The "sunny 16" rule is an emergency assistance for calculating exposure from a known value.

The full rule covers when and where we expect a 100 ISO film to be correctly exposed at 1/100 sec and f16. This specifies the UK and similar latitudes in Europe, summer, mid-day, bright unfettered sunshine. This is remarkably accurate and has been since it was twigged since the ASA scale was taken on board almost universally. (100 ISO = 100 ASA)

There's no intention that f16 be used for all exposures, everything else can be deduced from that figure by exploring the rest of the table, making adjustments for time, location, time of year, lighting conditions.

A similarly accurate table of suggested exposures could be found inside every box of film ever sold, either in the leafloet provided or printed on the inside of the box.

Pentax and Sigma have different service arrangements in the UK, so an independent repairer might be more appropriate over here.

When I selected the crop I adjusted it until I felt the proportions were right.

I think I'm going through a "realistic" phase and am becoming inclined to leave things in. The other sign is there, it could be cloned out easily enough, but then the image wouldn't be accurate any more as a representation of what I saw.

I'm not making any judgement with this image, just showing what was there.

It makes no difference whatsoever. I'd choose the one that looked best to my eyes from an aesthetic point of view.

Having ended the Secret Tunnels tour on Deansgate, on the way back to the car we saw this incredibly lit building. Around 1/10s with SR and the support of a local friendly lampost, with a couple of attempts to choose the sharpest from. 400 ISO, K20D, 16-45mm.
[IMG]http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/johnriley1uk/023-Deansgate-at-Night.jpg[/IMG]

Excellent shots. The propellors could do with a bit more movement in them, but they're pretty good anyway!

Have you been defecting to a Leica forum again? Tut tut....

It's a trade off between what your rights are, what is realistically available and what you actually want.

Amazon seem to take the stance that you took an item, one item, and they are prepared to refund you what you paid. This is because they don't have any more stock. Is this reasonable? As far as it goes maybe it is. If you sued for a replacement would they have to get you a new 16-50mm lens? Maybe, maybe not, but it would cost and the outcome would not be quick.

I would, personally, go for the repair from Pentax and in the meantime invest in either a 16-45mm (£200-ish) or 18-55mm to tide me over whilst I waited for the warranty repair. If the former, you should be able to resell later at little loss. If the latter it won't cost much anyway.

Doing this will cost less than what you would lose by returning the kit to Amazon, and be quicker restoring your photography as well.

You could select the background using the Magic Wand tool, then select levels, choose the right hand white point button and click in the area selected. It will be rendered pure white.

The selection may need modifying and perfecting after use of the Magic Wand, depending upon the accuracy of the auto selection.

I doubt very much that Hoya Corporation notices if a staunch supporter of their products "defects" to another brand.