Bearing in mind it might have a 42MP Sony sensor I am thinking that whilst the subject might appear smaller it would give the opportunity for close cropping and still render a sharp image, In which case could you not still use your APS-C lenses to their full effect?

Thanks for the timely warning. Does anyone know of issues with the Canon Professional range of photo printers (apart from the huge size)? Shame Ricoh don't do photo printers, seems a lost opportunity.

Here's my first attempt at digiscoping with the aforementioned kit. I haven't done any sharpening, this was shot in live view at about 30x magnification, in aperture priority and manual focus. Even mounted on a tripod it was tricky to keep the image steady so don't know whether the lack of sharpness is the set-up, my eyesight or camera shake. Zooming in live view wouldn't render it any sharper. The image in the digiscope without the camera was pin sharp but needed refocusing with the camera in place so a bit of a chore.

In conclusion this is useful for checking bird identity but the whole process was pretty cumbersome and the problems I mentioned before spoiled things, so I only really started to enjoy myself when I put the camera away and observed the wildlife through binoculars. Maybe better with a small compact camera.

John Riley mentioned Pentax diversity - went to Specsavers, all their lenses are Pentax! Also I read that Pentax telescope eyepieces are very highly rated for astronomy so maybe they are prolific in other areas of specialist scientific optics.

WARNING! Tried my digiscope set-up this week with the K-mount/T2 adaptor in place. As soon as I looked through the viewfinder it was filled with large black specks which can only have been paint flaking off the adaptor. Most of them were inside the housing on the mirror and focusing screen but a couple had got on the sensor, which all came away with a blower. However some had also somehow got behind the focusing screen which I very carefully took out when I got home and managed to clean behind, again with a puffer and a very soft brush. Bearing in mind the camera had been professionally cleaned before the trip you can imagine I was spitting feathers!

You can see clearly where paint has come off the adaptor on the K-mount part as well as the opposite face and I will be contacting Bristol Cameras where it came from but it will be consigned to the bin.

The other issue was that the adaptor is in two parts held by grub screws, which came loose whilst handling the camera on the tripod-mounted digiscope causing the camera body to wobble. So not a great start.

I'm willing to bet it will be available bundled with the FF body at a big discount.

Take a look at another relatively recent body, the K-S2 released in February. The body was £549.99 at launch and is now £499.00 on many regular sites, best buy from Amazon £471.28 +pp. so on that basis you can reckon on a 10% drop over eight months. Having said that the K-3II looks very well priced to start so it may be a while before there is any change, and when stocks outstrip demand. But what do I know!

I lost mine tonight (dignity, that is). Watching Brian Cox on the One Show my wife completely straightfaced said "I wonder what it's like being married to an intelligent person". Completely deflated, didn't come back with the obvious retort.

It will be interesting to see if this lens is bundled with the new FF, as that will take the concept of a 'kit' lens to a whole new level.

I am highly dubious of these claims of a Tamron clone; firstly why would Pentax, which is in the process of reviving its reputation for great lenses, risk that with an inferior quality manufacturer? Second, if there is a tie-up with Tamron why has that company just dropped the K-mount from it's new products? Surely Tamron would just market their own K-mount version of their lens.