The only reservation about the new Ltd lenses is that the application of a new coating , however good it may be, is the occasion for a swingeing increase in the retail price - well over £100. I'm entirely happy to do without the claimed marginal increase in contrast when shooting against the light.

True enough, though you can plausibly read the currency movements of the past year as the tentative beginning of a realignment with pre-2008 levels and reckon that Japanese companies have lost quite a bit because of unfavourable exchange rates since the financial crisis, even with recent price increases in some areas taken into account.

Apologies if these have been mentioned on the forum already. The first two are ebooks edited by David DuChemin, who established Craft & Vision and offers these two compilations free, as a taster. The third is a NZ magazine. The link is to the first issue, but it's easy to navigate from there to the 25 other issues that are available. It, too, is free.

http://craftandvision.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3a17aa8802f4a8960a46d1f2...

http://craftandvision.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=3a17aa8802f4a8960a46d1f...

http://www.f11magazine.com/site/pdf/f11%20Magazine%20-%20Issue%201%20-%20July%202011.pdf

I like no.6 (the empty bench); it might be even more pleasing cropped square, losing much of the foliage. There is nothing particularly memorable about 4, 5, and 7 but they are pleasant views and largely unexceptionable compositions. The other five seem blighted to varying degrees by items that (compositionally) have been placed in the foreground. That wooden picnic table gets much more attention than it deserves for such an uninteresting piece of furniture. And the positioning of that urn does nothing for it or the house behind. NT properties are not always as easy to photograph as they might seem, particularly if there are hordes of people about, and summer sun doesn't often do any photographer favours.

For some of the shots, varying the DoF would help direct the eye to what you consider interesting. In the penultimate shot, eg, I find my eye flitting from the house to the garden. Where is the zone of interest? It may not always be feasible - eg if you are with family - but taking a tripod might help on many occasions, if only because it'll make everything a useful bit slower and more considered. There are some great arboretums within your area -- particularly over the next few weeks when the colours in the leaves are at their peak, why not try to visit one and experiment away with DoF and composition?

I lived in Surrey for many years so I know all the places you've photographed. It is not always easy to translate their beauty from three dimensions into two. But I suspect you need to further develop a 'way of seeing' to do them proper justice.

Snapseed is pretty good, particularly for a free app. I've only used the i- version but presumably the android one is much the same

On my iPad the second one does look a touch oversharpened. It probably needs more selective sharpening -- it looks as though the foliage beyond the rocks has received the same dose as the rocks. I use Lightroom 3 (and a K5) and generally put the slider between 70 and 80 on landscapes, but usually with a significant amount of masking. But as David says, every case differs a bit (and sometimes a lot).

Agree with ChrisA -- or, rather, my experience was the same. Such a pity, given its potential usefulness. It does need a means to self-calibrate. Oh well ...

Ah, you had a two-year warranty. I think for an item like a flash, it's trickier to make an argument under SOGA.

You might ask the retailer to get it repaired. If you bought from a Pro-centre your warranty will be two years. If not, you could try to rely on the Sale of Goods Act -- ie, essentially, an item costing what yours cost shouldn't have one of its features pack up after 13 months. There is plenty of guidance on the Internet to the rights you have under this legislation. It is not always easy to enforce, though, particularly if you bought from a retailer such as Amazon.