Your best option is to invest £50 or so in Photoshop Elements (latest version). Then at least you'll have a hugely knowledgeable community of users to help you out.

Or try the free route with RawTherapee.

There aren't many differences between the two bodies, except for their physical design. The *ist is a smaller body due to the way Pentax have placed the film holder. It's upside down and on the 'wrong' side compared to other 35mm SLR's.

As HG stated above, the *ist has the 'crippled' K mount whereas the MZ-6 has the full K mount allowing the correct use of manual aperture lenses.

I think the *ist has mirror lock-up, the MZ-6 does not.

The *ist has the data back as standard. On the MZ-6 it's an optional accessory (which I don't have).

I can't think of any other differences at the moment.

I found the *ist too small and bought my second MZ-6 about 3 years ago. I don't shoot film any more so it could use a good home where it'll get some regular exercise.

I have the body, SMCP-FA 28-90mm lens, strap, flash and viewfinder covers, and manual. All are in very good condition and deserve to be used.

Make me an offer I can't refuse and it could be yours.

If interested, let me know by PM. It'd help to know where you are in the UK, could you narrow it down to a county?

Yes, P-TTL only for any Pentax body newer than the *istDS, and maybe the *istDS2. No newer Pentax DSLR's can use TTL flashes unless the flash has manual and/or auto modes. If you fit, say an AF280T to a modern Pentax DSLR and set the flash to TTL mode, it'll fully discharge every time with no control over its output.

The main issue with TTL and DSLR's is that a DSLR sensor is highly reflective causing lighting inaccuracies in certain circumstances. A film surface is more matt than a DSLR sensor and doesn't suffer from the same problem.

It was a bad call when the 'tog in the OP decided to separate herself from her cards.

She earns money from the contents of those cards. The hardware can be replaced, the images usually can't.

Good idea and reasonably well executed but the stalk of the leaf (it is only one leaf, isn't it?) needs more work to make it convincing.

Well done.

TTL equipped camera bodies have a light sensor inside the mirror box which measures the light reflected from the film or sensor. This measurement is used to turn off the flash when enough light has reached the film or sensor for a correct exposure.

In TTL, the flash starts the process of illuminating the scene, the camera stops it.

P-TTL, or Pre-Flash TTL is subtely different in that the camera instructs the flash to emit some light for the metering system to measure prior to the camera making the exposure. Once measured, the camera then sends intensity/duration data to the flash and the camera then makes the exposure and the flash fires with the given intensity/duration.

Early Pentax DSLR's (*istD & *istDS) had both TTL and P-TTL capabilities, but TTL was soon dropped, never to reappear.

Mike's suggestions are sound, so I won't elaborate on the choice of lens.

Macro photography images are as much influenced by lighting as the lens IMHO, so I'd look at what additional lighting and light modifiers you might need also.

A ring flash is ideal, but expensive. A hot shoe flash mounted on a bracket to get the flash head further forward, together with a diffuser of some sort is a good second choice.

Many members here use home made light modifiers to get the light where it is needed, at the subject.

You certainly have a varied arsenal of glass there. Yhe first thing I noticed is that you have doubled up on some of the K series, the 24, 50, and 55mm. Why keep two of each?

The spare K50/1.2 would realise a reasonable amount of cash.

Is this going to be yet another thread where members resort to trading insults?

I really hope not.