The Beseler Topcon Super D — A Battle Camera
32 25 Share TweetHere we have a US Navy Beseler Topcon Super D. If you can find any version of this camera, from the Topcon RE Super to the Topcon Super Dm (last version) at anything resembling a reasonable price, buy it immediately! It doesn't get any better than this!
The Beseler Topcon Super D was the combat camera for the US Navy and the US Airforce from the 1960s to the 1980s after winning a competitive test with the Nikon F and several other Japanese and German cameras. It won for much stouter construction and better ergonomics. The US Army and US Marines went with Leica for silence. It fits to your hand like a perfect weapon, with the front-facing shutter button right under your right forefinger. Also, that huge, 5.8 cm f/1.4 lens is one of the sharpest ever honed and does not vignette, even when shot wide open. At this late date, not even Nikon manages this because it's much too expensive. The case is also real, made of pebble grain leather.
This is the camera to take to the football stadium, especially if one of the teams is Manchester United. It handles very quickly in use, it is a great metal shield you can hide behind when the drunken riot starts or you can beat off attackers with it. If you are small enough, you can even hide inside it. (Hahaha!)
I bought this camera in 1970 at a charity shop in Oxnard, California with six lenses, two extension rings, an extra different focusing screen, an angled critical focus magnifier, the pain in the bum hot shoe fixture, and a huge plug-in-the-wall type flash (went up in flames decades ago) all in a cardboard box for 300 USD. The camera body is engraved "US Navy" on the bottom cover. I have a feeling that the US Navy is still looking for this stuff (except the flash, it was an explosive fire hazard!). The Topcon Super D is THAT good.
This is a review submitted by Community Member herbert-4.
herbert-4 tarafından, 2009-03-27 tarihinde ve #donanım #insanlar #review #camera #sharp #topcon #us-airforcebeseler #combat #usnavy başlığında yazıldı.
32 Yorum