wally (11/19/82)
I've had my Canon A-1 about 5 months now and am very happy with it.
I admit the depth of field preview is a problem, but I can't tell
whether something is going to be in focus in an 8x10 print by using the
depth of field preview anyway, I have to use the d-o-f scale on
the lens. (I can tell when it's going to be out of focus,
but I want more positive information than that!)
To answer your question about other cameras with program mode,
there was a very interesting article about programmed exposure SLR's
in the July '82 issue of Popular Photography. It sounds like the
Minolta X-700 has the kind of program you want, it sacrifices depth of
field for fast shutter speeds more that the A-1 does. Unfortunately,
the X-700 doesn't have shutter priority auto exposure, only prog'd and
aperture priority (plus auto flash mode, I suppose.)
That issue also has some neat pictures taken by moonlight in
Hawaii.