*IST Battery door= gone. help.

My battery door on my *IST film camera(which i seem to be one of the few people alive who bought) dissapeared on me a few weeks ago. I have a tendancy to use my ME-Super anyways, so no big deal really. But anyways, I called ritz camera, they told me the minimum it would be is $45-70, which to me, is outrageous, considering its a piece of plastic and metal weighing and with the technicality both less than a paperclip.... anyone have one lying around or something? where can I find one for less? I lost my waranty... I know, 10 stupid points.

-albert

Do you have a similarly shaped piece of plastic and some electrical tape or duct tape? That could take care of it!

Try phoning Pentax directly.
Here in the UK I have called the spares department, received excellent service, and obtained replacements (inside parts too!) at reasonable prices.
For tricky parts they can send you an exploded view, but in the case of a battery cover, I'm sure they'll be able to sort one out
Matt

The battery door on my MZ50 popped off a few years ago.

Simple bit of plastic and a metal spring but cost me a good few quid to have replaced, simple design but too simple for my idea of quality, the plastic hinge broke and the rest popped off and got lost some where under the sofa. Why do Pentax make some very good products but cut corners on the simple stuff. Battery covers need to be opened and closed regularly.

One other possible solution is to get the BG-20 battery grip for this camera. When attaching the grip to the camera, the open battery door fits into a slot to keep it out of the way.

The grip uses 4 of the cheaper AA batteries, and in some ways improves camera handling. I've noticed new grips on ebay selling for about half retail.

I can find no mention of the BG-20 grip for th *ist on the pentax.co.uk web site. Is it available in UK ?