Welcome to the forum. My brother-in-law bought a 50D to compliment his 20D. He had it a couple of days and sent it back for a full refund because the image quality was not as good as his 20D. He now has a 40D and is very pleased with it.

K20D is my choice. I'd probably like the few improvements offered by the K-7, but I don't need them.

You could have 2 X K20D's for the price of one K-7.

Upgrade implies you have found something better. Do tell . . .

Mike, I seem to get the best results from my AF160Fc ringflash by using full power one side, and 1/3rd power on the other. It gives that little bit of modelling shadow that makes the difference between a good shot and a great shot.

That just goes to prove what impact a decent advertising budget has on a product's sales figures.

We were 'tripping' over adverts for the Oly Trip in its day. Little wonder then that it sold so well.

I don't believe Pentax has ever committed as much as they should have in their marketing budget.

I still have my first ever 35mm film camera (in a box somewhere). It's a Petri 7s rangefinder and produced most of the images from my late childhood and early teens. It's totally mechanical except for its 'Circle-eye' Cds photocell array that drives the light meter. No batteries.

Similar to this one:
link

I wouldn't bother with either of them.

Eneloop's or the other brands ChrisA refers to are far superior. They have a lower capacity at around 2000maH but actually last longer because their discharge curve is very different, They are claimed to retain up to 80% of their charge for 12 months when not in use.

This essentially means you could leave the flash unused for a month or two and next time you pick it up, it'll work. NiMh will almost certainly have discharged in that time.

If you bought the camera from a Pentax Pro dealer you will certainly have 2 years warranty.

Is the lens OK? You haven't said which lens(es) you use.
Is SR on or off (if it has it)?
Have you eliminated the possibility that it might be your technique?
Do you get bad results when using a tripod?

Post an example image with EXIF data intact.

If this problem occurred when the camera was in warranty, they can't wash their hands of it now that it's out of warranty.

Somebody must have moved it to what they think is a more appropriate place then, but it is still there.

Do you mean this one?

Nice work, but you forgot the tap.