I don't understand all this talk about colour rendering: whatever you want a file to look like as far as colour is concerned, can be done using a custom WB in-camera, or quite easily adjusted later in Lightroom or most other editing programs. I certainly would not base my choice of camera on how it renders colours.

I have used third party batteries on every camera I have owned and never had a problem. As Yves says, they are probably made in the same factory anyway. It's just another example of short-sighted profiteering. How would you feel if a manufacturer disabled the use of third-party lenses or flashguns on your camera?

You can send such items through a registered shipper, which includes DHL, UPS, TNT etc. The Post Office's Parcel Force service also has certification for shipping of items classified under "The Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations".

John, in contrast to your statement that lithium batteries are becoming more restricted in methods of transit, the opposite is actually true.

For transport by air, Lithium batteries were reclassified in January this year by IATA. My own take on this is that it was largely because the Boeing 787 has a vast amount of them built into the aircraft. Under the new regulations, subject to size and capacity, they can be loaded on an aircraft, without a NOTOC (Notice to Captain), under a new classification called ELI (Exempt Lithium Ion) or ELM (Exempt Lithium Metal). Previously, these batteries were listed as Class 9 and were limited in the quauntities they could be carried on cargo aircraft, and these amounts much more severely restricted for carriage on passenger aircraft. In fact, Lithium Metal batteries were previously banned completely from being transported as cargo on passenger aircraft.

On my forthcoming trip on a freighter to Hong Kong, I'll be leaving there with about 80 tonnes of laptops and mobile phones on board, which was not possible a year ago. Technically, I don't even have to be informed they are on board. Practically, the company has taken the common sense approach of producing a NOTOC (which include quantities, where they are loaded on the aircraft etc) whenever ELI or ELM items are loaded on any company aircraft.

If you throw away the packaging there's no way they can prove you didn't take it with you. You don't have to declare what you are taking out of the UK, so customs cannot reasonably expect you to to prove you did not have the new camera with you when you left on your hols. If you want to to cover your ass a bit more, shoot some generic shots with the date set to a date before you left, and save them on your hard drive. I can't see that it would come to that, though, especially if you have a selection of old lenses with you that fit the camera. If you are planning on buying the camera as soon as you arrive, I'd just take the lenses and leave the film camera behind.

When I lived in the UK I bought several lenses and two cameras while abroad, and never had a problem.

Thanks for the link, Damian. I'd love to see some images taken using old A or M lenses if you have any......

Lol! You can't edit titles of threads here when you make a mistake!

Thanks guys! I'm looking at shooting a frame every 2-4 secs, varying with altitude. Some will be day shots flying over interesting terrain, some will be night shots over cities. All will be shot in RAW. I also want to try shooting a sunrise from high altitude, which I guess might present problems as I'll have to somehow vary exposure compensation while shooting. I've no idea how to go about that.

looks good! Any chance of a link to full-sized images?

I'm wondering if anyone could give me some tips on time-lapse photography? I'm looking to try it out using the Ricoh GR from an aircraft. I've got a rough idea of settings and timing etc, but would welcome any input, and also any advice on software to use to put it all together, any tricks or things to watch out for etc etc...

Any advice much appreciated.

Jon