For Aussies, the TR3 is currently $130 shipped from CR Kennedy (Pentax Australia). I just bought one.

A pleasure., I wasn't sure if I could link to another Pentax forum.

Ahh the pix have been relocated to http://www.pentaxforums.com/accessoryreviews/pentax-aa-battery-grip-for-sf-serie...

Today I uploaded pix of mine to the Pentax Forums Accessories->Other Camera Accessories->Miscellaneous section if you want to see pix.

I never got back to tell you what happened. I sent it off to Pentax Australia and they did some magic, free of charge, and I haven't noticed the problem since.

I've been slack in getting back on this. Pentax Australia (CR Kennedy) repaired it free of charge. I've not noticed the problem since.

Ahh, sorry John, I misunderstood. Yes, I expect that it may be a paid repair but I'm hoping that Pentax may be a little accommodating.

I'll update the thread if I get a repair just to indicate the cost. It could be useful to someone contemplating whether it's worthwhile to have a repair done or not.

I'm tempted to buy a K-5 and use the K-7 as backup. The commonality of layout has advantages in familiarity when moving from one to another - unlike switching from my *istD to K100D to K-7.

Yes, I realise that it's an old thread but my K-7 still has the problem and I can't reproduce it at will. Software updates haven't fixed it.

I'm not sure how the fact that things have moved on since then can fix my camera.

I tried using LiveView for an extended period but that doesn't seem to bring the problem on. I've requested Pentax Australia for a quote to repair the camera.

My K-7 S/N 33809nn exhibits the problem. It's intermittent but doesn't seem to be affected by ambient temps. I tried with the camera out on 35 deg C and above days and it hasn't happened. I wonder if I had been using LiveView when it occurred. i haven't used the camera for video.

I was wrong. It's still there. I took some moon pics tonight and it's quite clear against the black sky. It's 20 deg C so it doesn't seem temperature related. It's off to the importer for repair I suspect.