I was pleased to find a black one I think they look better than the silver finish.

As for that shelf, old cameras don’t disappear they find their way to the Sargasso Sea of Cameras and it’s a bit more than a shelf! 😎

It's the infamous mirror mechanism, victim of plastic gearing...Not worth getting it repaired even if someone was willing/able to do it. It's usually better to just find another one that works, which is a shame as I would prefer to keep things in use rather than them ending up as ornaments or even landfill.

I needed an MZ series camera for some product shots, so found a long shot on eBay. It advertised an MZ-5N plus 28-70mm f/4 and 80-320mm FA lenses, "untested", which could mean anything. Anyway, for £19.99 it was perhaps worth a bid. And I won, the package arrived within 24 hours and the contents were interesting.

1 small mint Tamrac bag held all the kit
MZ-5N is non-working but in perfect condition for the photos I need
24-70mm shows separation byt again mint condition
80-320mm perfect condition, fully working and clean throughout.

So the package was worth the price, and the 80-320mm is a solid lens that with even a quick couple of shots shows it has great potential.

I really do like those intense blacks, it's all very moody.....

Bags are such personal things. We've ended up with masses of them, none of which at the time could be resisted. The smaller the better for the situation envisaged as any exceess weight or bulk will only discourage the kit being being taken places. Another bigger bag can be bought later, and almost certainly will be if the bug bites.

However, at first just camera with lens fitted and a spare battery are needed to carry the kit around. It should be easy to open and access the interior and preferably with a strap that can be worn across the shoulders so it's not constantly slipping off. A trip to a local camera shop should find something suitable.

Hope that helps!

The lighting was daylight though the openings in the cruck barn at Arley Hall, the diffusion coming from a smoke machine. I arranged the models to face the light as best i could and judged the moment for the smoke. Other than that, the choices were limited by the situation and the number of people milling about.

There was a peaky Blinders look-alike event at Arley Hall today (Saturday) along with the rooms in the hall being dressed as they were for filming. It continues for Sunday and Monday. They encouraged people to come along in costume, so Sue bought a new 1920s "flapper" dress and it was a fun morning. Some pictures:








Shot with the Pentax K-1 plus the SMC Pentax-FA 43mm f/1.9 Limited lens. I'm just putting the final touches to an article for PU that's tentatively called "The Battle of the 43mm Lenses", and as there's only one other it might be a bit of a challenge. We'll see what transpires.

Beautiful landscapes!

I can understand someone feeling a bit unsure about the judging aspect. If that's the case, the commenting is optional, so it would be possible to just select the winners and leave it at that. It's a bit disppointing for those who might be looking forward to reading some comments, but at least it becomes more inclusive.

Any thoughts from anyone?

We will both be out there before the deadline, it's on the to-do list!