I have the 58 AF 1 and have not experienced any such problem. Try pushing the mode button for 5 seconds (reset). Test the flash off camera and see if it appear to work.

Also, when you change the zoom on your lens, is the flash head responding? What more is your camera set to and are you using a DA lens? Also, is you K10D on firware 1.3 - I don't know but this might make a difference.

Have you checked the base module of the flash to confirm it is a Pentax one?

Just some suggestions...

This does sound like a white balance issue, however, digital noise can look a little purple in dark areas. Take a look at what ISO you are shooting at to rule this out I would suggest using ISO 200, 400 at most.

I have a manual focus 50mm 1.4 and sometimes when the lens is wide open i.e. at F1.4, shots are a little soft, but I can't recall any colour cast issues.

I have my K10D set on auto ISO between 100 and 400 as I have found this to be a good range for general shooting, however, I have realised that all my Flash pictures are on 400ISO .

Ideally I want a lower setting, unless I am attempting to push the flash range. Is there a way to achieve this automatically or do I just need to just set the ISO manually for my Flash photography? It's not a problem with the OK button and front e-dial to change the ISO, however I might forget! So I am looking for an automatic option if one exists!

I have the Metz 58 and it is fantastic so I am sure the 48 is just as good.

What about holding black card in front of the lens while with shutter locked open on bulb? When you see a flash, remove the card and replace. This is a technique to taking firework pictures and might be applicable here too.

First thing, general advice is not to clean the focusing screen as this can cause damage to it. However, the good news is that any damage will not effect the final image in any way.

The foam sounds a bit like the mirror cushioning to dampen the mirror and its noise when it flicks up on taking a picture, though I can't say for sure. It may be necessary to replace the foam.

It may be a good idea to get the camera services anyway and this should include cleaning.

A recent article in one of the photo mags highlighted this issue and, even the Police don't have that authority (yet) they would need a court order to do this.

I think it was in Photography Monthly and the article also set out rights as to where you can take photographs from (i.e. private/public land), the exceptions being certain establishments (i.e. MI5) from public land.

Yes it should.

I don't know if the AF160 will, if this is a PTTL unit then it would need to be set to manual for this theory to work.

The problem, unless you are totally manual, your popup flash will issue a pre-flash that will likely trigger the cube. The only way I have fould to disable the pre-flash is to use an old lens with an a setting on the apature control, set the apature with the ring and have the camera on manual, that way no pre-flash and the pop-up flash will operate the cube properly. I dont know if it will when defused, however you can experiment by turning down the pop-up flash power output and see what happens. I have a remote flash (pentax slave flash) and it was still triggered at -2.0 power out put from the pop-up flash.

I used to use a set up just like the one described by Mat and it worked well for my with a Pentax Program A and a Vivita flash. The flash had a build in meter to control flash output. I sill have the cables, so when I get my main flash unit I can experiment again.