Last week I acquired a camera from my sister-in-law. Her husband passed away sometime back and in
clearing out some items she asked if I wanted a camera. Since it was an old film camera in good
shape, I of course said yes.
What I found was a camera that I was unfamiliar with. I had heard the name before in passing but
had never had the occasion to deal with this brand. The camera was a Beseler Topcon Auto 100. I can discuss Minolta, Canon, Rolleiflex,
Hasselblad, Zeiss, Minox, and several others.
Even Beseler photographic enlarging equipment. But this one I was totally clueless about.
Was there a connection to the Beseler from darkroom
days? My interest was piqued. In researching the camera I determined it was
produced between 1964 and 1969. Not worth a large sum of money, however the story behind the brand was
interesting so I will highlight it here for those interested in old cameras.
Tōkyō Kōgaku, later Topcon is an existing Tokyo, Japan
entity that has been in business since 1932.
They have evolved into a medical eye care device and automated survey positioning equipment provider.
Chances are that if you have had a retinal scan image made of your eyes,
it was produced by the Topcon parent company.
In 1932 the company began by producing survey and optical instruments
such as binoculars and cameras for the Imperial Japanese Army. In 1949 the company first appeared on the Tokyo
stock exchange.
The company’s history with cameras involves production of a
6 x 4.5 medium format model in 1937. A
127 film camera in 1938. A twin lens
reflex camera in 1951. The first SLR
camera, the Topcon R in 1957. And a 6 x 9
press camera for the Tokyo Police Department in 1960.
In 1963 Topcon release the first SLR in the world to have
TTL light metering. It was called the
Topcon RE Super. The Charles Beseler
Company imported the Topcon camera, rebranded as the Super D. In 1965 the US Navy tested cameras from
several Japanese and German manufacturers (Including Nikon). The Topcon Super D was the winner of this
competition, and was used exclusively by the Navy until the very end of Topcon
production in 1977.¹
The Charles Beseler Company is an existing firm that was
founded in 1869 in Germany. The company still sells photographic
enlargers, Steel furniture, and shrink wrap packaging. In 1943, the company's expertise had evolved
to the point where the firm became an innovative audio-visual company primarily
serving the military and education markets with the first opaque and then
overhead projection equipment. By 1953, Beseler entered the amateur and
professional photography enlarger and darkroom fields. Today, the Charles Beseler Company is located
in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.² Beseler imported
the Topcon line of cameras into the US during the time that company made
cameras.³
The “Topcon Uni” or “Beseler Topcon Auto 100” or “Hanimex
Topcon RE Auto” (Depending on where it was sold) was manufactured between 1964
and 1969 and imported along with other Topcon models, into the US during those
years by Beseler whose named appeared on the camera.⁴
The Topcon Auto 100 feels very similar and appears to be
built like the other Japanese SLR’s of the time period (Minolta, Canon, Nikon). The camera used the standard battery for the
time, a mercury PX625 which is no longer available in the US. Replacement solutions are available which
allow the meter to function.⁵
The camera is a manual 35mm, SLR with TTL light metering,
interchangeable lenses, Several unique
functional approaches were taken by the Topcon.
The shutter speed, film speed, and aperture settings are built into the
front of the camera immediately behind the lens. This means these settings are performed by manipulating
the settings as you would a lens focus ring.
Shutter and aperture should be set prior to cocking the shutter. Release
of the camera back for film loading is accomplished by moving a button on the
bottom of the camera to the side and then pushing this same round button in,
which causes the back to open. The
shutter release button is located on the front of the camera rather than on
top.
One of these days I will actually expose some film with this
camera to see how good an image the camera can provide.
More to come………………….
Definitions—
SLR: Single Lens Reflex.
Camera in which the lens that forms the image on the film also provides
the image in the viewfinder.
TTL: Through The Lens light metering. Camera determines the light needed for
exposure by metering only light that enters the lens. As compared to other light meters that
measured light from outside of the camera.
¹ From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topcon
² From Charles Beseler Company website.
³ From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Beseler_Company
⁴ From Camerapedia: http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/T%C5%8Dky%C5%8D_K%C5%8Dgaku
⁵ Camera Musings: http://home.kc.surewest.net/btvarner/CameraMusings.html
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