That's an interesting point - should the reviewer have to fine tune something sent from a manufacturer or is his/her job to test what has been sent, as-is?

We're talking about two different things. In any event it's impossible IMHO to judge DOF from the viewfinder, or from the back screen either, because they are both too small. Turn it into an A3 print and we're in a different ball game.

This is why if I'm going for maximum DOF I use the, say, f8 markers on a lens but actually set the lens to f11. This of course assumes that the lens does actually have DOF indicator markings. Most manual focus ones do. Most zooms do not.

I'll leave the thread as a record of this, but lock it.

That part too is available from SRS.

As you've got a special edition it might be best to return it to JP Solutions under warranty. Once fixed I'm sure things will be fine, although it's very frustrating when things go wrong.

I'd suggest not using auto ISO. I always set a fixed value so that all images will have the same noise structure. ISO can be adjusted manually very easily if needed.

I'm surprised that people are using such high ISO values with flash. With studio flash we would be using ISO100 or ISO200 and getting apertures from f8 to f16 depending on the setup.

If the ISO is too high there is no aperture small enough to expose correctly.

Almost right. The "standard" lens for a format is traditionally considered to be the diagonal measurement of that format. The diagonal for a 36x24mm frame measures just about 43mm. Pentax have been the only manufacturer as fara sI can tell who have made a "true standard" for the 135 film format.

However, early lens making also took its traditions from Leica, which used available cine focal lengths, so 50mm was widespead. Something slightly longer is easier to make, so 58mm was often used for wide aperture standard lenses.

Relating this to the real world, a "standard" lens is one that comes closest to showing a scene as our eyes see it.

Anyway, back to the point. Does anyone have a flash cap for our OP?

I don't lose the pouch because it's an antique - my mother's wedding ring came in it in 1950.

For my business cards I use a small leather wallet from around 1915, which also has spaces for stamps that happen to be exactly the right size for SD cards.

For any AA batteries I have a flip top container that housed cufflinks and is exactly the right size for 4 AA batteries.....