10 ASA I thought 64 was bad enough, and only used 25 when on holiday in Italy. You could try scanning the magenta slides and using the "remove colour cast" tool in PS. It seems to work extremely well.

Gartmore... I'll ask him next time I see him how he fixed those images.

Cheers, Kris.

How interesting. I have always been surprised / annoyed that I cannot get photos square / straight any more and put it down to my incompetence (although I did manage 20 years of slides which were ok).

Best wishes, Kris.

I have three different editions of "The Asahi Pentax Way" and wonder if I can justify getting the remaining 5 editions. Not the price (one can get them for pennies) but valuable book shelf room...

Nerds unite!

K.

Thanks Greyhoundman, I'll give it a whirl (is there a gulping smiley? )

Mac... I have two too, but different ones to yours. One is either a Takumar or Auto Takumar (I cannot remember which now and the lens is at home and I am not), and the other is a SMC Takumar, f/3.5 version.

I didn't realise that the SMC Takumars have a slightly different M42 mount which the ES needs to make proper use of the Av mode. As I have very few Tak lenses, I was planning to stick to buying SMC versions so that they would work on both my S1a and the ES. I also have the Super Takumar 70-150mm zoom. What a monster, it weights 1.2kg.

Best wishes, Kris.

Digital: use it lots and most of the time. Shoot too many bad pictures and throw them away and a few reasonable keepers. Often take multiple versions of the same image to see what works best (e.g. several different apertures, or landscape and portrait versions, or zoomed in and a wider view etc.).

Film: I have a smattering of different film bodies, all older MF ones (S1a, ES, ME Super, ME-F, MX, LX) plus a twin lens medium format and my Horseman. Take far fewer pictures, maybe a roll or two a month (excluding work related stuff). Fewer photos, less mistakes, some keepers. Some days, like yesterday, I'll just take a film camera with a single lens (usually the LX with my SMC-A 50mm F1.4). I find being made to use the old fashioned system for zoom and wide-angle (i.e. my legs) a good discipline and I liked being forced to think about the basics. This is why I haven't gone and bought a AF film camera with all the bells and whistles. Too much like my K10 with none of the advantages of digital.

The biggest difference is how I approach exposure. Usually I am photographing stuff that doesn't move (and therefore not a rush time factor). With digital, I use Av most of the time. Usually, I take the photo, check the histogram, dial in exposure compensation, retake the photo, and repeat if necessary (this obviously depends on what it is). With film, I always use manual, assess the scene, meter off something close to 18% grey, even think about zones. With the Horseman it is a spot meter and the zone system.

None of this is hard and fast, just general trends.

A bit off topic but I recently bought a winder for the LX from a fellow forum person. Utterly different sound to the LX shutter on its own, but also utterly different to the sound of the ME Super or MX with a winder. Makes no difference to the images of course, but does bring a smile to my face.

Now go and run a roll of TMax through your *ist and tell it you love it really...

Cheers, Kris.

RAW is camera specific, TIF is generic. Digital archivists (e.g. the Archaeological Data Service) will insist on TIF. Being a belt and braces person I tend to keep multiple versions of anything remotely important!

Cheers, Kris.

I got one and found it an easier read than the manual. Doesn't really say much that you cannot find in the manual, just says it more clearly.

Best wishes, Kris.

50mm. The focal length is the focal length. The angle of view is equivalent to a 75mm lens on a 35mm SLR, but the focal length is still 50mm.

Best wishes, Kris.

Yup, I knew you would say that! Do you know how cack-handed I am?

I'll try that first.

Not an old friend, a bad (if cheap -- there had to be a catch) buy. Harrow Technical quoted 40 quid which isn't too bad.

Thanks for all the advice. Any web page links for DIY?

Cheers, Kris.

It is in pretty pristine condition apart from that so I may well see how much it will cost to get it cleaned.

Thanks, Kris.