Hey Mark
I lost your contact info when hfx4sale went out - you weren't speaking too soon!
Anyway - I thought you might pass through here, and I wanted to let you guys know - I took the SP2 apart and cleaned it up, got the battery apart and repaired/scrapped it out, put in a new one - all works fine now!
Haven't really taken a try at the ME Super yet. Seems like worse issues there.
So I thought - if you wouldn't take the $, then maybe, if you're ever planning to, I'd be happy to provide a couple of intro sessions on cameras and lenses, go over depth of field and technical tips. I used to teach photo classes back at the NS Photographers Coop years ago.
I'd still recommend the NSCAD class as well, just because of the crazy darkroom access you get (and there's nothing like a black & white photo print as a benchmark to learn about image quality from - digital and inkjets just aren't anywhere close and you'll see it), but I could give you a running start on it, so you'd get more for your money there
My email is legion.will(at)gmail.com
Will