If it’s any consolation LennyBloke I know of a (wealthy) photographer who swopped all his kit for Leica only for a year or so later to change back again!

Technically brilliant and very robust, I dropped the R6II and lens onto a stone floor (expensive way to discover that not all Arca-Swiss plates and heads are compatible!) but the lens just suffered a minor dent and the camera had no marks at all. I quickly got to appreciate mirrorless technology, i shoot in Manual mode so seeing in the viewfinder what you normally see on the rear screen is great. There is something though I miss about Pentax that I can’t put my finger on, calling it ‘soul’ or ‘character’ seems a bit far-fetched for a piece of technology but I bet you know what I mean, especially the Limited lenses. Do I regret the change? Not at all but had Ricoh shown more commitment to Pentax it might not have been necessary to change.

I just found my comparison list, the Pentax kit was K1, 15-30 f2.8, 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8, 150-450mm lenses. Total weight 6672g. The Nikon and Canon equivalents (using pro grade f4 lenses where available instead of f2. were 4485k and 4053k respectively. The Canon kit therefore came in at 60% of the weight of the Pentax. I appreciate that the f4 lenses are something of a compromise but the weight saving was worth it and most f2.8 lenses are not at their best wide open anyway.

My realisation came when I found I was leaving the Pentax bag in the car and taking an Olympus with a couple of lenses out instead, purely because it was so much more pleasant to walk with the lighter weight gear. Like Lennybloke though I wanted to stick with FF so I listed comparative bodies and the lenses I most used to compare weight-wise with the Pentax stuff I owned. I noticed that Canon and Nikon produce some pro grade f4 versions of the f2.8 lenses which saved considerably in weight and cost. I didn't include Sony although that's an option, just from personal prejudice. For me Canon came out the winner with the lowest collective weight and the real game changer was the Canon 100-500mm pro quality lens, significantly lighter and more compact than the Pentax 150-450mm. I also liked that some mirrorless bodies use the shutter to protect the sensor and in three years or more I have never had to clean the sensor, just the occasional blow. The fact that Pentax hadn't updated the K1.II in years led the suspicion that the format has been abandoned by Ricoh and a view of the Ricoh display at the Photography Show demonstrated that the Pentax range is just a sideshow to where Ricoh are focusing their efforts, which is a great shame.

I have two of these Pentax branded release cables, both very clean: £18.00 each including postage. The button release can also slide to be locked for long timed exposures in bulb mode. They work with other camera brands with the same 2.5mm connector as well.

Both sold, thanks Michael.

You would have a job tripping over the short curly one! I used these to handhold an off-camera flash in the field - close-ups of flowers fungi etc. and much lighter than using a trigger/receiver or a master flash, and no batteries so you can keep them in the bag all the time.

For about a year now I have been using Capture One software to the extent now that I won't be renewing my Lightroom/Photoshop subscription. It costs a bit more and is cheaper to pay annually but after four years you can elect to cancel and retain the software without updates. It is geared to studio portraiture but works great on everything else, from the outset images look cleaner and sharper and adjusting noise and sharpness is so much better than faffing around with generating a new file in Lightroom for instance. It won't do what Photoshop does but I so rarely use it I won't miss it.

UPDATE: I still have one of these adapters as well as the cable, they both come with original instructions and boxes although the adapter box is a bit shabby. Happy to accept offers around £50.00 for the cable and £20.00 for the adapter, or £65.00 for both

It has been over a year since I switched from Pentax to a mirrorless system so I thought you might like me to share my thoughts, like everyone here I enjoyed the results from my K1 and assorted lenses but a few things started giving me doubts. Firstly, the weight of some lenses like the 150-450 meant I had to be selective about what I would take out, and even the f2.8 trinity became burdensome to the extent that it wasn’t so pleasurable to go for a walk. Then a lightbulb moment when I was asked to photograph moths at dusk; the 100mm macro and Pentax ring flash consistently failed to focus in the low light, hunting noisily back and forth whilst a Sony user next to me quietly and efficiently snapped away. Finally it was becoming clear that the gaps in the system were growing larger: no teleconverters for full frame, diminishing range of flash units, over reliance on outdated mechanical auto focusing, and no new full frame models on the horizon.

I tested the water with an ex-demo Olympus and whilst it lacked what full frame offered the results were surprisingly good and I began to appreciate what a mirrorless system offered: what I saw in the viewfinder was what would actually be recorded, and the brilliant image stabilisation meant I could do away with a tripod in all most the most demanding situations. I therefore found that more and more often I was leaving the Pentax gear at home in favour of the much lighter Olympus with a couple of lenses.

My concerns about the direction, or lack of, that Ricoh was taking gave my concern about the future value of the equipment I had spent a decent amount of cash investing in, led me to seriously consider switching whilst I could still get something back. Wanting to stay full frame I listed the features and lenses I used the most and compared what Canon and Nikon (not Sony thank you) offered with particular emphasis on weight, and after reading extensive reviews realised that they both offered excellent quality f4 versions of their top range f2.8 lenses in contrast to my experience of Pentax glass where the slower options give decidedly inferior results. Weightwise Canon came out top and the difference was significant enough to justify switching; having seen YouTube videos of a Nikon K7II user having to clean the sensor every day the way Canon (and larger Nikon bodies) protect the sensor with the shutter whenever a lens is removed was a big factor. When Canon announced a big discount promotion last year I decided to make the switch and got trade-In quotes from different major retailers; Park Cameras gave the best offer and stuck pretty closely to it when they received the K1 and lenses.

Sixteen months on and I am more than pleased that I switched, I can comfortably carry my full range of premium lenses giving a focal range from 24 to 700mm in a relatively compact backpack. The astounding autofocus means I can get great wildlife shots with really crisp detail. There is much derogatory talk here about mirrorless being full of gimmicks and for the instagram-obsessed, but let me reassure you that it offers serious photographers great opportunities as well.

I have kept a vintage Pentax lens and a K-mount tilt-shift which attach to the Canon via an adapter, everything is manual but with both those lenses that isn’t an issue.