If it bothered me I would contact eBay and ask for clarification.

I think this means that the first person to pay the reserve price or more will get it at the reserve price. So if my bid is £210 then I'll pay the reserve price of £199.99, not £210.

Make a report and ask IT to reset it for you.

A PM is a Private Message. New members can't initiate one but if an existing member sends one then they can reply. This is much safer than publishing an e-mail address.

I'm not sure we have a right to be extremely angry!

I would differ in that when something goes wrong it's a good idea to simply approach the people concerned in a straightforward way, explain the problem, indicate the resolution that will satisfy you and then just let them do it and sort it out.

If they don't do that then we get into different territory, but in general a reasonable attitude rather than an angry one gets better and more willing results. It also leaves everyone happy and ready to deal again.

That second image is gorgeous Chris. That is saleable IMHO. The first one would be if the sharpness was better and the background not so obtrusive. It does have the cuteness factor though.

Asahi Photo or Harrow Technical. I wouldn't try to clean a screen or mirror as you'll damage them almost certainly.

The foam disintegrates after 30 years or so and this is something common to all makes of camera of that era. The foam you refer to is a mirror shock absorber and it absorbs the shock of the mirror as it flips up.

There is similar foam all aound the back of the camera and this is a light seal. That may wello be gone as well. When it all goes black and sticky it's horrible to remove.

By preference, I would have the SDM fixed and then there's no problem. I don't think you can do this, but you could use manual focus. Alternatively, use an older body or a K10D without the 1.03 firmware upgrade.

I would suggest you find a lab that does E-6 processing - there are plenty of them and a Google search will bring you more than enough options. Always start with the best original possible.

Cross processing is development in negative chemistry, like a print film, using process C-41 in this case. The colours will be wild and false and the scan won't help. In theory you would be able to correct this to some degree in Photoshop, but you are unlikely to find that easy.

If you want prints use a print film. If you want slides process them properly. You could try The Darkroom, an excellent processing house.

http://www.the-darkroom.co.uk/

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To explain further, the +1 sharpness in camera is done for a specific reason. fotoLibra, the online image library, specify certain parameters for the images uploaded for sale. One of these is that no Photoshop sharpening at all should be done, but it is OK to apply a small amount of sharpening in camera. Counter-intuitive this may seem, but if that's what the buyers want then that's what they get. There has to be a reason and no doubt it is to do with the process of printing in books and magazines.

They also now insist on JPEG files and have converted their TIFF back catalogue already. Likewise, they want sRGB and the printers do their own CMYK conversions.

In practice, for more general applications, their is no discernable difference to the end result by adding that +1 sharpness and before web or print I do also apply some USM in Photoshop.