I don't know why, but I get the impression that the Boots film is rebranded Fuji?

Remember that Kodachrome required specialist developing, which more conventional slide films don't. I'll bet this played a large part in causing it to be discontinued. I know Ilford recently issued a press release along the lines of "We're now one of very few B&W film manufacturers and are doing pretty well as a result".

There may be a decline in choice, but film will still be available while there are functioning cameras to use it in.

Although that said I should probably pop into Boots and snap up another 3 for 2 on slide film, just to give their sales an upward nudge!

Any of the older Pentax auto flashes (with "AF" in front of the digits) will work and give you a choice between auto and manual modes. The trick is finding the right one - here are some worth a look:

AF200S
AF200T
AF240Z
AF280T

The AF240Z will work in program, auto or manual modes on digital and has a tilt head, the TTL mode on the two T suffixes won't work but they still have assorted auto and manual modes. The AF280T has a pan/tilt head and the flash output in manual can be adjusted which makes it quite desirable.

The AF200T is sometimes available very cheaply. It has a fixed head but offers very accurate manual power settings along with the auto modes. I know a few people use them as slave flashguns for this reason.

If you go that way aim for the P30T (or N?) rather than the plain P30. The T version allows you to use Av mode, P or metered manual while the original is either P or metered manual, which is a bit of a pain with pre A-series lenses.

Providing nothing was forced after the shutter jammed it's sometimes possible to unstick it with a strategic squirt of lighter fluid. I have an unusual ME which came to me jammed and has since gone through a roll of film with no problems. If anything was forced then something will now be bent or twisted internally and a professional service would be needed.

Odd - I had a brief go with the deep red IR filter on my K-m with kit lens when I got it but couldn't get anything other than blackness! I'll try it again sometime. I rather assumed that there was an IR filter in front of the sensor which blocks attempts to take such photos with a DSLR.

My technique with the film is to set the exposure up for the smallest aperture, focus, then fit the filter and knock seven stops off the shutter speed. This is where the cable release and wristwatch come in, as 30 second exposures in daylight are not unheard of and four or eight second ones common.

Reminds me of the stabiliser (or whatever it's called) you find on compound (archery) bows. It's basically a metal rod you screw into the front of the bow which helps balance it.

I dunno, Ilford SFX and a filter is a much simpler way of taking infra-red photos than fiddling about having a DSLR converted. Even if you do need a watch with a second hand to time some of the exposures!

Actually the AF280T isn't "dumb" - the auto modes will still work on digital as they use the flashgun's own light sensor and assume that you've set aperture/shutter speed/ISO to what the flash expects. The only mode which won't work on digital is TTL, unless you're using an *ist D or one of the variants thereof.

This goes for all the AF-prefixed flashes, although anything with SA as a suffix will be rather limited as they only support program flash. Stick to those with S or T on the end (or the AF160 and AF240Z, which belong in this category) as these will all illuminate the "flash ready" light in your viewfinder and have a switch to choose auto or manual modes.

My theory is that all wildlife can tell how long a lens you have and will move just out of reach. Red Kites certainly know how to do this - they'll always hover just beyond your range or turn up, hang around for a while, then drift away as soon as you pick a camera up!

I thought that was the Olympic (Titanic's older sister and the only one of the three to survive into the 1930s)? Hit by HMS Hawke after suction caused by the passing of the Olympic pulled the warship out of control, ended up with a triangular-shaped hole in her side and a bent propshaft. This actually delayed Titanic's maiden voyage as they took one of her propshafts to repair Olympic.

That sounds rather like the Jessops one I've got. The only thing it has over the official Pentax winder is a timer setting where it will take photos at set intervals (between 5 seconds and 5 minutes with two or three steps in between). Keep meaning to make a remote for it as the original was missing, I need to get to Maplin for a jack plug, small case, and a couple of press buttons (one latching, one not). The latching one would be for the timer mode (where you need to keep the button held down) with the conventional push to make for normal use. I'd have stuffed it in the bottom of the wardrobe by now if it didn't have this odd but potentially useful feature, it's nothing like as well made as the Pentax winders.

I do have a Winder ME II but the A3 has a built-in winder, so I'll stick with that.

In my experience the best of the M zooms are the 35-70mm, 75-150mm and 80-200mm. That said, the often maligned 40-80mm is a pretty decent lens and good for travel use with an M series body as it gives you a closeup/macro mode and is sharp while doing so.

The only snag with the K and M zooms is the size and weight of the things. You can slip the 135mm f3.5 into a pocket, try that with the 75-150mm and you start getting suspicious looks!