Yes thanks, it is one day a year I get waited on, no chores like washing up, only effort required was cutting the cake. My daughter seems to think I need things to fill my time with, last year it was bread making stuff and this year a cheese-making kit. She did redeem herself on Christmas Day with a bottle of malt whisky which I tackled instead!

I cannot compare with the K5IIs but I will say the image quality is excellent, with the qualification that it depends of course on the lens being used. The Sigma will give excellent results BUT you should check if the mount has been modified - if so it will have a chamfered edge; the original mount rubbed against the camera body overhang leaving a very slight mark.

You are comparing an APS-C sensor against an FF one so the subject will appear smaller, the APS-C crop in the K1/K1.II will only use about 16mp of the 36mp available so about the same as your K5:IIs which could be significant for wildlife shots. If wildlife is your main interest then maybe an APS-C body with a 24mp sensor like the K3 might serve you better, with the added bonus that it will take a teleconverter. However the K1/K1.II has better sensitivity meaning you can push the ISO up a bit and recovery of details from shadow areas is amazing so in poor light it will perform best. If you can get close enough to your subject the full frame option will amaze you with its sharpness and detail.

As for tracking I cannot compare, but the few times I have used it the results are ok, it’s really down to technique. However if wildlife is your primary subject matter then the forthcoming K3.III looks more promising with a 26.2 mp APS-C sensor and much improved focusing, depending of course on what it will cost.

What a fabulous view to have outside your window, mine is of an Indian restaurant which has grown to block the view of distant hills!

My birthday today so a large malt whisky followed by Champagne over dinner, I can hardly see to write this post!

Mike-P, it would make sense to me for Pentax to develop a couple of mirrorless bodies alongside new DSLRs using the same K-mount so that the existing and legacy lenses could be used without developing a new mount. Canikon have developed new mounts to get the lens closer to reduce body depth and bring in lenses with ever wider apertures, but they did the same when switching from mechanical to electronic connectors and seem willing to accept the risk in making earlier lenses redundant. The Pentax strategy has been different, retaining useability of older lenses and I have seen articles where these are now being used on mirrorless with adapters (including an AP article which said older lenses are enjoying a resurgence thanks to mirrorless technology!) so there is potential there. One of the biggest drawbacks to many mirrorless bodies is their handling but with Pentax's dedication to that aspect I don't see a slightly deeper mirrorless body being a hurdle.

I don’t think the analogy with vinyl records is going to do Pentax’s reputation much good, it sounds like the CEO is pinning his hopes on appealing to the retro crowd as a future strategy. It may be growing, like the use of film, but it will always be a tiny minority so I can only conclude that Ricoh is accepting their position of becoming a tiny niche player outside the mainstream. This a slightly different tack to that we heard before of mirrorless users returning to DSLRs. It sounds now as if the CEO sees the smartphone threatening the mirrorless market whereas Pentax will offer an aesthetic alternative which smartphones cannot emulate. And finally he refers to Pentax users as hobbyists so what happened to the medium format strategy of targeting the professional market? Perhaps development in the MF field has ended.

I have to say this has all filled me with dismay, I love the products but I don’t know how long the brand will last if it continues down this path.

Cheers Graham, I had just copied the summary so may as well post it here:
The body has a stronger build,” Siegel says of the pre-production camera he handled. “The overall feel and ergonomics are as close to perfect as I’ve seen on a camera.

“The goal here is not to prioritize form over function just to be smaller and slimmer even at the cost of comfort like many mirrorless options. It’s about having a system that fits perfectly in hand and yet is relatively compact enough so that you can use it for extended periods without discomfort. The autofocus system has seen a major upgrade, placing it at a similar level to top-end professional cameras from other brands,” Siegel reports. “This also includes a greatly improved continuous tracking ability.”

Oh great, now a power cut. The air is filled with the trilling of unmaintained intruder alarms.

What a morning. Queued outside for half an hour at the butchers for my pre-ordered turkey breast only to be charged considerably more than I expected (shades of the Cratchitt family, "its the smallest one we could get") only for Mrs RobL to tell me when I got back it would have been half the price in Sainsburys, then on to the bakery where they couldn't find the Christmas cake due to Donna's chaotic book-keeping but eventually sorted it. Then an altercation with the neighbours for parking their cars on the grass verge in front of the house and churning it to mud, and all before breakfast. Very hard to keep this goodwill to all men going!

Yep, mine came today too, many thanks for the note inside and I look forward to a good browse.