First manufactured March of 1978 by Canon Camera. The A-1 was their top-of-the-line A series camera. the A-1 was released as the Canon flagship until 1985. It was the first SLR to offer an electronically controlled programmed auto exposure mode. Another stand out feature was the A-1 only came in all black. Key features of the Canon A-1:
•FD Lens mount
• Shutter speeds: X, B, 30, 15, 8, 4, 2, 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 sec,
•Multiple exposures enabled with a lever
•Split image range finder, encircled by microprism finder at center of Fresnel matte screen
•Viewfinder has digital readout showing shutter speed, aperture, flash, manual settings, and warning displays.
• TTL full-aperture center-weighted averaging metering or TTL stopped-down metering.
• Five AE modes: Shutter speed-priority AE, aperture-priority AE, program AE, preset aperture-priority AE, and Speedlite AE.