Link doesn't work.

Two things you might try before packing it off for repair.

1: Reset the camera to factory defaults, then try it again.
2: Download the latest firmware and re-install it.

One or the other might just work.

Well it's good that it works with auto lenses, but it should also work properly with no lens fitted. I think a trip to the camera hospital is needed.

In the past I've applied one drop of WD40 to a dry cloth but I stopped doing that because others on here thought it a bad idea.

If you are using manual lenses, they have no contacts anyway, so cleaning isn't going to help. If the problem turns out to be a faulty contact, it'll be because it's protruding too far from the mount surface and the lens body is shorting it out electrically, so cleaning them will not help.

You could perhaps try insulating the body's electrical contacts from the lens body by using a very thin piece of paper, or perhaps cling film. Just to identify/eliminate the contacts as the cause of the problem.

Dammit, now I need an 8-16mm lens, just when I thought I had enough.

Thanks Brian

Y'know, I'm quite happy with my Sigma lenses and could happily switch from Pentax glass. Then I could buy a small tropical island with the savings.

Another vote for Lightroom. I have Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop Elements (11 I think) and I rarely, if ever, use them.

If you just want to edit/correct your images, rather than create a piece of art, I doubt that you'd justify the expense of the full blown Photoshop.

Hi Nick, and welcome.

Does your camera behave correctly with a more modern auto lens fitted?

When set to manual focus and manual exposure and no lens fitted, does it take and record an all white/grey image correctly?

I set myself a similar challenge recently.

The lens you choose to take will depend a lot on what your expected subjects are.

If like me, you are going to a city, I'd take the Sigma 10-20mm.

It certainly looks a nice bit of kit, great for street photography.

Looking at the hot shoe pin configuration, we are not going to be able to use our Pentax flashes with the GR.

Yes it might be worth turning SR off in a sports scenario.

All I can suggest is that you try both.

I do a lot of stock car racing photography, track side as the club 'tog, so I'm quite close to the action. This means that I'm usually panning quite fast to keep up with the cars and the SR/OS horizontal stabilization keeps trying to compensate.

My personal experience with my Sigma 70-200 lens is that I get sharper results using mode 2 on the lens than I do when using mode 1, and in-body SR turned off. Mode 1 OS on the lens being equal to in-body SR turned on, albeit implemented differently.

I'm sure Pentax could easily add this feature and even have it change according to the cameras orientation, something that in-lens stabilization can't do.