Thought I would update this thread:
So, I sent the camera in to the Pentax authorized repair in Canada, after waiting 4+ weeks and hearing nothing back I called the place that I sent it too and they informed me that there was no parts available for it (so I'm assuming they found an issue) so Ricoh would be sending me a new replacement unit, and it was in there hands now so he had no idea when it would be shipped.
I got a number for Ricoh to call from the fellow I talked to, I called it and told the lady who answered what I had just been told, she seemed a little perturbed they got me to call them, and what I think happened was it sat on a shelf at the shop and was forgotten about until I called because she said they should have been able to tell me everything I needed to know. In any case it looks like my call prompted someone to get moving because she said I'd have my replacement in about a week.
I got the camera, and the IQ of the still images seems to be better, not super sharp but better nonetheless. Had some shots were pretty noisy that were shot in low light, so I played with different settings etc.
Here is an image shot with the HDR rendering on in the options
Here is another shot with ISO 100 and 1/250 exposure time, f2
Here is one shot at 1so 100, 1/45 & +1 exposure bias, f2 - with this one the foreground seems sharp, but the vehicles in the image are quite fuzzy
Then this one, shot in relatively low light, and seems very fuzzy. (iso 100, 1/320, f2, +1 exposure bias)
Then, last night I shot some video, and I must say I am again very disappointed with the video quality.
Is this as good as I can expect for stills?
Is anyone else getting better video than what I am seeing?