packet and fully charged reusable and both showing as flat

Will try cleaining contacts at weekend and report back.