Thanks -- it WAS poor level of lighting but better than Billericay Football Ground under their 'Floodlights' !! I struggle there with ISO 1600 and get 1/125 at f1.4 ! ( wish it was as good as Manchester United -- )

When I started in 1951 at the East Ham Grammar School Photo-Soc you had to be RICH to afford 'real COLOUR' fillum !! There was one boy whose Dad ran a chemists shop and he showed us some Kodacolor prints 5x5" -- they were all GREEN but it was the first Colour photography I had seen -- then came along FERRANIACOLOR and we learned how to develop the slides ourself!

Had to cover an 'Evening of Culture' at the Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School for the Brentwood Gazette -- NO FLASH was allowed so I had to set Tungsten balance and 1600 ISO and hope for the best -- I used two lenses on my 2007 K10D -- a 50mmf1.7 SMC Pentax-A and a 75-150mm f4 SMC Pentax-M at full aperture -- all 'manual focus' of course -- it was all under coloured lights but 5 pics were used today in the newspaper.

Thank Heavens i still got my 1961 SV-- NO PROBS AT ALL !! I just took off baseplate and lubricated the cogs and things and it runs smoother than a Baby's Bottom --

Pentax SV by pentaxpete, on Flickr

I am the ONLY one using PENTAX for professional Press work here in Essex -- now I find a fault with my 2007 K10D which is embarassing when people are kept standing there while I fiddle -- sometimes the shutter will not release -- I press and press and nothing happens so I take lens OFF 'Auto-Focus' and use manual focus and it will work -- also I am getting fed up with 'back-focus' on important jobs -- the Mayor is OUT but the wall about 30 feet behind is IN focus !! None of the other local Press photographers have any of these troubles.

This is ME when I was 21 in the British Army, 1958, Royal Army Medical Corps , BMH Iserlohn Germmany -- I look a bit older now ----

Cpl Elgar RAMC 1958 by pentaxpete, on Flickr

Thought I would show two methods of 'Off Camera Flash' I use -- the camera is my 1974 ASAHI PENTAX SPOTMATIC F which has a 'hot shoe' and the flash is the infamous VIVITAR 283 -- my one is the 'Made in Japan' version so it probably has the 'high trigger voltage' which could damage modern 'digital' cameras -- NO WORRIES with 'old PENTAXES !! ' THIS one shows the Vivitar with the 'extension cable. -- the sensor is removable and put onto the hot shoe attachment so it faces the subject and measures the reflected light -- I hold flash to the side and above the camera.

Off-Camera-01 by pentaxpete, on Flickr
THIS one shows my 'Wireless Trigger; set-up the YONGNUO CTR-301P -- the 'trigger' sits on the Hot Shoe and the 'receiver' is on base of flash so flash can be much further away than the length of the extension cable -- don't forget to set the correct maximum flash synch speed which on this camera is 1/60th second.

Off-Camera-02 by pentaxpete, on Flickr

Thanks Folks !! Now let's hope the Judges who come to my Club think the same as the yearly Print Comps start this Friday --

For PRINTS as shown I use a 'MUSTEK 1200 UB' flatbed which came with a 'TIME' computer I was given by Sister-in-Law -- I have it set to scan at 720 resolution so when I reduce to 72 for 'Forum' use the maths is easy for the Computer ! Then I have it set to 150 % and scan 6x4" prints done by BOOTS Brentwood High Street then for Exhibition use I do my own Darkroom RA4 prints with enlarger and a NOVA 16x12" slot processor. For 'sizing' I have PhotoShop 7 and FastStone Image viewer and size them to 1000 pixels longest length -- OK for Flickr, ephotozine, APUG and many other sites I am on and not big enough for people to 'nick' them to print them out !

Thanks to all my 'viewers' -- from the Old Film Bloke !