Topcon Super D (1971 Version)
Think about the design of any piece of equipment. Why are the various buttons, dials, knobs, and levers placed where they are? Do your fingers go where they should without much thought? Do they feel "correct" when you operate them? Now think about what it means for a piece of equipment to have "a good weight" to it. You look at an object and your mind calculates what that item should feel like when you pick it up. Is the feedback from your hands in line with what your brain anticipated? All of these design elements are not accidents, of course. The designers and engineers had human beings in mind and picking up a Topcon Super D makes that clear.
Manufactured by the Tokyo Kogaku Company in 1971 and often distributed in North America under the Beseler name, the Topcon Super D competed with none other than the Nikon F for use by the United States Navy. If you know anyone who made photographs on a Navy ship in the early 1970s, mention the Topcon and watch a smile come across their face. These cameras were as rugged as the ships they served on and they made many memorable images while at sea.
Now that the Navy has moved on, the plethora of these Topcons make owning one easy and the Topcon/Exakta lens mount means that there are some beautiful lenses out there that will work with them.
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