It's alright thanks, folks, I came back to tell you I'm sorted.

I am now the proud owner of a Pentax Spotmatic F with 55, 35 and 105 Takumars for £15. I am pleased, the outfit was someone's pride and joy.

I am having it serviced at Harrow Technical, then I will be ok for a while.

Not to worry Paul. I am now the proud owner of an SPF, bought with three prime Takumar lenses (35, 55, and 105) for £15. I will have it serviced at Harrow Technical, then it ought to be sound for another decade or two.

And Cheers, Tim and Carol!

Definitely! Lots to learn. I might even get to like digital.

Looks like malware. Have you installed any apps recently? It's worth installing antivirus on Android devices, even though Google says you don't need them.

I recommend Sophos - very unobtrusive and has saved my bacon more than once. Free to download and use via the Play store.

Hi everyone!

Paul, I haven't been a member long enough to post private messages. But I would very much like to take up on your offer. I am working in Chesterfield next week so can come whenever you like after work. 07943 828251.

My other half sells jewellery. I'm not involved with the day to day photography so can't claim credit for the photos on her website, buy I did help her to get started with the setup she uses for everything.

She uses a small light tent, and two charity shop desk lamps with daylight bulbs bought from Amazon. The equipment all in cost about £35 apart from her DSLR and tripod.

The lights are outside the tent at about 40° to the piece being photographed. Backgrounds are homemade, wood painted in artist's gesso.

As stated above, exposure times are meaningless providing you have a good tripod (my Slik, purchased long before digital cameras were a thing). She sets the white balance manually, then uses the self timer for long exposures with small apertures; her camera underexposes by default so she has to dial in one and a half stops or so to get nice colours.

She has a nice little business selling online and through a growing selection of shops. I hope you will forgive the link, but it shows the pictures and I am very proud!

https://folksy.com/shops/GwinKerry

Thanks. That's really helpful advice, and a conclusion I was coming to. Everything wears out eventually.

I will look for a P30n. Harrow Technical's website quotes £76, so not too drastic. They don't have depth of field preview, do they? I haven't used one for 20+ years.

Interesting website Phillip!

A search for"Rocky Cameras problems" has put me off. He has annoyed a lot of people.

John - thanks for your comment. To be fair my other post was asking for a bricks and mortar camera shop; I didn't think to post a classified here till later. I used to have a really nice privately owned shop near me and if they hadn't closed down three years ago I'd only join to post pictures! Still, it is your forum, and of course I am happy to play by your rules.

Haris, that's a kind offer and I am interested. Drop me a line on 07943 828251(mods, my phone number is easy to find online so sharing it is no problem) or send an email to [email protected]">[email protected]. Thanks!

I've not been a member for long enough to do PMs, but would you accept £15 for the wide angle? I live in the Midlands but work in Kingsclere sometimes so could save you postage. I think I will next be there at the end of this month.

My phone number is 07943 828251.