Blimey. Which gizmo can do all that????

Lots of good points in favour of learning digitally. Probably the main reason I chose analogue is that I live 100 yards from an amazing photographic centre where I can join a thriving community of film users (some of whom are very comely females) and have lessons subsidised by the Arts Council, i.e. all you taxpayers! Plus I'm fascinated by the machinery of my LX and Spotmatic for some reason. And I have lots of time for a new hobby. My digital compact has lots of manual settings so I can incorporate that into the learning process. I had ruled out buying a DSLR on the grounds of cost but McGregNi's suggestion to get an old cheap one has got me thinking....I bet there are some bargains out there...

This is exactly the kind of thing I want to understand. I suppose it needs a diagram to explain it, with rays of light and prisms and mirrors and whatnot. I also want to find out how the size of the aperture is measured and how it relates to the F number, and where the lens size in mm comes into it. Looking forward to getting some books. This photography malarkey is a closed world full of secret jargon - and I want in on it all. Don't ask me why. Probably the same urge which made me build a bicycle frame and wheels.

Actually I don't think it's the least bit sticky - it was my fault for doing something wrong with the shutter dial.

OK, all tests passed with flying colours! Many thanks for your help.

Oh dear. I fired the shutter with no lens and the mirror has stuck. What do I do now?

Edit: I tweaked the shutter dial and the mirror flipped back and is operating fine. I think I just need to learn what the dial does.

Thanks GaryJohn, I'll have that. The seller has other books about photography...1,238 of them! If you're bored maybe you could pick out something else for me! http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Goldstone-Books/_i.html?_nkw=photography&submit=Search&...

Too true! If I get my act together maybe I'll save a bit at Photofusion. They charge £4.15 for processing and I'll be doing printing and scanning myself. The darkroom is £22 for 4 hrs, the scanning suite is £30 per hour.

I'm fascinated by it! Bought on ebay and arrived today. Got any tips on checking its condition?

My LX arrived today. It has the FB-1 system finder and FC-1 action finder combo, like this http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolf-t/5503073285/ (not my picture). I was expecting the viewfinder to be rock solid when mounted, just like a lens. But there's a little bit of slack between the FB-1 and the body. It rattles a lot when I shake the body. Is this normal?