Topcon RE Super with 35mm SLR Film Camera with Kogaku 58mm f1.8 lens

The Topcon RE Super, or Beseler Topcon Super D in USA, was launched by Tokyo Kogaku KK in 1963 and manufactured until 1971, at which point it was upgraded to the Super D and again to Super DM the following year. General sale continued for several years. These later models have a shutter release lock lever on the shutter release collar. It is a professional oriented 35mm SLR camera that had a comprehensive range of accessories available. It has a removable pentaprism and focusing screen. It features the Exakta bayonet lens mount for interchangeable lenses. A special accessory shoe is situated at the base of the rewind knob with a standard PC sync. contact next to it. The release button is placed at the right-hand camera front, but there is no mirror-up facility; this was included on the upgraded versions. The standard lens is the RE. Auto-Topcor 1:1.4 f=5.8cm or the slightly slower 1:1.8 version. A battery-operated winder could be attached to the camera base.

Some common features of 35mm SLR photography were first seen on the Topcon RE Super. Among these is the through-the-lens metering. This enabled improved exposure accuracy, especially in close-up macro photography using belows or extension rings, and in telephotography with long lenses. In addition to this feature, the metering is at full aperture. For this purpose the RE-lenses have an aperture simulator that relays the preset aperture to the exposure meter at full aperture, retaining a bright viewfinder image while determining the correct exposure, avoiding the stop-down method. The meter also works independently of the pentaprism finder, which allows for different viewfinder configurations. The meter cell is actually incorporated in the camera's reflex mirror. This was accomplished by milling narrow slits in the mirror surface letting a fraction of the light through to the Cds cell placed just behind it.