Some years ago I added a hook to the bottom of my tripod's central column for hanging stuff on but I recently discovered these: LINK

No need to carry any extra weight with you, you just fill it up with rocks or something when you arrive where you're shooting.

The 645 A series lenses are plastic, the same as the A series lenses for 135 format, but they're bigger and thicker so they feel better. The 645 FA series are also plastic but much more flimsy, at least the 75/2.8 I owned was. Since I only had an original 645 camera, with no AF, I sold it and bought the A version instead, which is much better built.

Remember that many airports now have newer, more powerful x-ray scanners for hand luggage and they will completely destroy film with just one pass through them. To my mind this is an improvement because airport security staff can no longer fob people off with "no, it has to go through, it won't do it any harm" - they have to hand-inspect as the new machines will destroy film. So far I've only experienced this once (at Edinburgh) and the staff didn't complain at all. I did, however, forget to pick up the film again at the other end of security and had to run back for it once we were already through to the gate area.

Since 2018 Segovia has had an on/off festival of hot air balloons. Covid put the kybosh on it for a couple of years, one year it just didn't take place for unknown reasons, then on the day you never know when the wind will be too strong (it doesn't take much) or if there'll be only a few balloons. It also tends to coincide with my family holiday, which is often limited to certain dates for several reasons. Anyway, I think I've managed to shoot some of it a grand total of three times and two of them were limited to the first day only, which is a Friday and attended by fewer people and balloons because it's not the weekend yet.

This year it's on the weekend just before I go on holiday so I should be able to make it at least for the Friday and Saturday. It's an ordeal getting up at 6am-ish but once you get there and see the host of balloons in the typically gorgeous Segovia early morning light it can become a wonderful photographic experience. I will likely stick to my usual plan of getting to the lift-off area and staying until most or all are in the air then jump in the car, drive to the hill on the other side of the city to see them all over the cathedral and Alcázar.

Fingers crossed there'll be light wind and lots and lots of balloons.

Here's one of my favourite shots from a past event, even if I did blow out the highlights on the foremost white balloon.



Gijon by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

In my experience of buying from a place that knows very little about camera gear, they often don't identify faults but the flip side of that is they can't argue with you when you send it back with an accurate description of the fault.

It does have a twelve month warranty so I'd say it's a pretty safe buy, certainly more so than buying from a forum.

Cash Converters have an apparently opened but never used K1 II at a good price

Cash Converters K-1 II

Yeah, it's all MPB recently. Maybe there's more money in used gear these days.

That's less than I would have expected given the amount of work it takes to dismantle and reassemble the camera to swap out the gear. As long as it's swapped for a quality part rather than the same cr*ppy plastic I don't think that's too bad. Without that gear failure to worry about an MZ camera could last for a long time.

The MZ-5N would be a fine camera were it not for that plastic gear. Capable, small, light, and a pleasure to use.

Is that near Craggy Island?

I really like the last one, looks like a very nice beach.