Except for the MX, all were based on the same basic camera body, and featured aperture-priority exposure automation.

The 750 and 850 do, however, offer programmed exposure automation with "smart" readings based on six zones within the frame.

But in exposure automation, every advantage seems to entail a disadvantage.

For another, programmed exposure automation.

Readers with long memories know that when the Nikon F3 was introduced, exposure automation had been around for ages.

The S2 and S2b were deliberately designed without exposure automation, and only required a battery for the light metering system.

The 2000-series cameras had been intended to provide full exposure automation.

Another is the provision for more advanced control, such as manual focusing and aperture-priority exposure automation.

Modern cameras offer as many as five kinds of exposure automation, some of them keyed to the focal length of the lens in use.

SLRs now feature automatic focusing and programmed exposure automation, both of which are tied in with automatic flash control.