Jeff Lynne was known for experimenting with every instrument he could lay hands on. I suspect Olivia Newton John was an experiment too far!

We used to have a similar visitor, a black cat that just wandered in and out as the mood took her. She was definitely owned as she had a collar, so I suspect our house was infinitely more interesting than hers!

Did wonders for keeping the mice out too. Never saw her catching any but I think the fact that a cat was about (and the presence of a cat must leave some scent, even if it doesn't spray) put them off.

Personally I want a Norwegian Forest Cat. Huge, intelligent and friendly furballs which are about the same size as a normal adult cat at 18 weeks old, and continue growing from there!

Doesn't look too complicated - all you do is unclip the metal frame securing the old screen, remove it with tweezers, install the new one in the same way and refit the clip. I'm planning to follow the advice someone gave about working in the bathroom just after someone has had a shower, as apparently that will keep dust levels to a minimum. My old screen has a couple of specks and a lump of something or other on it anyway so I'm hoping to improve on this.

From what I can work out the problem only occurs when the lens is actually stopped down to the smaller aperture (as when using depth of field preview or with M42 lenses). As I only use K mount lenses on mine the lens is held at the largest aperture for focussing, and I don't have depth of field preview anyway (I use digital preview/histogram for the same thing). It shouldn't therefore pose a problem.

Meanwhile my ancient 2nd hand Slik 500G has yet to show any sign of shedding parts, and cost me about £8 including postage!

The legs aren't quite straight and they do wobble around a bit until you get it set up, but it holds a camera steady and weighs next to nothing. What more can you ask for the money?

We've got a pheasant at the moment. I feel no urge to shoot it. In fact I'm quite proud that it's hiding out in our garden and I'm hoping it'll stay as it's a bit different to the usual garden birds and it doesn't seem to do any harm. It's surprisingly tame too, I was able to get within a few metres of it with camera in hand!

I've ordered one of the screens mentioned in this thread. Hopefully it'll work as well for me, as I love the old lenses (especially my M 28mm f3.5) but sometimes struggle with getting them properly focussed. I know about the green hexagon and beep but they don't always work in low light, and besides which it'll be better for composition if I'm looking in the middle of the viewfinder rather than peering at the little green hexagon to tell me it's in focus.

The MX is the only M series body I've used much - I also have an ME Super, MG and a couple of MV1s here but oddly enough the MX is much more appealing to use.

I think it's now going to morph from "pocket SLR" to "accessorised monster"

Nah, I already have a Pentax-F 35-80mm if I want soft focus!

Bought that lens thinking "Goody, an 80mm lens in a very compact package". Then found that images were dull and lifeless as well as being soft.

I now have a winder for my MX. Think £50 may have been a little over the odds, but I haggled it down from £70 and I don't often see the MX winders.

Wish I knew why on earth Pentax had to make the MX so it needed its own dedicated winder rather than the usual Winder ME II, which fits pretty much all the other M-series bodies!