Cheers guys, I'm a primary colour sort of person - never really saw the point of having an RGB sensor then converting the output to monochrome...

<ducks to avoid flying brickbats from forum members who consider such things heresy>

Fiona might have missed the boat a bit - most of the rockery flowers got spoilt by the snow on Sunday (although the tulips survived). Still, I've got some nice dahlias ready to go into the ground as soon as I'm sure the frosts have finished for the year so stay tuned!

All taken with K10D / FA43 / FA77 / D-FA100 over the last week in my garden, c&c's welcome!

Lovely sky in #1, the dark petrol blue / grey tones really give the impression of an incoming storm.

I like the version in your second post the best; the darkness gives it a broody feel that sums up the weather quite nicely.

Yes, if ever a frog could be descibed as looking "smug" then it's this one!

Nice captures although the lighting looks a little too harsh for my tastes - have you tried using something over your flash to act as a diffuser and soften the light? There are several mini softboxes on the market from people like Lumiquest, or with a bit of ingenuity and DIY you could make your own. Just an idea.

I think you'll be very happy with it - the VF retailed at around £250 and Minolta meters are incredibly rugged so there's no reason to suppose you won't get many, many years good service from it. Congratulations!

I have a Minolta Auto Meter III like this one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Minolta-Auto-Light-Meter-3-Metering-Booster-2-more_W0QQitemZ150232925051QQihZ005QQcategoryZ708QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I paid £30 for it about 5 years ago (used) and it's extremely good for ambient light readings but doesn't take flash readings (expect to pay quite a bit more for a flash meter). I don't have the booster that's shown in the above listing but I did get a spot metering attachment thrown in.

I also have an old Weston meter but it's very slow to reset itself when going from bright to dim conditions so I've kept it for sentimental reasons rather than practical ones.

I've never used a Pentax meter but they seem quite well thought of - and expensive. I don't think you can go far wrong with Minolta though IMO.

The look in the eye of the bottom mallard is priceless - excellent capture!

Very nicely done; subtle yet effective.

Another stunningly quick (and very good) judgment - well done Chirpy! And congratulations George, look forward to next week's topic!

Oh yes, and there might be just a little CA visible but I don't find it offensive to my eyes so I tend to overlook it...