Martin Last time I was in Nova in Warwick they had sample books. These days you are supposed to make an appointment to go in but as you're fairly close, it might make sense to check it out by ringing them up then popping over.
pentaxuser
		
		
	 
You are right - they are still there - or were last time I looked a couple of months ago.
However, what I really want is something for me to take home and peruse at my leisure, under the same lighting conditions as I look at all my usual prints.
Also, I find it hard to concentrate when I am in the Aladdins Cave of the NOVA shop 
I go in with the strict plan of only buying some ID11 or something equally bland and come out with great armfuls of "stuff" 
 
All sorts of stuff, most of which I hadn't even considered buying before I had seen it sitting on their shelves quietly calling to "buy me, buy me" 
 
Its a hopeless situation, resistance is futile and it costs me an arm and a leg every time I go in there
The only solution is to not go too often.
The strange thing is about buying all this stuff is, I always find a use for it.
I have never yet come home with something and thought - now what the heck am I going to do with this!
Its the big advantage of actually going to a proper darkroom shop - there is all sorts of things there that you never realised you could get - browsing on the internet only allows you to find stuff you are looking for, its far too time consuming just browsing all the pages of stuff that you could buy.
The best bits and the real finds are often the small little nick knacks that are not even listed on the Web Sites as they are too small to really bother listing.
The disadvantage of actually going to a proper darkroom shop is a visit costs me lots more than I ever intended 
 
Worst of all, its only a couple of minutes off my route home from work on a Friday afternoon, when the they are still open and my resistance is at its lowest ebb 
 
Martin 
