Topcon Uni - any thoughts?

Strolled across the fleamarket on the Frankfurt/Main (Germany) river

bank. Usually this is rather a tourist trap (I live in Frankfurt).

One guy was selling some cameras: an east-german Beltica II 35mm

folder with Vebur shutter and Zeiss-Jena f/2.8/50mm. Asked for the

price and thought he had said 'fifty' (which would not be amazing on

this market where sellers try to sell rotten Isolettes for $$$$) but

he meant 'fifteen' (both words sound very similar in german, too). I

already have a Beltica with Trioplan lens and a similar Welti 1c with

Tessar lens. However, this would have been a good buy since the east

german Tessar lenses are tack sharp and among the best in their

class.

 

He also had a Topcon Uni on display, equipped with a f/3.5 35mm lens

and an extra f/4 135mm lens. Asking price was 35 EUR. At another

stand I found a suitable battery since the one in the camera seemed

to be down, inserted it, meter worked - and best of all, after

reinserting the old battery it still worked. Shutter works flawless,

so does the auto-aperture mechanism. OK, got it all for 30 EUR since

the guy saw that the market would be closed in two hours.

 

Any thoughts about this beast? And if someone has a spare 50mm lens

offers will be accepted...

 

BTW, if you ever come to Frankfurt, you should check whether there is

a fleamarket in nearby Offenbach (also on the river bank, a few km up

the river). It is smaller, but less crowded, and prices are usually

lower. It does not take place each and every weekend as the market in

Frankfurt.

All the Topcon leaf-shutter SLR's are fickle, unreliable, and very difficult to repair. They also have a lot of shake, since there is both the mirror and a flap to cover the film.

 

Someone here has noted that the "UV" series optics are not to Tokyo Kogaku's normally high standard. (I only have experience with the R and RE Topcors, which are great.) But they are certainly VERY cheap to buy on eBay. (There are lots of orphan lenses whose cameras have died.)

 

Certainly a very fair price you paid.

As John says, the Uni has a deserved reputation for gross unreliability but I did know someone who did a lot of photography with an outfit he bought new in the early 'seventies. I believe he got rid of it about ten years ago and it was still working then.

 

He had some very nice 15x12 prints on the wall at one time that he'd shot with the Topcon so it was capable of good results. I'd certainly put a few rolls through and see what you think of it.

I have one more leaf shutter SLR (Kowa SET). I once bought a broken one just to get the w/a and tele aux lenses. The shutter of the broken one just was blocked because the lens aperture blades (of the non-interchangeable lens) were sticky - when the lens was set to f/1.8 (so no stop-down was necessary) it was working. I did not manage to repair the lens, however. I just wanted to point out that in some cases faults on these cameras may be related just to sticky apertures.

 

But I was amazed to see this Topcon Uni in fully working condition - I have seen a few other Kowas and Topcon Uni(rex)s on flea market completely stuck.

 

I also found a roll of (obviously exposed) Fuji C200 c/n film inside. The lab will reveal what the camera was previously used for.

PS. As mentioned, I don't have a 53mm lens for this camera but as someone said, there are quite a few broken Topcon Unis available. I think I'll buy one just for the normal lens.

The Uni is similar to the Auto 100 and Unirex. They have a sector shutter not a leaf shutter. I have a Uni and a Unirex, both work but have very loud shutter noise and the lenses are not that great. I have every lens they made (28/35/50/100/135/200). My personal favourite is the Topcon Unirex, I just like the styling. It also has spot metering.

I think we are talking about the same thing - a sector shutter probably is identical to a leaf shutter. In Germany, camera techs use the term "Sektor" as designator for a blade of a leaf shutter. I have never heard the term "sector shutter " in english. However, the shutter blades look identical to those of any other shutter. I have opened and cleaned the similar shutter of a Kowa SET and it is designed very similar to what is usually called leaf shutter.

Winfried, a sector shutter is not at all the same thing as a leaf shutter. I think you have been led astray, as many of us native speakers of english often are, by a false cognate.

 

A sector shutter is a rotating disk with a sector cut out. They were used in, among others, Exa, Pen F/FT, Univex Mercury, Agiflite, and many, many cine cameras.

Thanks for the clarification. However, the (early) Exas did not have a rotating disk. You might call their shutter a "sector shutter" since they have a moving flap with a cutout but this does not make a real circular motion.

@David M., I have found several threads on the Topcon Uni on this site and in more than one you mention that the Topcons have sector shutters, not leaf shutters. I think I already have given evidence of my severe doubts.

 

However, at least my Topcon Uni very obviously has 5 shutter blades, and the shutter seems to be similar (if not identical) to the leaf shutter used on the Kowa SET. You can see this quite easily with the lens off and the shutter set to self-timer mode and a slow speed - there are 5 blades closing as soon as you press the button, and they open and close again after the self timer delay.

 

Also, a sector shutter with that opening would require even more space than the leaf shutter does - the rotating disk must have a diameter which is twice the opening (at least), and there is not sufficient space in the Topcon shutter housing.

I remember it having a leaf shutter, being delicate / difficult to repair etc, but having a quite impressive 35mm lens. I think it was an interesting camera, typical of the attempt Japan made in the '60's to meet all photographic desires and requirements

There is some information on the Uni here:

 

http://www.marcoant.com/Topcon/info.htm

 

I think it was also marketed in the US as the Auto 100. The lenses were also usable on the Unirex, a later model which I have.

 

My lens samples are quite good, but the leaf shutter limits the maximum speed of the lenses. Also, the Unirex has a quick return mirror, but that also contributes a good deal of noise. It's kind of a trade-off since the Retina Reflexes are a lot quieter but have no quick return mirror.

 

I bought the Unirex because I wanted flash sync (for outdoor fill-flash) at all shutter speeds.

 

I have a friend who uses an Auto 100 and is very happy with it.

 

keep in mind that even the big pro Topcons (Super-D etc) were limited by the narrow diameter Exakta bayonet mount.

 

-Paul Shinkawa