Are you sure?
Camerapedia and
Photoethnography both refer to the lighted symbols as LEDs. The TL-Electro was first introduced in 1972. I'm not saying you're incorrect, I'm just curious to know for sure one way or the other. Cheers, Allan
Yes, they are wrong. I bought an ST801 in early 1974, and all the publications of the time, and the Fuji literature, emphasized that it was the first with LEDs. The ST801 came out in 1972. There is a lot of conflicting information out there. Don't take anything as gospel unless you confirm it. I just corrected the Camerapedia entry to say "lights" instead of "LEDs". One of the best confirmations as to model years and features is advertisements in old photo magazines. Merchant ads tell what was being sold at that time. The original manuals are another source of information regarding features.
You'll find the TL Electro is older than 1972. The TL Electro X might have come out in 1972. They used the proven light-bulb technology, which was quite reliable. The several models of the Yashica TL Electro series were capable machines with some nice features. I've seen several which are still working perfectly. My old ST801 is the same: though well-worn it functions fine, and the meter is as accurate as when new.
The Fujicas were innovative in their electronics for the time: the ST 701 was the first with silicon cells, which required a transistorized amplifier circuit, and the ST801 took it further with the LED readout plus its control circuitry. Then the ST 901 was the first with an LED digital readout.
I think the 801's readout was the best of all the
manual camera readouts using lights. Instead of the arrows of the Yashica, or the +O- of the Nikons, or the limited range of the Penatax MX, it has 7 lights along the right side of the screen, each a one-stop increment. So you always know how far off you are. The really nice thing is that two adjacent lights can light at the same time, their relative brightness allowing discernment to 1/4 stop. Great for transparency shooting.