These are very nice indeed.

I too would love a signed one please Bill. I just ordered it.

I'll back up Vic with Vienna. One tip there if you are visiting out of season: book a limo from the airport (not much dearer than a taxi). The hotel doorman reports your arrival to reception and you often get an upgrade ! We had a small suite last February from a standard reservation And be sure to visit the opera house!

Hair cut?? .... Sod that! I haven't been near a barbers shop since it all began and I now won't. It's turned out lovely and thick and wavy, down to my collar now and progressing nicely. Silver grey as befits my advancing years. All sorts of possibilities open up - pink rinses, soft perms. I could even turn it dayglo green!

I'm always the awkward so and so. I really like #2 - and #4 could almost be smoke from a fire. There was no shortage of drama up there.

It's a top class shot. The 'tension' between the crisp foreground and the atmospheric distant view isn't immediately apparent but once you have noted it it really pulls the whole piece together.

No disassembly needed at all. If you are dexterous, you can do it, as is. You can, if you wish, remove the rear mount (two small screws that secure it and then a very long unscrewing job to take it off) which will allow you to remove two more small screws to release the plate entirely.

As far as I am aware, only the one factory made them. I never look at the 'buy it now' section of EBay because prices tend to be highly inflated. But roberrl is correct - there are indeed dozens of them, mainly concentrated in the Ukraine. So if you want to spend 70 or 80 quid ...... ? I got mine for a fraction of that.

The plate inside the rear mount is about 1inch x 3/4inch and it sits flat against the barrel to cover the stop down lever. Any passing light just gets splattered all over the place resulting in complete washout. I really don't know how they dared try to sell it. Stick some matte black velvet over it - job done.

Bah ! Humbug !

Thank you everyone. I'm pleased that you like it. I think it will be a little while before one shows up on E bay though!

One final example is a simple snapshot of a telecoms mast. The enlargement to 100% hasn't been touched in any way. The detail is amazing and would be more so with a bit of processing.