On Wednesday we only had a light dusting of snow, so I took my normal route home. I managed to find a large sheet of black ice on one of the gentle bends, to do a slide for ~50m starting at 15mph and coming to a very gentle stop on the verge - from where the car refused to budge. A 2 hour walk home followed.

Yesterday I'd just started my wife's car when I heard the traffic report - the nearest main road was apparently stationary - so I decided to work from Home

This morning I had little left I could do from home - so I tried to start my wife's diesel... recharged battery, retried... again... on the fourth try the engine wouldn't turn over even with the freshly charged battery

So despite relatively little snow, we've ended up without either car, all without a hint of sliding sideways, or other such childish fun.

Glad you've been able to affect a rapid recovery!

Mike

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Andrew.
But at least the data should be recoverable.
You can get external enclosures for laptop drives quite cheaply which will enable your old drive to be read by any USB equipped computer. Taking the drive out & fitting it in an enclosure is easier than servicing a lens.

I've not worked on laptop keyboards, but with many desktop ones the keys can be pulled off to clean behind them. (I've also heard of people successfully cleaning them in the dishwasher!) Drying for several days in the airing cupboard is recommended. Their is a reasonable chance your laptop can be fixed without resorting to specialists.

(Even if the electronics on the drive have fried there are companies that specialise in data recovery who would be able to extract the data - but I doubt this would be cheap)

Also the new position is often inaccessible for one reason or another...
I find standing on a racetrack to get closer to the cars is frowned upon - even if the damn things haven't moved by the time you've walked there. (Walking nearer to the moon has also proved slightly beyond me)

Moderate zooming with the cropping tool is often a reasonable option - even with only 6MP - though I prefer to get it looking right in the viewfinder if possible.

The kit lens (as has been said above) will do most of what you want, but as your planning for Christmas...

As you suggested I'd go with a nifty fifty (A50 preferably but perhaps M50 if the budget won't stretch) and get a stacking ring (49mm to 52mm) & reversing ring for it to increase your macro options. Ideal for limited DOF & the extra light gathering power of the prime will probably prove useful, and they're reasonably cheap.

I agree with Gwyn that extension tubes can be a pain so If you want a macro lens a longer focal length will mean you can be further from your subject (so you don't scare the bugs) If you can find one the Cosina 100mm macro is great value if a bit plasticy. Dedicated macro primes work OK as normal lenses but are optimised for close focus, and are generally sharper at the edges. Autofocus is generally of little use in macro work as DOF is so limited.

Either of the above optons should be available for under £100 though if the 50 is a 1.4 it will be somewhat more...

For the external flash - if your willing to work the exposure manually numerous old models should be suitable for next to nothing (a suitable cable will probably be more than the flash). However you MUST ensure the trigger voltage is below 24V or you risk damage to your camera. (Some older flashes use 600V for a trigger). For a more automatic flash, the AF360FGZ was recently on offer at Currys (£100) failing that I think there's a Metz model for ~£140...

A possible addition would be a macro focusing teleconverter. Not many about but affordable and effectively turn a standard lens into a budget macro as well s working as a normal teleconverter. I'm not sure if you can get them with the electrical contacts required to use lenses without the aperture ring (your kit lens & the rest of the DA series). However none of your listed interests particularly benefit from a standard telephoto.

One word of caution with the A50 - the aperture ring is often a weak spot due I believe to plastic components and can get stiff/jamb(Mine won't go below F5.6 so I can't get back to the A setting)

Mike

DA 50-200 arrived safely, and seems to be in excellent condition.
The brief test shots I've just taken are compositionally lacking, but the lens has performed perfectly+.
Many thanks Brian

Indeed your name was mentioned due to an excellent review.

The bellows camera looks like a nice bit of kit, but it's price is well outside the realm for this thread (£50 limit), so yes quite shameless.

My photography is purly as a Hobby, and as such I don't see why I should be serious about it! I think my shots would probably improve if I could get more humour into the shots.

Unfortunatly I have too many other commitments to allow me to get the K5 at least for a few years - but from what I've read so far it's definitly top of my wish list. It ticks more boxes than any other potential upgrade, but would probaly be unable to completely replace my K100 as I doubt it's IR sensitivty is up to much.
Mike (photographic Dabbler)

Like Peter I sometimes get annoyed by a pageful of 'me too' type replies (or a row of smilies) in the recent posts section.
But I don't fins it too difficult scrolling past them, & sometimes these replys catch my eye as they answer a Newbies query in a way that makes them interetsing.

I have to admit I hardly ever look at the welcome section & didn't post there when I first joined. (I think I got round to it a few weeks later) I try to welcome new users when replying to their posts or commenting on their portfolio pictures, but I generally feel I have nothing useful to add if it's just a 'Hi I'm new' message.

I'd second Peter's suggestion that the ideal answer is for members to log on more often (welcoming a few more often) - but I can see why it's not always practical. Perhaps just limiting their replys to the most recent Newbies would assist (but I doubt those who log in rarely will see such a suggestion)

Offer made by PM for 50-200.