I was a member of the PU club for a long time, there used to be a leaflet in the box of new cameras. This was before the web, the magazine was the main reason to be in the club. IIRC it was £10 a year for the quarterly magazine. This would likely have been '91 after I bought my Z-1.

Somewhere I have some original leaflets from an MEF I bought on ebay - basically the receipt from Curry's, PU leaflet, some bumf about Sam Haskins and perhaps more.

The circulation figures don't tell how much profit/loss they're making though. I've given up buying any magazines apart from BJP (which I choose to support), none provide anything you can't get more dynamically from the web and I'm fed up with the constant Pentax bashing. Most magazines are getting lighter and lighter in content and many of the articles feel like they've been dredged up from the '80s (again): "Take control back with Manual", "Filters for your seascapes" etc.

The AP website recently had an article gushing on about how if you buy a particular camera you get a free copy of a really useful & versatile image processing program which could avoid you having to pay for PS - and that program is... Silkypix (which has been a negative comment in most Pentax DSLR reviews).

One magazine recently reviewed a Leica M10 Monochrom, concluding with something along the line of "It's a great camera capable of stunning results, it's just a shame it's so expensive that very few people will be able to enjoy it" - I'm sure many people feel like that about many luxury items.

I used to read Outdoor Photographer, but their gear reviews seemed to become more and more outdoors gear lifted from other publications. It's not that I have no interest, I just don't need a review of £200 sleeping bags or £300 tents* when that will buy me useful photo gear.

* I do have an old Vango Force 10 which admittedly seem 'astonishingly' expensive these days...

I'd agree fingers are fine, you may need clips & hooks to hang the film for drying (I have photo ones but anything suitable should work). You may also need a cartridge opener and or leader extractor (I prefer to leave the leader out and load the film back through the slot in the cartridge for 35mm). Funnels to pour the chemicals back into the bottle - not those from the kitchen...

Oh, and the obligatory 'dummy' roll to practice your loading technique, time, patience and swearing.

I agree Jonathan. I'm amazed as to some body prices, not just the classic mechanical marvels but also many of the automatics (even some of the Vivitar/Cosina clones!). It wouldn't surprise me one bit in the current climate if classic Olympus body prices surge.

The lens price increases are much more recent than the K-1 launch and mirrorless trend would suggest. If anything, as the mirrorless market matures, there should be much more 'cheaper' used native glass available - avoiding the need for clunky adapters and loss of functionality.

I've just been looking at used M, A & FA prices, they seem to be increasing rapidly. M/1.4s are hitting £100, A/1.4s more and FA/1.4s are routinely £200+. I've also seen a few 1.7s for £50+ which previously were hard to give away...

I find it a poor (or really interesting) shot for this comparison. Both are effectively monochromatic (one colour), there's a bit of brown in the colour version but not enough to balance the green.

As mentioned above, I struggle without a focal point, but prefer the green version as very few foliage shots look better in black & white IMHO.

It seems that 35mm colour film (Ektar, Provia, Portra) has become very expensive compared to those in 120 format. I can't see myself shooting my way through 36 exposures half as much as I used to, 10-15 on 120 is much more manageable. This makes 5 rolls of 120 for £40 (ish) much more interesting than 3 or 4 rolls of 35mm.

Monochrome is different as I'm looking at restarting my own development at home. FP4+, HP5+ are both reasonably priced and there's always Kentmere 100 (which I quite like).

I dislike the modular straps, I've heard stories of them separating unexpectedly. I cable tied the halves of the plastic buckles of my OpTech when I used it on the P67 - before removing it for an OEM strap.

Worth a look: https://m.dpreview.com/news/0303883162/peak-design-anchor-connector-issue-replac...

How's about a supposed mint black Spotmatic F for Leica money : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202697485561

I'm not at all surprised, an 85/1.4 is always harder (read more expensive) to make than a 50/1.4 so it was bound to be roughly double the DFA*50/1.4 price. Makes the FA77 seem like a bargain...