R3/4/5 - Firstly about battery life.
The same battery appears in the R3/4/5 and progressively there seems to
be better and better battery life obtained. My best with the R3 was one
day with 300 shots and only the first segment of the battery indicator
had faded. Latest report has the R5 achieving possibly 713 shots in a
day before the battery was swapped. That was on maximum resolution
which does drain the battery more than lesser resolutions.
Please realise that this class of Lithium Ion battery does have a limited life, limited by maybe 500 charge cycles or about 3 years life. It doesn't just die after that, it just slowly loses ability to hold charge and the battery makers say that it will be down to half capacity at 500 cycles or 3 years, whichever comes first. The lesson being, leave it as late as possible in the camera's life to buy a new spare battery, unless you always are flattening the battery regularly. My habit is to recharge every night when on holidays or recharge before going to any outing or event.
R3/4/5 - As usual, any other brand of battery is usually cheaper than buying a genuine Ricoh from a camera shop. Racks in shops will have other brands that suit but maybe they don't list Ricoh. Look for batteries for Panasonic LX1, FX8 or FX9 as a starter and make sure the same battery contacts appear on the end like the Ricoh one. Others have found in the case of Olympus DSLR batteries that the Uniross brand is better than the original and maybe only a 1/3 the cost. So using that example I would probably seek out Uniross as my first choice. http://www.uniross.com/uniross.htm but no equivalent shown so far. Another number for DB-60 equivalents is Panasonic DMW-BCC12 and also CGA-S005E.
R6- This is a new battery size with a new charger, so don't try and use the R3/4/5 battery or charger with the R6. It now uses a DB-70 battery and it is also marked "replace with DMW-BCE10" which seems to be exactly the same battery as the Panasonic FX30. Another part number found for an equivalent battery is CGA-S008E. There's some variation in ratings on theses batteries, from various postings I've heard of 1,000mAh to 1,500mAh versions. Prices vary like crazy with no relationship to quality as far as I can tell.
In Australia only here's a few battery (and general stuff) suppliers to look for R3/4/5....
http://www.e-store.net.au/digital-camera-battery/brand.php/RICOH/9027/DB-60/# also check the extensive list of cameras that use this battery found on this page. Easiest way to search for equivalents for any camera is to go to and enter the battery type you are searching for, say DB-60 (or any other type you are interested in) and search (don't forget the hyphen!). Then click on their equivalent product ID and get the full list of other cameras that use that battery type.
http://www.electronic-parts.com.au/digital-camera-batteries/product.php/RICOH/9027/DB-60/# showing the generic DB-60 battery at Oz$22 plus shipping, but in Australia only.
http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod3010.htm original Ricoh DB-60 battery at Oz$75 plus shipping. Yikes!
http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/category358_1.htm generic S005 battery for Panasonic FX8/FX9 at Oz$29 plus shipping (suit R3/4/5), but check battery contacts as I've seen two very different types shown for Panasonic FX8/FX9.
http://www.printercartridges.com.au/store/category47_1.htm is another place with batteries, but no DB-60 equivalent yet, they may be interesting for other supplies. They do have the Uniross battery for my Olympus, so they are here for my benefit!
http://www.interbatteries.com.au/ is another source in Australia
For the R3/4/5 battery look for these equivalents......Fuji F20, F40, Leica C-LUX1 D-LUX2, Panasonic FX01 FX07 FX3 FX50 FX8 FX9 LX1 LX2, Ricoh R3 R4 R5 R30 R40 GRD GX100
For the R6 battery look for these equivalents......
Panasonic FX30