I have had my Pentax *ist DL in 2006 and I have been thinking of upgrading for the last few months. Now I think the decision may have been made for me.

Last Sunday week I was walking through the bush in Bunyip State Park when I came across a wombat in a perfect pose. I got my camera out, changed the picture mode, zoomed and focused and pressed the shutter release. Nothing happened and the wombat ambled off.

I tried another couple of shots on different picture modes but, again, nothing happened. I had some difficult walking ahead of me so I put the camera away.

During the week I was at Halls Gap and thought I might get some shots of the very tame kangaroos. Again my camera didn't work but I had time to check the displays.

The LCD panel was blank apart from the battery indicator and the number of shots remaining.

The viewfinder showed nothing but a flickering aperture indicator.

I then checked the LCD monitor as I changed picture modes and, apart from a brief flash, nothing and certainly not the usual image denoting picture mode.

Is this a terminal problem or something I can have repaired for less than the cost of a new camera?

Thanks

David