Pentax ist DL - flash faulty - anyone else seen this ?

Hi all
My Pentax ist DL's flash has failed - when you pop the flash up the battery symbol starts flashing after a few moments and the flash doesn't fire.
It's like the capacitor is shorting the battery so unless I unlink the flash, it will never take a photo as it seems to be waiting for it to charge (?).

Has anyone else come across this ? It seems the potential repair costs (in excess of £200) outweigh the benefit of fixing it. I can of course use a seperate flash but that's no a fast set-up.

However, I really liked the onboard flash for those quick shots so am really annoyed, it's only 3 months past a year old.

Any Pentax repair tips appeciated !

Many thanks

I'm surprised the cost is so high. Have you tried Pentax in Slough?

G

If you live (and purchased the camera) in Europe, it's still in warranty. Check out directive 1999/44/EC. Since 2003, European consumers benefit from 2 years warranty on new goods, 1 year on used.

Happy Christmas.