Topcon Super D

David Murphy

David Murphy

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Anyone here have an opinion on the Topcon Super D (also called the Topcon RE Super apparently)? It seems to have a dedicated following. I've been thinking about getting one since I like to shoot with collectible cameras that are also relatively functional.
 
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I had an RE-Super with the 58mm f1.4 for a brief time back in 1970. The Kodachromes I shot with it looked good, though maybe a trifle 'warm'. Big, solid camera, viewfinder easy to see when wearing specs, front mounted release seemed to help overcome camera shake at slow-ish shutter speeds. I parted with it partly because it felt very angular, and partly because lenses were hard to find.

Perhaps the major problem today might be the CdS lightmeter which was built to be powered by the now almost impossible to find Px625 mercury battery. There are alternatives but the meter may need re-calibrating to read accurately. Always assuming the CdS meter cells are still functioning properly.

The Super D was very little different to the Re-Super - either would be a nice camera to have if you want to recreate a "state of the art mid-1960s" photographic experience.

If my memory's correct, the US Marines adopted one of them as their official camera !
 
When they were around, the models were considered to be the best you could get. Nikon and the like were not as well thought of at the time. Sadly, their light was short lived and dimmed rather quickly. There was a local hi-end camera dealer in my town and the only 35mm gear he would sell was Alpa, Leica and Topcon. He had access to Contax, and was willing to selling the Contraflex and Contaflex and Voightlander but, as for the imports from across the other pond, he refused to sell or even discuss. He taught me to appreciate quality and that it did not necessarily translate to a profitable business.
 
well the shutter release was very awkwardly located on the front of the camera. Not particularly ergonomic.
 
He preferred to sell quality systems vs. systems with quantities of lenses and accessories. He was an old timer and had not realized that the world had moved to mass market and mass produced merchandise being the wave of the future. He'd spend the better part of a day showing a customer who bought a camera how to use it including shooting each lens and then developing the results so the customer saw what he could be capable of while the customer waited. I used to sit around and watch his approach to customer service and years later it stood me in good stead when I had my hi-fi shops.
 
Love it. Works like a charm. Indestructible. Extremely solid and has a very pleasing ka-thunk when shutter fires. I don't know the technicalities except for its revolutionary TTL metering. Just from the sheer weight and density, you'll think you've gotten a good deal if you can find one operational. Here's mine:

4335894840_099008da7b.jpg


Mr. (Cosina) was inspired by Topcon to make his own version of Super D:

4335150871_6f1679285d.jpg
 
I've been looking (not very actively) for one of these for some time. I have the lesser, but very nice, RE-2, which is similar to the Nikkormat FTn or Canon FTb.
 
I was reading the "ugliest camera" thread and doing Google searches to see what some of them looked like. Somehow in the search, Besler Topcon Super D came up, and then this thread in the search. I know the thread is three years old now, but I have to comment anyway.

I used the Beseler Topcon Super D's in the US Navy when they were still current issue. They were, in fact, competent. And they were built like a battleship. They were also heavy, clunky, and sounded like a 12 gauge shotgun being racked every time the shutter release fired. The shutter release button was almost impossible to press with your index finger. I can't remember anyone saying "gee, I like that Topcon." There was lots of grumbling about them though.

They were commonly known as "Slopcons" among navy photographers, and the Nikon F2 soon displaced the Topcons in the fleet. The Topcon Super D was the camera that drove me to the Leica M4 kit (KE-7A,) so it has a special place in my heart.
 
I'd still like to get ahold of one of these. Very hard to find these days, especially with no dents!

The shutter button on the front is not a problem -- the Miranda Sensorex is the same and the Exaktas (opposite side).
 
They have a really strong following. I have never used one but seen them in some of the shops I used to go - they do seem pretty heavy and quite solid. But for me I didn't think they were worth the prices asked, so I've never bought one. They are still very pricy and the value of the lenses in particular has shot up in recent years.

Topcon was just another camera company killed by the move to electronics, like Miranda and Petri. (I know the company still exists, but they're not a camera company now)
 
Shot with the Super D & DM in my younger days. Loved them. Built like a tank. Metering was Built in the body, not the Prism. When they were discontinued I went to Nikon. I wish I still had one.
Memory serves, you can use Exacta lenses on them . Same mount.
 
lewis44 said:
Memory serves, you can use Exacta lenses on them . Same mount.
Click to expand...

Sort of. It will work for early and all-manual lenses only. Exakta and Topcon have the release button in different locations and locked at different angles - when both makers added their own mutually incompatible aperture automation, the mounts drifted apart.

With "automatic" Exakta lenses on Topcons you could fake the stop down operating the camera with both hands or using a twin (or locking) cable release, and can mount the lenses if you temporarily remove the prism for mounting or use some finder insert that is flush with the front plate. The other way around all later Topcon lenses with internal couplers have similar (or worse) stop-down issues on the Exakta, and what is more, they may come stuck.
 
tunalegs said:
They have a really strong following. I have never used one but seen them in some of the shops I used to go - they do seem pretty heavy and quite solid. But for me I didn't think they were worth the prices asked, so I've never bought one. They are still very pricy and the value of the lenses in particular has shot up in recent years.

Topcon was just another camera company killed by the move to electronics, like Miranda and Petri. (I know the company still exists, but they're not a camera company now)
Click to expand...

Yes, I believe they make surveying equipment. Likewise, Kowa has moved out of photography and concentrates on spotting scopes and similar optics. At least they are still in business.
 
lewis44 said:
...
Memory serves, you can use Exacta lenses on them . Same mount.
Click to expand...

Yup, same mount but, as noted in another post, the release was on the opposite side.

The choice of using the Exakta was a big reason for Topcon's inability to keep up with the competition. It's rather small opening prevents many modern lens designs, particularly fast lenses and zooms. This is one area that Leica and, especially, Nikon got right.

One of the big reasons the US Navy went with Topcon over Nikon was Topcon's motor drives. They were interchangeable between bodies when Nikon bodies and motors had to be mated sets, adjusted to work together. Nikon didn't solve this until the F2 in 1970.
 
There were still a few Topcon's floating around Navy photo labs in the early 70's. I used one and liked it a lot. In fact both of my Navy marked D's were Navy surplus along with several lens.

Still use them......
 
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