It certainly seems that this is a developing field. (OK, I'll get my coat and go now...)

Steve

A few plants have been defying the recent lack of rain and throwing out some flowers. Here are some of them. The last one - agrimony - appeared of its own accord a few years ago and has been coming up every year since then. No idea where it came from, I don't know any others in the area.

K3 + Irix 150mm macro + 1.4TC.

Thoughts, comments etc. welcome as usual.

1. Perennial sweet pea




2. Geranium




3. Another geranium




4. Same as another geranium




5. Yet another geranium




6. Agrimony (the only flower on the spike that was still open)




Steve

If anyone can produce a plant-based developer derived from bindweed, my garden is worth a fortune. Free to forum members, of course .

Steve

And it's about 50/50 that it will collide with our Milky Way galaxy in the next 10 billion years. Should be a great light show as it gets close and the galaxies merge. Looking forward to seeing your photos of it, Spad! As for what happens if or when the super-massive black holes in the two galactic centres merge ... better get some good neutral density filters and image stabilisation for your telescope to deal with the electromagnetic emissions and the gravitational waves .

Steve

Muck on the eye sensor?

Is the monitor brightness set to automatic or manual? If automatic, the eye sensor controls the brightness and the manual says "if the eye sensor is in the shade or exposed to strong light, the brightness may not be adjusted correctly".

Steve

We really are spoiled for choice nowadays, with vast computing power in such a range of different types of black box at such low prices. And how is geordiegraham getting on, having asked for advice about a monitor and now being faced with a huge range of options for replacing both laptop and monitor???

Steve

I've just got mine down from the loft...

Steve

The pony in the last one is a master stroke. Without it, the tors look like modest heaps of rocks. With it, the size and looming grandeur of the tors becomes apparent. Did you take the pony along just to put it there???

Steve

Excellent . I hope it lasts. Certainly a lot cheaper than a new camera!

Steve

Thanks to this thread, I decided it was time to see whether my long unused K20D was still working. Thankfully it's OK and the main battery still has some charge. However, better safe than sorry so the main battery is going to be recharged later today. Then the K20D can be safely left for another long while...

As for the date/time battery, discharging a lithium ion battery to a low level causes physical and chemical changes to its internals which reduces it's ability to hold charge and its performance while discharging. The changes depend on the charge/discharge history and environmental factors (temperature etc.). Once the damage is done, it can't be undone. Usual advice is not to let its charge drop below 20%. That shouldn't be a problem with the main battery as there should still be enough charge in the battery when the camera says 'battery depleted'. However, the date/time battery does not appear to be monitored so it's best to keep a charged main battery in the camera to avoid a deep discharge.

Steve