Running through the four Pentax DSLRs I had ending with the K3 I found there were improvements but only gradual each time. When you switch to any Nikon of the last 5 years it is a different world when it comes to locking on and tracking moving objects or complex backgrounds. I haven't found any problems with my SIgma 150-600mm 'C' lens on my Nikon but of course I can't get that for my K3 anyway.

I got sent the update via email from RIcoh. I was distinctly unimpressed to get a long list of a couple of pages of every feature that almost all DSLRs have, many from day 1 ! I searched through to find the mind blowing step change and I couldn't. I changed to the Nikon D500 3 years back but kept my K3 and a couple of lenses because it is a fine camera. But a new buyer is never going to buy this over a D500 even if it is 4 years old. I accept that both will take stunning images but the D500 has two massive advantages. Superb new cheap 3rd party lenses, especially from the likes of Sigma and Tamron (and these are superior optically to those that were available for Pentax in earlier generations) plus unless Ricoh are keeping it under their hat the Nikon is so much better at AF speed and tracking.
The lenses are always going to be a problem but as the other big players seem to be moving away from APSC it was an opportunity for Pentax to leap in front of them but in my opinion the also ageing Canon 7Dii and the Nikon D500 will hold their own against this.

Don't recall any really new APS-C DSLR's being released for some time from anybody. I may be wrong but any new ideas seem to be put into mirrorless. The one to beat really is the Nikon D500 which has been out about three years or so now so it shouldn't really be difficult. They should use this as an opportunity to be the leader in APS-C as they aren't bothering with mirrorless. If it's just a bit of an upgrade I see it as a missed opportunity and a bit of a waste of time.

So how did it go?

Yes, they are great. I still look at them and there seems to be a big improvement in the birding ones

The equivalent of the Sigma 150-600mm, Tamron 150-600mm for under a thousand pounds but matching their speed of focusing and image quality?

I have always been a keen bird and wildlife watcher. In the last 5 years there has been an explosion of wildlife photographers, many who know little about wildlife and have given a bad name to wildlife photographers. I believe this explosion in this area of the market is in part due to the popularity of "Blue Planet" and "Springwatch" type programmes plus the ability with a long lens and the crop factor of an APS-C DSLR to get excellent results. This is a massive growing market and where the users always want more. Not that many want mirrorless. This is where Pentax could expand (or should have) . The problem is with being dropped by SIgma and Tamron is that they have managed to produce high quality zooms that go to 600mm for considerably less than a thousand pounds. Nikon has a very good 200-500mm in that price range as well. The old Sigma 50-500mm isn't as sharp at the long end as these new lenses. The Pentax 150-450mm is probably best option now but it is nearer £2k than £1k. Then of course there is the thorny issue of AF. For everything else my K3 is fine, and the lenses are there.
So, if the new camera has cracked the AF issues and Pentax itself can make a sub-£1000 decent quality zoom to 600mm then I see no reason why it couldn't maintain or increase its position in the APS-C market.

Just stumbled on this moderately favourable review. Apologies if it's already been posted elsewhere:-
https://www.lonelyspeck.com/pentax-k-1-mark-ii-astrophotography-review/
Dave

I think Fuji and Sony are just bringing out some medium format cameras. I heard that the new £900 i Phone has a brilliant camera. I'm wondering who will be the first to fit a phone chip in a DSLR

Seems that we are a lot of (elderly majority?), generally happy with our Pentax cameras and happy to buy second hand and not chasing the hype of must have. Whether that is sustainable for RIcoh is debatable though. Looking at Photokina SIgma are bringing out 6 new lenses,(none in k-mount) Sony, Fuji, Leica, Panasonic several and I think Pentax have just one and that has been delayed to 2019. Meanwhile Nikon now have a 500mm in their lightweight compact Fresnel range.
We might not want to ditch Pentax but would you start out with it tomorrow if you had nothing?