----- Original Message ----- From: "P. J. Alling"
Subject: Re: Recent thread on 85's and 77's
Canon pioneered Shutter Priority Automation while Pentax was investing in aperture priority automation, pretty much contemporary IIRC. (I was selling Cameras Retail and the AE-1 was along side the ME and K2 in the display cases), The AE-1 meter was a PITA to use in manual mode, I think they used a trap needle system in their automation. Minolta beat both to punch with both in the same camera, I believe. Canon was next and I can't remember if Nikon beat Pentax or not.
Canon was the first to market a successful aperture priority AE camera, but both Nikon and Mamiya had working (albeit crude) versions several years before.
William Robb
