canondave1 Loc: Houston, TX

I know what LSMFT used to mean: "Lucky Strikes Mean Fine Tobacco".

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Loose Stems Mean Fallen Tomatoes?

BebuLamar

I refer to the late 1970's and early 1980's. In the 70's Pentax, Nikon, Minolta, Olympus (there are others like Chinon, Ricoh, Fujica etc..) only made aperture priority SLR's. Canon in that time made only shutter priority SLR's. They all labeled the one and only auto mode as A on the cameras. When Minolta introduced the first SLR with both aperture priority and shutter priority in 1977 they label the selector switch as A and S. Canon in 1978 introduced the A-1 with aperture priority, shutter priority and program. They labelled the program mode as a green P. I think if they use A and S for their other 2 modes it would cause confusion for people who used their cameras before (EF, AE-1 etc..) because the A was previously used to indicate shutter priority. That is why I think they went to Av and Tv. When other manufacturers started to add more modes to their cameras like Nikon with their FA used the same A and S like Minolta and added the P like Canon. Olympus I don't think ever offered a SLR with both aperture priority and shutter priority (I meant film SLR). Pentax offered cameras with both Av and Tv modes quite late and they adopted the Av and Tv from Canon. I am right now investigating as to what Pentax Sv and TAv modes do.

canondave1 Loc: Houston, TX

Exactly!

wolvesaywe Loc: Hants England

We still do !

kenArchi Loc: Seal Beach, CA

One ancient time ago, people were the same and started to build a tower to reach GOD. Then God said SHAZAM!! And made everyone different and speak different. And the tower became the Tower OF CanonLeicaMinoltaNikonOlympusPanasonic, etc.
I now have choices.

aellman Loc: Boston MA

Yes, the tower was called Deardorff. You were required to put a large black holy scarf
over your head to prove your religious enthusiasm. >Alan

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

In the 60's there was a period where everyone was coming up with different meanings for LSMFT like
Let's Stop, My Finger's Tired
Low Self esteem Means Friction and Trouble
Loose Suspenders Mean Falling Trousers

aellman Loc: Boston MA

Shows how effective the advertising was. We all remember it decades later.

bobsisk Loc: Chandler, Arizona

The first one is current for texting today.

aardq

Does anyone remember when the auto industry established the PRNDL indicating system for transmission gear indicator? Before that all makers had different systems and it wasn't unusual for someone to put a car into Park, and have the car run in reverse instead. The PRNDL system has prevented a lot of accidents. It would be nice if all cameras used the same markings.

kb6kgx Loc: Simi Valley, CA

An excellent point. There are many different car makers, as there are camera makers, so it would not be difficult at all to have them all get together and agree on a standard nomenclature.

blackest Loc: Ireland

Might be something lost in translation, maybe japanese lettering is the same. Car manufacturers are still inconsistent, which stick does indicators and which wipers and headlights? filler caps left right rear ... safety does bring some consistency e.g pedals is always clutch, brake and throttle. Maybe consistency within a brand is a thing.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Although I have been a Pentax user for the past two+ years, I've never used Sv and TAv modes, because I'm not comfortable with what they do.

For background: each modern Pentax camera has two "E" dials; the front one is just in front/below the shutter button, and the back one is just behind/below the mode dial. In most cases, when appropriate the front one controls the shutter speed and the back one controls the aperture, so I can reach out with my forefinger to change shutter speed or back with my thumb to change the aperture. In "P" mode, for example, I can reach out with my forefinger to change the shutter speed {and the aperture is adjusted to compensate} or back with my thumb to change the aperture {and the shutter speed is adjusted to compensate}.

"Sv" is just like "P" except that purpose of "E" dials is changed; I can use the back dial to change the ISO setting, and in this case I have no direct control of shutter speed or aperture.

In "P" mode, the aperture is adjusted to offset changes I make in the shutter speed via the front dial, and shutter speed is adjusted to offset changes I make in the aperture via the back dial. In "TAv" mode, changes via either dial are offset by adjustments in the ISO setting.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

To add to your history: I don't remember what terminology Pentax used, but when I purchased my first Pentax camera in 1979, I didn't think in terms of modes, I just thought in terms of whether the camera body or I controlled the shutter speed. In 1983, Pentax made their first modification to the K-mount; the KA-mount allowed the camera body to control the aperture also.

Below I have a picture of the Super Program camera I purchased in 1984. At the right is a dial controlling the shutter, with positions for "L" {"lock"; i.e. body turned off}, "auto" {body controls shutter speed}, "M" {"manual"; i.e., I control shutter speed}; "125" {shutter speed is 1/125} and "B" {bulb}. The lens has a traditional aperture ring - with one addition: in the "A" position, control of aperture is turned over to the body.

Thus, what we know today as modes was controlled by the combination of these two controls:

"A" + "auto" ==> P mode

"A" + "M" ==> Tv mode

other aperture + "auto" ==> " Av mode

other aperture + "M" ==> M mode