DBS - Dead battery syndrome

[JoPhil]

Yesterday I was at a football game. I used my D200 with my 18 - 200 VR lens to shoot the tailgaters and the pre-game activities and everything was fine. As soon as I switched to my 70 - 200 VR lens and I tried to view the menu, I started getting the dead battery flashing signal. I didn't think the battery was dead, but I went ahead and switched to a fully charged battery I keep as a back-up. The same thing happened. Then when I switched back to my 18 - 200, it went away. After photographing the start of the game with the 18 - 200, I switched back to the 70 - 200 and for the most part it worked fine. Every once in a while, I'd get the dead battery flashing signal which would go away after turning the camera off and then on again.

I have another game to shoot on Saturday. How can I prevent this from happening again?

[gerald M]

The 18-200 worked but not the 70-200 then I'd think it was an issue with the lens.
I've noticed in many help threads that cleaning the contacts seems to be the first thing to try.