dennis_w3

Absolutely. I've had the Topcon/Topcor obsession for 45 years and still have few Super D and RE Supers, along with just a few RE Auto lenses. I've thinned the collection by about 75% since I've grown old, but it's been a great journey with these fine instruments. The heft, placement of controls, and superb fit and finish kept me interested all these years. 

I sold my nice 300/2.8, now what remains is a disassembled one I just can't seem to get back together. Nice glass, but no real good as a box of parts.

Does this include the private messaging? I had communications with several members about some miscellaneous repair topics that I can't find, just says "no conversations."

<p>I'll fix you up with a Super D or RE Super from my stable for free. I have a whole bunch of them in my collection; it seems every time I found a Topcor lens I didn't have, it had a body on it, so they've accumulated over the years. I need to go through them to assure you'd get one with a working meter, but they've all been exercised with film in the past year and all were working then. They're not all beauty queens but none of them are ugly!<br>

That is a lovely 25. <br>

You can PM me if you'd like.</p>

<p>Yes, the Topcon professional cameras were among the best made, I have several of them along with at least one example of nearly every RE Auto lens, from the 20 mm to the beastly 300 mm Topcon R f2.8. They are lovely to behold, wonderful to fondle, and easy to shoot with, although rather heavy. I love the front shutter release and the silky advance.</p>

<p>Kodachrome<br /> They give us those nice bright colors<br /> They give us the greens of summers<br /> Makes you think all the world’s<br /> A sunny day, oh yeah<br /> I got a Nikon camera<br>

JDM, your use of Nikon and Kodachrome resulted in beautiful images!</p>

<p>Excellent essay, wonderful photos. The Canon certainly does its job, I've had several over the years and it's hard to find any faults with them. Your eye is what counts here, though. Wonderful!</p>

<p>That warp speed thing is cool! Merry Christmas and happy Holidays to everyone!</p>

<p>That warp speed thing is cool! Merry Christmas and happy Holidays to everyone!</p>

<p>It looks like an Exakta T-mount, but there are a lot of lenses with three-segmented flanges. The 3 holes may have been for set screws to hold the mount to the lens.</p>

<p>The Topcon flagship, weighing in at 3.45 pounds net with winder and the 85/1.8 Topcor, which alone weighs 1.1 pounds.</p><div></div>

<p>Venerable Topcon rangefinder</p><div></div>

<p>I had a VX back in the 80s; I found it futsy but a fun camera--you have to think a lot. The Pancolar prime lens was not very sharp and had lots of flare, so I used a little Zeiss 50/3.5, which was pleasing. <br>

We had an Enfield dealer here in Minneapolis a few years ago and I went to have a look and test ride. They are a real throwback to the 50s and 60s nostalgia, primitive and harsh riding compared to today's technology, but a fun little bike for about $4,500 brand new. </p>

<p>I'll go out on a limb for a lens not nearly as popular as the Nikkor/Canon/Pentax/Minolta glass. The Topcor RE Auto 35 mm 2.8 is the sharpest 35 I've ever seen. Not big, not popular. Just understated, fabulous quality and focus to 9 inches. Typically under $100, sometimes a lot under $100.</p>

<p>Thank you for all the replies. Since the bellows is handy, has the slide copier attachment, and I have the Topcon adapter for the Nex, I'll try it. The dualscan is a great machine though, so for the most detail, etc., I'll continue to use that, too. </p>

<p>I used to frequent their main store in Golden Valley MN years ago; bought a few of my vintage Topcor lenses there and their prices were reasonable. They had glass counter cases full of really neat gear back in the day, and still have an OK selection of darkroom stuff. I live west of them in Excelsior now, so still not to far of a trip, probably 20 miles or so. IIRC, there is a case of neat historical cameras near the entrance.</p>

<p>I have a Minolta Dualscan IV and use Vuescan software with it. The quality of the scans is high, but the process is slow, especially given the thousands of photos I've accumulated over 40 years.<br>

Over on the Classic Manual Cameras forum, I saw some very nice photos from slides, "'scanned' by putting them on a light box and photographing them with a Sony Alpha 900 and 50mm Macro lens. Followed by cropping and minor levels adjustments," according to the poster.<br>

Granted these scans are posted here at 700 DPI, but they look really nice. <br>

My Sony Nex 6 will do high pixels, and I have a sturdy bellows with a great Topcor Macro lens and the slide copy attachment. Any opinions on how scanning vs. photographing slides and negs this way? </p>

<p>I have a pair of these beauties and love them. Heavy, but nicely laid out and well built. The red dot means exposure is out of range and it won't fire in auto mode (IIRC). The lens is super sharp too.</p>

<p>Very nice set of photographs and an eloquent narrative. Thanks for the link, I've added it to my favs. </p>

<p>Sony Nex 6, RE Auto Topcor 85/1.8</p><div></div>

<p>Beautiful photos from a capable camera and a good eye! <br>

I had one of those in the black Minolta trim. I dropped it on a concrete sidewalk when I was fumbling with the settings; it still worked and took nice pictures past a severely dented filter ring. I think my fingers are too long for that camera's size--more comfortable with the Minolta 7s.</p>

<p>A while back, I was thinning out my accumulated fixed lens RFs, and was down to three, but wanted to get to one. Choices were: an Olympus 35SP, a Canonet QL17 GIII, and a Fujica Compact Deluxe. I was discussing the attributes of all with another camera crazy guy, and he said, "keep the Fuji, hands down." The other two are now gone, and I threw the little Fuji into a bag when we went out to Cape Cod last week. A roll of Kodacolor 200 and a fresh hearing aid battery. This little metal box has a very nice 45 mm f 1.8 Fujinon, auto or manual (metered or not) exposure with shutter priority. I set it on auto with speeds between 125 and 500. Here's one, scanned with a Minolta Dualscan IV and Vuescan software. I think I like this camera!</p><div></div>

<p>Bill, that is a beautiful photo; well-composed, nice sharpness and contrast. Those old Isolettes really capture what you're composing. You and that camera are a nice combo!</p>

<p>Front view</p><div></div>

<p>I've continued my obsession with Topcor lenses by a chance find of a lens I didn't know existed, a 1950s era Topcor 135 f3.5 in a Leica thread mount. There's not a lot of information out there, except that it was likely made for the elusive and expensive (for me) Leotax camera and is the same optical formula as the RE Auto Topcor 135 lens that is quite common. The RE 135 has a solid reputation although a bit slow.<br>

By comparison, this is a heavy beast, at 16.5 ounces, very solidly made with beautiful machining, and the glass is beautiful. On my Sony Nex 6 it does a very nice job. I still don't have a RF body that will accept this or my Canon LTM, so it will be a while before I see images on film.<br>

Anyone out there using one of these? I'm also interested in filter size (looks like 45 mm) and press-on cap size (looks like 48 mm); I don't have a caliper to do anything exact. Here are a couple pics of the lens, taken with a Micro Nikkor.</p><div></div>