It must have some internal battery to retain date etc. functions when main battery is removed for charging.

Festina; Is there a shutter lag ?

I tried the Spyder 4 on my MacBook and couldn't make it work. Even called the manufacturer and they couldn't either. I went back to my Spyder 2 and it works like a champ on Mac and PC.

Wasn't the Mercury the one with the rotary shutter ? I had one somewhere along the line.

Apprenticing as an assistant to a known photographer, even pro bono, is worth the time for experience gained. It also builds confidence which will put your client at ease and trustful.

I retired as a working pro shooting for advertising and magazines when digital stuck it's nose under the tent. I didn't want to learn a new craft and get new equipment. I was jaded and didn't shoot for about 5 years Now that I have accepted digital, I am awestruck with what I can learn on this site. Shooting is fun again. Thanks everybody !

I had my mother's Univex OO. It took 127 film and I was about Seven. I graduated to a Kodak twin lens reflex. By 12, my grandfather took me into his darkroom (featured in the 1928 Leica Manual as the ideal to which an amateur would aspire) and taught me processing. The darkroom had a Leitz enlarger (ball head) and an Omega D. I inherited the Omega and turned it into a D II. I used that enlarger for 45-50 years until I moved and gave up the darkroom.