Well, we are in the middle of an extreme snow watch. Woke up to wind chill of -30C and approximately 60-70cm of snow. Back garden has totally disappeared including the 90cm fence for the dogs. Had to dig a trench to let the dogs out. I have two West Highland White Terriers and they, who normally revel in the cold and snow, don't want to stay out.

Funny, with the wind there is no snow on the car in the drive but here is a 100cm wall of snow all around it. My wife is happy her car is snug and dry in the garage.

My daughter sent an e-mail from Trinidad today where she is basking in the sun - little does she know that her car has disappeared completely under the drifts.

Mike

Don,

I hear the polar bears are moving in - is it for the warmth, the kids, or the wisers?

Mike

I thought we had it cold in Ontario with current wind-chill factor of -30C until I saw Don's Winterpeg on the news at -49C. New meaning to "freeze frame" Don!
Mike

Check out the Stofen website - they have a diffuser for the 540 - I have one and it works fine.

Mike

Rodger,

That is an exceptional shot - the rest of the guys beat me to the punch line.

Mike

Although I have been experimenting in RAW and I have only used the Pentax software and also Adobe Camera Raw in Elements 5.0. I have had reasonable success.

However my Epson R800 only goes to 8x10 (not metric in this yet) so I have been more than satisfied with JPEG. I took 650 photos in Mexico on my DS2 and I kept about 500. The joy was the minimal work in Elements compared to my usual scanning of 12 or so rolls of 36 transparencies and the associated post processing.

As John indicates I can see the potential when printing to much larger sizes but for now I am more than happy with JPEG. Now that I have the K100D my JPEGs seem even better.

Mike

Oh to be a fly on the "wall".

Mike

Peter,

Love the composition and tone of the sepia picture.

Mike

Pentax Canada decided that although the AF 360FGZ was out of warranty they would absorb half the labour costs if I paid for the parts. Henry's also agreed to waive any out of warranty service and shipping charges. The flash was returned at the end of February having received a new door and rear case assembly.

I tested the flash on the K100D and all exposures were 1 - 1.5 stops under exposed. Comparison shots with the AF-540FGZ were perfect.

I called Pentax Canada and they agreed that although there was no logical reason for the change in perfomance they would repair it under warranty.

The flash came back on Friday having been "cleaned and calibrated" and the exposures are perfect. Infact my daughter used it all Saturday on her K110D and everything was fine.

Given that the flash was out of warranty I am very happy with the Pentax Canada response. Now to try some wireless with both flashes.

Mike

Impotentspider,

Yes I did, but after it left today for Pentax - my brain is getting old and slow - I'll wait to see what Pentax say - it's actually the plastic "lugs" on the case not the door. The 540 has extra "lugs".

Mike