>>3629350Minolta did the 'motor in body' thing and it worked. Ther mid 80's were a really weird time for electronics. It might've been the path Nikon went down because it was easier than having one motor drive the lens aperture, and another be large and powerful enough to drive the focus.
It's easier to fit a more powerful motor in the camera body than as a bulky lens attachement.
Canon's AC lenses are a good example of how clunky early attempts were.
They had all the mechanical overheads of the FD system - with additional in-lens motors that made them bulky.
The mechanics of the FD system were good - but having both an aperture signalling/set lever and a seperatre stop-down lever (For compatibility with FL) took up a lot of space in the lens body making fitting motors to FD bulky and awkward. These arms needed a lot of space to move and rotate as the lens was mounted.
Adapting F to autofocus was just easier for Nikon. Especially with maintain compatibility for program modes and the like on older MF lenses. Nikon could also get a more powerful motor in the body.
