Topcon RII
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| 1961 Beseler advertising in Popular Photography magazine |
The Topcon R II was a transitional model for Tōkyō Kōgaku. While it retains the Exakta lens mount, it drops reliance on lenses with an external PAD aperture linkage in favor of stopping down to shooting aperture via an internally coupled, instant-reopen diaphragm.
However this is still a meterless model, and its bi-level shutter speed dial split between fast and slow speeds handicapped any possibility to create a clip-on meter design (as used by other brands and eventually Topcon themselves).
The Topcon RII was offered to the US market by Charles Beseler as the Beseler C Topcon beginning in 1960[1]. On some examples "automatic" now appears engraved on the pentaprism. Based on surviving examples it does not seem to be a common model. After a revised Topcon R III the pointed pentaprism housing would give way to the iconic "shed" design of the Topcon RE Super which became the brand's design trademark.
Notes
- ↑ The Beseler version was shown at the March 1960 MPDFA expo and advertised in late 1960
