Pentax AF240Z Flash - Explanation required

I have recently purchased a 2nd-hand flash for my LX. It's an AF240Z, not fully TTL compatible as I had hoped, but a decent gun all the same. Trouble is, it came sans manual and I just need a little clarification about the settings. On the back there are three settings; "P", "A" and "M". Selecting "M" (which, I'm guessing, stands for Manual) gives a full range of F stops for any given distance. "P" and "A" both give one specific F stop for a particular range of distances, but each setting gives a different F stop. All I need to know is the difference between "P" and "A" and which setting is the best to use. I've been using the gun on "A" with good results, but wouldn't mind knowing my options.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Barry,

The AF240Z is not TTL at all. Check out this excellent site for all Pentax type information: http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/index.html
and especially:
http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/flashes/non-TTL/index.html

And here's the description of "A" and "P" modes:
http://kmp.bdimitrov.de/extras/hot-shoe/index.html

Essentially, "A" is where you must manually set the aperture on the lense to the one specified on the flashgun, whereas "P" allows you to set the camera to program mode too, and the flashgun and body will negotiate the f-stop. I'm not sure it will work correctly on the LX.

Enjoy!

Matt
www.pbase.com/mattmatic

Thanks for that info, Matt. I've recently shot a whole film of my neices' 1st Birthday party with the 240Z set on "P", when I now know it should have been on "A"! The reccommended f-stops were not wildly different, so it should come out OK; I hope so, for the sake of my reputation as family photographer, especially as I was extolling the virtues of my brilliant LX to anyone who would listen! We shall see.

Thanks again.

Barry