Today, Topcon is largely a forgotten brand. Nevertheless, Topcon made rugged, superbly built (albeit heavy) cameras that might have fared better had its US distributor, Beseler (a darkroom equipment supplier), been more effective in promoting the brand.
Started in 1932 as Tōkyō Kōgaku Kikai KK (in English, Tokyo Optical Company Ltd) the company made a few minor forays into camera manufacturing before hitting its stride with SLRs, starting with the Topcon R in 1957 – 24 months before either Nikon or Canon produced an SLR, at which point it stopped the production of all its other camera formats.
The Topcon RE Super (sold as the Beseler Topcon Super D in the USA) was launched at the 1963 Photokina expo in Cologne, Germany. It was the company's most innovative camera and the first SLR from any manufacturer with through-the-lens (TTL) exposure metering, a major innovation at the time.
It was not until the following year that Pentax would match this feature with its Spotmatic, and not until 1965 that Nikon and Canon followed suit.
The Topcon metering system employed a super-sensitive CDS meter cell produced by Tokyo Shibura (Toshiba) that was located behind a pattern of precisely scored 0.05mm slits in the mirror’s coating, which enabled light to pass through in a roughly center-weighted pattern.
The system worked beautifully and resulted in just a 7% loss of light to the viewfinder, which was barely noticeable – especially as the metering was done at full aperture, rather than stopped down as in the Pentax Spotmatic.
The camera also featured interchangeable viewfinders, allowing for the use of eye-level prisms as well as optional waist-level and magnifying viewfinders. The camera was available in satin chrome or black paint finishes, the latter being the professional preference.
Around 1965, the US Navy tested cameras from several German and Japanese manufacturers including the Nikon F (which the Navy was then currently using). The Topcon Super D won the competition (Miranda came second) and Topcons were used exclusively by the Navy and Marines until the very end of Topcon camera production in 1980.
Since Topcon cameras were distributed in the US by Beseler, the cameras were marked “Beseler Topcon”. Thus a popular story at the time was that Topcon got the Navy contract because a Navy purchasing agent thought the Beseler Topcon was an American-made camera.
There is no proof of this, but nothing would surprise this writer.
Topcon SLRs were renowned for the quality of their lenses, which were widely regarded as equal or even superior to the offerings from Nikon and Canon. The Super D's lasting claim to fame was its superb 58mm f/1.4 Auto-Topcor.
There were two main Super D models: the original, from 1963, and an improved version from 1971, which included mirror lock-up and a plastic-tipped advance lever.
Topcons are not lightweight cameras, tipping the scales at 26oz / 735g with the lens attached. This was solid, old-school brass, glass and chrome construction. When you handle a Super D, you feel as if you could safely pound nails with it!
Rather than develop a unique lens mount, Topcon borrowed Exakta’s bayonet – which was at that time (and remains) one of the most widely used lens mounts in existence. This had both pros and cons, as some Exakta lenses could be used on the Topcon and vice versa, but the meter coupling cams in Topcor lenses would not function on an Exakta.
While contemporary reviews were excellent, Topcon never did develop a full professional system like Nikon, Canon and the lesser-known Praktina, and thus the pros didn't use them in any great numbers. As a result, Topcon became something of an also-ran but with a very loyal following. To paraphrase the old Moosehead beer slogan: Those who like them, like them a lot!
They are rare beasts, these RE-Supers. Despite having spent 60 years in photography, I had never actually seen one – let alone held one – until the summer of 2025. Doing so convinced me that their lasting reputation is very well deserved indeed.
Find out more about photography's past in David Young's book, A Brief History of Photography.
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Take a look at the best film cameras you can buy today, and the best Sony cameras on sale now. You can also read other articles in David Young's Classic Cameras series.
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