Pentax Super Program
Please see the camera-wiki article on the Super Program (or outside North America, the Super A). These were joined by a new Pentax-A series of K mount lenses which enable the body to set an aperture automatically. A locking "A" position on the aperture ring is now provided.
Here Pentax joins the movement towards "multimode" exposure options which had begun with Canon's A-1. In particular programmed autoexposure and TTL flash control were becoming must-have features in the enthusiast SLR space.
Unfortunately this also marks a breakdown in what had been harmonious sharing of the K mount standard with Ricoh. They also introduced multimode program models, but the mount linkages enabling this are not compatible. In fact, a pin extending from the Ricoh lens flange can become trapped in the autofocus drive slot of later Pentax models and is quite difficult to get unstuck.
Pentax Super Program
Please see the camera-wiki article on the Super Program (or outside North America, the Super A). These were joined by a new Pentax-A series of K mount lenses which enable the body to set an aperture automatically. A locking "A" position on the aperture ring is now provided.
Here Pentax joins the movement towards "multimode" exposure options which had begun with Canon's A-1. In particular programmed autoexposure and TTL flash control were becoming must-have features in the enthusiast SLR space.
Unfortunately this also marks a breakdown in what had been harmonious sharing of the K mount standard with Ricoh. They also introduced multimode program models, but the mount linkages enabling this are not compatible. In fact, a pin extending from the Ricoh lens flange can become trapped in the autofocus drive slot of later Pentax models and is quite difficult to get unstuck.