If you have a half decent router incorporating an ADSL Modem and firewall, the chances of any infection or hacking are minimal as (usually) all incoming TCP/UDP ports are closed by default by the firewall.

If you have a USB modem however, you have only the Windows firewall to protect you from internet borne threats.

Recommendation: Invest in an external firewall/ADSL modem/router device. You'll sleep easier at nights.

My personal choice is the Netgear DGFV338 ProSafe Wireless ADSL Modem VPN Firewall Router (Yes, that's it's full name). It also incorporates an 8 port 10/100Mb/s Ethernet Switch.

Additionally, I use AVG Free Anti-Virus and Windows Defender. In 8 years, I've never been hacked or received any viruses that have not been detected.

Funny, he/she has only made three posts, and they're all in this one topic.

I wonder why ! ! !

I'm waiting for the Western Union option.

I use Photomatix, not to combine separately exposed images, but to combine different versions of the same image saved using differnet exposure settings. You can get 9 images, from -4 to +4 stops, from just one correctly exposed image. Try it, you'll be amazed what can be ahieved.
Photomatix Pro has a 'switch' to instruct it to align images. I suspect it's not turned on or the images are misaligned to a point that the S/W can't cope, hence the ghosting.

From these 2 images, I prefer number 1, and like George, I thought it was the HDR version until I saw number 2.

I don't think a 1:2.8 lens can be fairly compared to any 1:4 lens, even if it is Tamron v Pentax

Sunshine eh? Well we are blessed with plenty of that in our part of the world, unlike our UK based brethren
Actually, me and the missus have just climbed out of the pool. 26 degrees in, and 28 degrees out

ha,ha,ha,ha, in a Vincent Price kinda way.

Get over it. It's better to have loved a camera and thrown it away, than to never have loved a camera at all.

Boosting contrast and/or blacks often does wonders for pale images.

Edit: You could try one of the built-in presets.

Excellent service. There are some good sellers around. I'd say you can't get any fairer than that.

You'll lose nothing by trying to clean it. The fungus is most likely on the insisde but if it's on the outside, try pure acetone (nail varnish remover) or methanol (Eclipse lens/sensor cleaning fluid).

If it's inside, you might be able to remove the rear element with the right tool(s). You'll almost certainly need a lens spanner and some care.

Lightroom is a non-destructive editor so you can try almost anything. A history of your actions is stored and you can wind back to the original and start again at anytime.

That said, you could start by using Auto-Tone, if it is turned off, or turn it off if it is turned on. It's an option in the import dialog box.

I had issues with some images a while ago and I traced the problem to the fact that Auto-Tone was being used during import.

Just don't be frightened to have a go, you'll not harm the original as the changes you make don't directly affect it.

The Super-A is an exceptionally fine camera. I had one for 20 years or so and didn't replace it until I found a nice *istDS. That's now gone and has been replaced by a *istD and a K10D.

The Super-A gives you much more manual control than the Program-A.