I prefer the monochrome but as Martin said, up the contrast a bit.

Best wishes, Kris.

I'm the wrong side of the Atlantic until the 11th Jan. Hoping the flash and the lens will be waiting for me on my return...

Cheers, Kris.

Sorry, I misunderstood you I am glad we agree!

Best wishes, Kris.

I have had very mixed experiences with Jessops. Extremely helpful chap in the film section downstairs at the New Oxford Street branch but someone who didn't know a damn thing in the lens section upstairs... Best service I ever had was from a shop in Southampton (not Jessops) who spent a good hour going through boxes of second hand stuff to find what I wanted. I came out of there that day with an MX, a M F1.7 lens, a bag, extension tubes, film and a cable release. Mind you that was 1992...

Best wishes, Kris.

The manual: I hope your battery charges up soon!

Have fun, a lovely camera and a lovely lens.

Best wishes, Kris.

I just make sure the histogram doesn't go beyond the right hand edge and not worry too much about getting right up to the right hand edge. If you are shooting RAW (which you are), there are plenty of levels left to play with. I then have room to brighten, darken, or whatever the image a great deal in the software. Once the histogram has gone past the right hand edge, its blown and there is nothing left to do.

As to it "looking correct" in the preview, actually I disagree. Often pictures which are mainly dark but with some bright parts will look awfully under-exposed on the preview but post processing (e.g. the shadow highlight tool in CS3) will pull masses of lovely detail out of the shadows. Also, judging the exposure on the LCD is greatly affected by how bright you have the screen set and the ambient light. I have long abandoned trying to judge if the exposure is "correct" by looking at the image and just glance at the histogram.

On a related note, I have been wandering around New York for a couple of days. We had a couple of beautiful clear blue sunny days but the range of EVs from the sky to street level was so extreme that it was well out of the dynamic range of the sensor. I did think about HDR but (a) the lack of tripod here and (b) the traffic and people rather counts that out. It was easier the day it snowed!

Best wishes, Kris.

Welcome to the fora. I think Peter answered your question. If you are going to upgrade do it soon while the cashback is on offer.

Best wishes, Kris.

Welcome from just a bit north of London, although I am a little way away from there right now.

Best wishes, Kris.

Welcome Shim. Impressive list of cameras, although I did get the LX and still love it

Best wishes, Kris.

Welcome to the fora. Looking forward to seeing some shots.

Best wishes, Kris.