Update

It's been almost a year since I last posted on this site.  Over this period not much has changed in terms of my photo hobby.  However, I have bought a bit more kit, and passed on one of my cameras (the Samsung Digimax A7).  I received the adapter tube for the Kodak Z740 and have used it quite extensively since.  I've also bought the 'Cokin' style filters I was on about the last time; a filter holder and a full range of step-up step-down filter rings. The filters include x4 ND solid filters of different intensities and x4 graduated ND filters of different intensities.  I can use any part of the kit with either of my adapter tubes (for the Kodak Z740 and the Olympus C700 UZ and C720 UZ).

The octopod/gorillapod proved to be a waste of time; my own fault as I purchased a 'generic' copy of the original but it doesn't hold any of my cameras steady enough, seems to have a loose head all the time, and try as I may I've so far been unable to make it tight enough to hold steady for any shot longer than a second.  I aim to purchase a genuine one once my finances can run to it.

As mentioned earlier, I've passed on my Samsung Digimax A7.  Whilst out on a lengthy walk a couple of months ago, Mitch and I were caught in heavy rain, we were both soaked to the skin; this ruined his Kodak camera (the one he bought from Swansea a few tears ago).  Having plenty of cameras of my own I gave him the A7 so that he still had one with reasonable pixels that was compact enough and easy for him to use.  Once his other camera was ruined he was on the look out for a replacement - of course- but had struggled with his other camera in bright daylight because he was forced to use the lcd screen all the time as there was no viewfinder (a common problem with many compact cameras).  Hasten to add, he wanted one that was compact, had enough pixels, and a viewfinder - not easy to find in most cases, so I gave him the A7.  He's well pleased with it.

'Fujifilm Finepix S1600'

For me, my latest and greatest purchase has been a more recent 'bridge' camera, bought back in May 2016, just in time to use during our (Mitch and I) Ceredigion Coast walking holiday the same month.  I'm pleased to say it performed flawlessly, although I lost the lens cap in heavy wind.  So let me introduce you to my new-ish 'Fujifilm Finepix S1600'.  £32 from the local 'Cex' and comes with a 2 year warranty.  12 megapixels, 15x 'optical' zoom (plus x6.3 digital zoom that I never use), takes SD and SDHC cards up to any size you want to put into it (over 1000 pictures in highest quality and size from its current 8gb card), 4 x AA batteries, has some manual function, shutter priority, aperture priority, 100 to 1600 ISO, bright 3" lcd, 3 image ratio settings (4:3, 3:2, 16:9), x2 excellent macro modes (so it beats my best macro so far - the Samsung Digimax A5), image stabilisation, and will record HD video up to 1280 x 720  (but so can my 'Fujifilm Finepix AV200', although I didn't realise this until recently); what's more I can still use the full 15 x optical zoom while recording video.  I love it, but still use the older 'bridge' style cameras for anything involving filters.

'Fujifilm Finepix S1600'

This latest addition Finepix S1600 of course took most of my photos whilst walking the Ceredigion Coast (I filled the 8gb card and had to stick in a 4gb to see me through the remainder of the week - when I reviewed my photos for the week I had over 1,200 of them, plus 3 or 4 video clips).  During the walking holiday I also carried my Finepix AV200 and my Kodak Z740 with me, but didn't use them much; I carried the same 3 cameras everywhere with me on my first ever visit to Cornwall in July 2016 (Friday to Monday long weekend camping) and of course took  a load more photos - mainly with the S1600.  Just for the record, this short holiday was the first time I had ever visited Cornwall, the first time ever my friend, Mitch, had visited Cornwall, and the first holiday away during which we were accompanied by my collie cross dog 'NoNames'.  He loved it - so did we.