Cor Blimey! I am back - just!

Well, it is tricky to keep a modelling blog going when you don't have a camera and you aren't doing much modelling!

• Camera first: This is how it goes...
• Christmas 2011.1 - Get new flash gun
• Christmas 2011.2 - find out that the flash head on the camera doesn't work (due to me dropping it some time earlier)
• Christmas 2011.3 - find a web site that tells me how to fix it with a piece of paper clip - which works, sort of.
• March 2012.1 The flash gun stops working
• March 2012.2 Send the camera off for repair
• March 2012.3 Pay £90 and get back a camera with a new flash head
• March 2012.4 Find out that the flash gun still doesn't work - the repairers prove that Canon flash guns do!
• March 2012.5 Try my flash on daughter's Canon 500D (same as mine) and it doesn't work - try it on neighbours Canon 350D - it works! Do the only thing possible - sell it on EBay (explaining the situation)
• March 2012.6 Buy new £200 Canon flash gun after wife warns me not to be stupid and buy another 'cheap Chinese' one. Now have working system.
• May 2012.1 Camera stops taking photos.
• May 2012.2 Send it back to repairers who are quite happy to treat it as a warranty repair - hence FREE - Hooray!
• May 2012.3 Repairer tells me that the camera works fine for them but error log inside the camera tells of lens errors!
• June 2012.1 Find out that camera cannot take photos usng Auto Focus - but can on Manual Focus - Guess what - the lens doesn't have a manual focus ring!
• June 2012.2 Buy new lens - can't just replace at £85 - that would be too easy and I would miss an opportunity for an upgrade. Buy new Tamron 18 - 200  miles better than an 18 - 55 obviously.
• June 2012.3 Realise that the lens has a 62mm filter screw and I only have a 58mm UV filter so I buy a 62mm Hoya UV filter
• June 2012.4 Did i mention that I lost the fittings to the strap when taking it off the camera to send it to the repairers. So I now investigate a new strap - must improve on the old so buy a Sun Sniper strap - best there is.
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• Opening position - Camera 2 years old and worth maybe £250 on EBay with lens worth £30 as a working lens plus a Chinese flash - value around £40.
• Closing position - Camera still worth £250 - £200 flash gun - £150 lens, £18 filter and £40 strap oh and a £90 repair- total £748. I could have sold the camera and bought the latest 600D and a flash gun for less!