Star - repeat after me, the tripod is your friend... the tripod is your friend. What got me is something I didn't notice while there, how the 3550 stands out from the rest of the block. Dunno if it flares out there or what. I didn't do any Photoshopping to pop the 3550# out. That's the way the light fell. I was amazed at the detail myself. I think it's the fact that without a light source actually in the frame, I could stop down on the lens and increase my exposure times so I picked up a nice "even" light across the whole thing without blowing any part of it out while getting a good depth of field. Still doesn't mean I have "reciprocity of film" calculations down. :) -=>Donald