It does exactly what it promises to do, easily and accurately.

However, the only question that remains is whether or not we like portraits with sanitised skin and that characteristic "plastic" look.

Personally, I've gone off the effect, but it has its place.

One of the things being prepared before the cancellation of Pentax User magazine was an article comparing the new I-10 compact with the 110 system that it was intended to mimic. Here's a couple of examples of images:
Pentax 110, 50mm lens, 200 ISO
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/031-Arley-110.jpg[/IMG]
Pentax I-10 digital image:
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/032-Arley-I10.jpg[/IMG]
No contest in terms of quality I think! And instead of a gorgeous speedbag full of lenses, filters and other bits, we have just one tiny digital compact. There has been progress.

It is now in its proper place.

The best place to find a hood might well be a Camera Fair. I'm not sure where you are located, but there are big events in a few places around the country.

There you can try out hoods of various sizes, and you might find something suitable for less than a fiver.

These images to my eyes are lacking any real "bite" and sharpness, but I suspect that's more to do with how they have been processed for the web.

As it stands, we've seen sharper pictures from any of the Pentax DSLRs.

How did you resize the images? If you let Photobucket do it, then I'd recommend making the image the right size in Photoshop before you upload it.

Hope that helps!

A comment in the gallery prompts me to ask if we think an image needs a caption, or even an explanation? Or should it be sufficient as it is, after all a picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words...

But a snappy title can clinch an image, telling us that it is intended as serious, dramatic, humorous, ironic, or whatever. Obviously some subjects need some text, perhaps in a factual article, but do general pictorial ones need the same?

It can be counter productive to over-think these things!

It's there, where it always is, Gallery>Competitions

Unfortunately, meters can be calibrated both for 18% or 10% grey, which is one reason why there are discepancies between makes. We need to learn how to use our equipment and then stick with it.

There are of course all sorts of possible compositions. I chose the one I found balanced, as mentioned, but gave no consideration to whatever any signs were saying. Part of the function of the sign on the left is to confirm that the lighting on the main building was in fact that colour.

I can't remember what was on the right, but I certainly cropped it off so I can't have found it helpful.

Perhaps anyone who happens to be in Manchester would offer an alternative shot? :