I did consider trying some other film types, as I seem to have developing HP5 cracked now. Only snag is that I'm pretty sure all the others take a lot longer to process, and I already get a seriously sore thumb from turning the knob!

No complaints with HP5, great film for all round use. Not much grain and tolerates my home processing.

I might be able to rescue that - I have the undamaged optics from a Jessops PK-A 2x TC which may be the same...

The 2x TC I have is a lot more use as an extension tube with auto contacts however!

I wouldn't like to process colour in it as I suspect it would be almost impossible to keep the temperatures spot on.

I use Ilford HP5 and Microphen developer along with their own fixer, which seems a pretty tolerant combination and works perfectly when I time the various stages using a standard wristwatch. It takes roughly 15mins to develop a film from loading it to hanging it up to dry. As you have to give the knob a half turn every two seconds to agitate the film you do not want to use anything requiring a long developing time - HP5 and Microphen works out at 6mins 30secs, then 5mins in the fixer. As it is I tend to get an annoying blister on my right thumb from turning the knob!

The Rondinax tanks are not hugely common. There are versions for 35mm and 120 film, and I know of two versions of the 35mm one. Mine is the earlier Bakelite one which could date from any time between the 1920s to the 1960s judging by the box design, the later one has a large white plastic knob in place of the black one on this example and I'm given to understand that it's made from a more modern plastic.

I tend to pre-warm mine to 20C by putting it in the airing cupboard for a while, then process the film.

It is also recommended that you don't worry too much about a bit of dust. I managed to ruin what would have been a rather nice Tokina PK-A fit 28-70mm lens by attempting to dismantle it and clean the dust out many years ago.

I use one of the Agfa tanks - paid about £6 for mine and it was worth every penny! Do follow the instructions to the letter, especially about loading film as if you don't make sure that the film is feeding into the guide properly then you'll end up with a mangled mess wrapped around the spool like a winch rope rather than a film in the spiral groove.

See this photo to see what I mean - you need to make sure that the edges of the film curve downwards as it goes into the guide. There is enough leader to ensure this before you put the lid on and wind the rest of the film in.

I'm basing that assumption on the fact that if I set both camera and flash to P, then change the ISO on the camera, the aperture changes to match (when compared to the ISO table on the flash). Shutter speed seems to stay far lower than the sync speed of 1/180 but I've never had any problems with blurring.

What I don't know is whether the flash's light sensor plays any role. I know with the original Auto flashes (AF160, AF200S) it did, as you were effectively handing over metering to the flashgun which would give the correct light output for a good exposure providing that you had set the camera as it expected.

I may have to put a finger over the sensor and see what effect it has!

Edit, tried that, it does seem to make a difference. The shot taken with a finger over the sensor was overexposed, which would suggest that it does vary the output.

Be a bit careful before you go clipping any old flash on - check the trigger voltage first. You can do this with a multimeter set to measure DC volts, just turn the flash on, let it charge, then touch the positive probe to the centre stud and the negative to the side contact on the hotshoe foot.

I mention this as I've just found a couple of harmless-looking tiny flashes running from 2 AAs which have trigger voltages of over 200V! Needless to say neither will be going anywhere near my K-m. It appears that Pentax units are safe, although you should check. You can pick up a multimeter for £5 and it'll be handy for diagnosing faults in all sorts of things.

I suspect you're using the same mode as my K-m and AF240Z do - it seems as though Pentax included support for the old Program flash mode (from the pre-TTL era on things like the P30T) in their DSLRs. The camera takes account of the flash, sets the right aperture according to the ISO you set, and then sets a shutter speed according to its metering.

The modern digital bodies will even work with the early AF160 - I tried mine last night while bored and found that with camera in M mode with the shutter set to 1/180 and aperture set according to the table on the back of the unit I got both a "flash ready" indicator light and perfect exposures while using the Auto modes on the flash. I doubt I'll use this combination much (bought it as a pocket flash for my ME Super) but it was still nice to see technology from about thirty years apart working happily together!

Does having used saliva count?

I had one lens that wouldn't clean up at all, there was some sort of grease on the front element which the lens pen would only make a pretty pattern in. I licked a finger and wiped it gently over the surface (as I was out with no access to the normal optical cleaning spray I use), then polished clean with a soft cloth and finished off with the lens pen. Perfect!

I'd rather just have a plain LX to be honest, these special editions don't add any extra features IIRC? I might also be tempted to buy a jammed one and then send it for servicing, as at least that way you'd know when it came back that it was likely to work for a decent length of time.

Buying professional gear used must be a bit of a minefield as you've no idea how intensively it was used by previous owners - something like an ME Super on the other hand is quite likely to have only come out of the wardrobe for the annual holiday and maybe the odd wedding.

There is an LX 2000 on ebay at the moment (listed in Japan) for £2500 or so.

K7, DA 21mm, DA 50-135mm, FA* 80-200mm and FA* 250-600mm!