Try putting it in P mode and setting your camera to P - if I do that with a Pentax AF240Z and a K-m I get program flash with the camera detecting the flash and setting its aperture/shutter speed to suit. Varying the ISO changes the aperture.

And I thought the front end on my Pentax-M 35-70mm was huge!

Weirdly, the Hymer's manual included a section for ambulances. I think Fiat must have supplied the same chassis for them, as I've yet to find anything on the Hymer apart from it having surprising acceleration (it'll leave white van man standing if you get the gearchanges right!)

Could you get somewhere with the "Goods must be of merchantable quality" stuff? A computer that expires after only a year is definitely not of merchantable quality!

You should just be able to use any Pentax AF lens with it in the same manner as your DA lenses. Just make sure that the aperture is set to "A" and the camera is switched to AF.

Well, aside from the one-off 35-70mm f2.8 which only works with the ME-F. Anything later than that should work!

Problem solved - I've found some intended for Pentax cameras for the same money.

My AF240Z and K-m do talk to each other, in as far as the flash is able to communicate when it's ready and trigger the camera to select the right aperture (and then choose a shutter speed taking account of the flash). It uses the two rear contacts but not the P-TTL one at the front. I'd just like to get one with the P-TTL contacts in case I ever decide to buy a new flash instead of my 20 year old one!

I can see I'm going to have to buy a TTL flash cable and have a go.

Do different manufacturers use a different hot shoe? I ask as I've seen TTL cables much cheaper for Nikon than Pentax, the contacts look to be in the right place and it's just an extension lead, so it shouldn't care what it's connected between!

Would that cable work? I need the extra contacts to keep the Program function on my AF240Z (which works perfectly with my K-m, causing the camera to set the correct aperture and shutter speed to take account of the flash).

In my experience they're accurate down to about f11, smaller apertures produce underexposure unless you use the histogram and adjust accordingly.

It depends on the age. My parents have a 1993 one, before they started making the smiley front ends with bug eyes which really don't suit a big vehicle.

There's something a bit special about a vehicle where adding a full tank of fresh water improves the handling (by ballasting the rear end and forcing the springs to work)!

Pentax made silvery lenses - look at the FA or FA-J series. Not many of them were especially good however (not as good as the ones you already own). That said, the 75-300mm was one of their better long zooms.

The FA Ltds were all available in the same colour, but they cost more than a K-x...

I particularly enjoyed wandering around the RIAT airshow with my old 100-300mm on my K-m (and my even older ME Super with 40mm lens loaded with black and white film for the static displays). Given I got results like this I don't really think I need a gigantic white lens, although I wouldn't mind the 55-300mm as I suspect it'd be a bit sharper:

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