If you want something really small, fits in a trouser pocket, the Lumix LX7 is really good value for money. Less than £300 and excellent shots on screen or up to A4 in prints, sometimes more. Its really light, robust and easy to use and you have got all usual features that photographers want, manual, aperture control etc Raw or JPG etc.

Many thanks to all of you who replied. Really helpful comments I can see that clutter and poor focus distracted from the 'story'. I am suspecting by the way that the hands would have been the best thing to focus on.
Anyway some things for me to work on next time, and thanks again to all.

Thanks, comments would be helpful.

That's really helpful, yes flare, I have had this taking photos into the sun. Thanks to all who replied.

In this photo I have got some strange coloured effects to the right of the face (Canon600d, 30sec, f7.1). How did I get them? And I quite like them but if I wanted to get rid of them (e.g. in Lightroom) what should I do? Thanks for your help.

To the huge number of people who responded to my request for help Many Thanks. Exactly what I wanted some good references to books and online resources and some really useful 'workflow' suggestions which will help to structure my experimenting with files. Also I have a much clearer understanding of some of the issues around RAW files.
I do not often post questions here but I must say that the expertise on hand on Ugly Hedgehog and the generosity of people with their time is great, Thanks!

Thank you to all who responded to my enquiry about RAW. I knew that RAW files retained just what the camera took and want to make more use of this. I am particularly grateful to those who shared their own practical experience as this will give me a starting point to structure my trial (and error) efforts. The advice from Ugly H. and from my local camera club have given me an exciting time learning about digital photography (used to do B&W processing but many years ago.)
So again thanks to all those who went to the trouble of replying,

Thanks as I am intending to just have a go and learn from my mistakes and hopefully some successes this really is a practical starting point to structure my practice around. Thanks again for sharing this.

Is there a good beginners guide to processing in RAW?
I am just starting to experiment with a few shots in RAW and would like 'generic' guides to processing rather than instructions for specific software. Thanks for any help.

Yes the cost of the inks is worth finding out about before buying the printer, but you are right, Epson and Canon are both readily available.
Cheaper are the generic inks but I am a bit hesitant to buy these as I am not sure if they will mess up the print head?

Thanks for such comprehensive replies. Yes Gitzo UH my photo club advised me to do my own printing so as to retain control and that sounds like good advice.
norvik1943 I was interested to hear that the Epson SX 415 would scan old glass negatives, as I have several myself and also lots of 35mm b&w negatives.
I will investigate the specs for the XP-605 mentioned by Leicaflex i am happy with A4 prints and if this also has software to scan negatives this would be a bonus.

Again all of you thanks for taking the trouble to give me really useful replies, best wishes, Gryffon.

I need to buy a new printer. Can anyone advice me of the best of the cheaper range of printers (up to about £150) which give good results for printing photos. I am an amateur and occasionally enter these for my local camera club competitions, but do not need A3 size.

Or would I be better off going to my local photo shop to print images?

Thanks for any help.

Rocky I was interested to read your comments about the Graphex 4x5. I used to own a Rolleicord and like you took much care with every shot, there were only 12 on each roll. But I think the change came not with digital but with 35mm. 36 shots per roll (40 or more if you bulk bought the film and loaded your own cassettes) must have altered our attitudes as to how precious each shot was.

Sometimes unpicking the question by supportive responses can be helpful to the questioner as a means to clarify issues and options.

Lumix seem good value for money. I have had a cheaper model, the LX5 for about two years. Its a lovely pocket camera, (not a bridge camera, which are slightly larger) very reliable and hard wearing and for the money, about £380 takes great photos.