Introduced in 1976, the Canon AE-1 rapidly gained global popularity, selling millions of units due to its highly automated production process, microprocessor integration for design simplification, and a cost-effective metalized-plastic top panel. This approach marked it as one of the first affordable TTL autoexposure SLR cameras, a significant departure from the prevalent match-needle TTL exposure metering in consumer-level cameras at the time. The AE-1 featured shutter-priority autoexposure, further contributing to its widespread appeal.