Exakta camera's and Topcor lens

[lauren_macintosh]

<p>I have read so much since I got this camera ,I had read some where it states that Topcor would work on a Exakta, or is it only certain models that will accept those Topcor lens, Just A question and thanks for all and any information on this Matter : Lauren</p>

[SCL]

<p>Lauren - here's some info from one of the more famous collectors:<br>

http://captjack.exaktaphile.com/LesserJapanpage.htm</p>

[dave_g1]

<p>In general Topcon lenses will not mount on Exaktas. However most Exakta lenses will mount on Topcons.</p>

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

<p>The Topcon mount is very similar to the Exakta mount. You can read on many pages that Topcon lenses can be mounted on an Exakta body. I wonder whether one of these wise guys ever saw that the shutter release on the Topcon bodies is on the left side, while it is on the right side on Exakta bodies. So the Topcon lenses have to be mounted upside down on Exakta bodies. I don't think that it is very convenient to have the focussing and aperture scales on the lower side of a lens body.</p>

[jan_h._voigt]

<p>"It works" and "It's convenient" are two different things... Unfortunately, I have never had a Topcon lens or camera in my hands, but seeing internet pictures of the mount, it seems to have the same orientation. So, of course, you can mount Topcon lenses with the scales in the right place.</p>

<p>If you mount the automatic diaphragm lenses of the Exakta on a Topcon, it will have the "ear" on the wrong side, so you have to close the diaphragm with the left hand and release the shutter with the right hand. If there are Topcon lenses with external automatic diaphragm, it will be the other way round mounted on an Exakta, but I haven't seen one yet. All Topcon automatic diaphragm lenses I am aware of have the unique Topcon diaphragm connection in the mount. I do not know how this affects the mounting of an automatic Topcon lens on an Exakta or an Exakta lens on an automatic diaphragm Topcon camera.</p>

[paul_wheatland]

<p>Many years ago, I tried to mount a Topcon lens on an Exakta. the reason it would not bayonet onto the camera was the lens release lever has a tiny knurled knob that is in the way.</p>

[jan_h._voigt]

<p>Good point, but that depends on the Camera you got. There were some cosmetically different versions of the exakta mount, some with and some without the knob. If you have an Exakta with that knob on the release lever, you could remove it without losing any functionality.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>Earlier RE Auto-Topcor lenses had a milled-out area around the latch area to clear the larger latch knob on the Topcon R series cameras. It's often described as "kidney-shaped". Those earlier lenses may be a better shot to mount on an Exacta.<br>

Or, get a Topcon RE Super or Beseler Topcon Super D (US model), and use the Exacta lenses on it. Superb camera, nearly indestructible.</p>

[fld]

<p>I have a number of Exaktas, and they all have the shutter release on the left, except for the TwinTL, which has a release on BOTH sides.</p>

 

[JDMvW]

<p>I think the idea in the beginning for Topcon was that they could use the older preset Exakta lenses, of which there were many.<br /> When you get into the external auto diaphragm connections on either body, useful compatibility falls off considerably.</p>

<p>So long as we're here, how about some real camera p o r n?<br /> Here is a totally buck-nekkid Exakta VX showing its left-handedness and a nice pre-set Biotar. ;0</p><div></div>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>In the early days Tokyo Kogaku [Topcon] did produce lenses for the Exakta VX series, just as most lens manufacturers did. Topcon dovetailed that, smoothly, into their camera production and the marketing strategy, such as, penetrating and taking over the medical equipment camera systems of the Exaktas, the world over. When the VX shrank due to legal and other problems the labs that used Exakta cameras, simply, substituted Topcon cameras for their imaging. Thus, many of the early lenses will fit the Exakta easily. Later, Topcons modified for the TTL and other automatic features. sp.</p>

[dennis_w3]

<p>In the early seventies, I had an Exakta which needed shutter work, so I bought it to a watchmaker who was recommended by a camera dealer. He showed me a Topcon Super D; I've never looked back. They are superb cameras, and to this day, I don't believe there is anything out there that is quite as well engineered and nicely built, and with lenses to match.</p>

[tony_lockerbie]

<p>I always wondered if the inventor of the Exakta was a lefty, making a statement for lefties everywhere.<br>

I must admit to putting the odd Exakta lens on my Topcons, which are an Exakta built by a right-handed person with a sense of ergonomics!</p>

[Matthew Currie]

<p>I have an Exakta RTL1000, a late East German monster, which lacks the little knurled knob. Although there is no diaphragm coupling, a Topcon RE lens mounts fine on this one, and right side up too.</p>

[polka]

<p>I have a Topcon RE-2 camera with a RE Auto-Topcor 58mm/1.8 lens since 1969, which is still working like new (in the corners, some black paint is gone, indeed). I bought an Exakta VX 1000 in 1971 and the lenses are interchangeable, however when on the Exakta, the internal diaphragm preset of the Topcon lens does obviously not work whereas when using the Exakta Pancolar with the Topcon RE-2 body, you may close it to the preset diaphragm with the left index while releasing the shutter with the right. </p>

<p>But I would not use on my Topcon this Exakta lens instead of the Topcor - because it is to my opinion much better than the Pancolar.</p>

<p>Paul</p>

[dave_g1]

<p>I think the upside down lens myth stems from the Miranda, not the Topcon. Even if you put an exakta lens on the Topcon upside down, it will not lock into place. It simply won't work. (also the shutter release is further away from the lens mount on the Topcons, even if the lens did lock in place, the auto arm on the lens and the shutter release on the camera wouldn't line up).</p>

<p>Miranda however did make an adapter for automatic Exakta lenses, which mounted the lenses upside down (more or less) so the automatic aperture arm on the lenses would line up with the shutter release on the Miranda bodies. </p>

[polka]

<p>More camera-porn...</p>

<p>This was my first reflex camera, the Topcon RE-2, little brother of the Super-D, with a fixed prism and a metal focal plane shutter synchronized at 1/125, whereas the Super-D had a cloth shutter synchronized only at 1/60. This camera was in the same price range as the Pentax Sptomatic and is not so beautiful but sturdier ; I selected it instead of a Spotmatic, because the light measurement of the coupled cell is done lens full open (the CdS photocell is on the miror like in later Miranda, instead inside the prism like in the camera of other brands). Also, compared to cloth shutters, its metal shutter seemed indestructible (it actually still works like new). And its standard lens (1.8/58mm) revealed fabulous. The viewfinder is very clear and shows a big crisp picture (scales 1:1 with the 58mm lens), and the central microprisms are the best I ever experienced.</p>

<p>Paul</p><div></div>

[lauren_macintosh]

<p>Thank you all for your comments and advise on this matter : will post the outcome later :</p>