I have just sold several Leica R lenses on eBay, and I can assure you that they did not prove to be worthless, not by a long way.

I hope this doesn't seem too harsh, but if I don't say what I think the comments may not be much use to you.

I think there are some technical issues here that need attention. The first is depth of field. At the moment very little of these flowers is actually in focus. I'm not sure what aperture you used, but I would suggest f16 as a starting point, plus carefully focusing on the hyperfocal distance.

The second is composition, which needs more precision IMHO. No 3 in particular has a long straight stem that seems quite intrusive - perhaps angling the flower more and making the image a lot less long would help.

No 4 has a good basic idea, but the centre of the flower has been cut off and the stem isn't really helpful to the composition. This could be tried again with a slight rearrangement.

The first ones have a very garish background - backgrounds should set off the subject, but not compete with it for attention.

Finally, overall sharpness needs to be much crisper. Small apertures, solid tripod, good lighting and attention to detail in the composition will all pay dividends for the next batch. It's all about practice, practice, practice....

Well, probably the Olympus users are feeling more miffed about the new DSLR than anyone here is about the lack of FF. They have been told the new camera "will probably be the last 4/3 with a mirror system" and yet again Olympus leave their users behind for new lands.

It's interesting how a corporate ethos persists. To our good, as Pentax have always supported their heritage of lenses as much as the technology allows, unlike some other marques.

Thanks for the invite, but working tomorrow and Sunday!

Sounds good. I bought a white one, now the new gunmetal one looks rather fine as well. Or maybe the black?

Which colour did you end up with?

As far as compacts go, getting a viewfinder isn't that easy these days. The I-10 delivers excellent quality and is rather nice to handle. The W90 is waterproof and shockproof, which is a useful idea.

If you want an electronic viewfinder, how about the X90? Although larger than a compact, it's not as big as a DSLR and it produces excellent results.

None of the above. If Pentax want to, that's fine. If they don't want to, that's also fine.

Levens Hall in the South Lakes was still OK last weekend, but it is indeed getting late.

It might depend very much on the details of the local climate where you live.

It would be far better to go to a house with gardens that are open to the public - maybe a National Trust one. The flowers will be in better settings, no-one will bother you as you potter around the grounds.

A garden centre is not going to pay you for images taken on its own premises - how many such photos do they use now?

Practice flower photography in a better setting and when you have the quality right then you'll be ready for the marketplace.

Be aware though that there is an over-supply of flower and plant images so yours will have to be xceptionally good and in the right place to be seen.

When we cleared out some old stuff at the camera club, we found Magnesium Ribbon and Flash Powder....an explosive combination indeed.