p.1 #1 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
Introduced in 1963 as the premium standard lens for the Topcon RE Super, the Tokyo Kogaku RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 has acquired an almost legendary reputation among enthusiasts and collectors of Japanese vintage lenses. It has been described by some as one of the finest fast standard lenses of its period.
That reputation prompted me to acquire a copy in 2022. One eventually became five, together with an extensive collection of Topcor lenses across different focal lengths. Curiosity gradually became something of an obsession, leading to several years of investigation, research and testing. The video shared here is the culmination of that work on the 58mm F1.4, while research continues on other lenses within the RE Auto-Topcor series.
Some members may remember an earlier video on the lens that I shared here in 2023. The version I am sharing today substantially revises and expands that work, incorporating additional historical research, period documentation, Japanese-language sources, archival material, new footage and updated digital testing.
The video traces the history and development of the lens from its introduction with the Topcon RE Super at Photokina in March 1963, while also examining its construction, production variations and later legacy. The final section evaluates the original 58mm F1.4 on a modern high-resolution full-frame digital camera, assessing both the qualities that have contributed to its reputation and the limitations that become apparent under modern testing.
Of note, some of the online sources available when I first researched the lens in 2023 have since disappeared, with parts of that material no longer accessible even through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. That loss has reinforced the value of bringing together the surviving period documentation and research while it remains available.
And the question that prompted the original investigation remains: does the RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 deserve a place among the best standard lenses of its era?
p.1 #2 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
These lenses are excellent. Although the 58mm/F1.8 is preferred for its smaller size. I know Cosina released this lens again in 2003 with the standard M42 mount.
I prefer their lenses for the M system, and I consider the first version (1957) of the 50mm/F2.0 one of the best "summicrons" of all time.
p.1 #3 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
Ne314satel wrote:
These lenses are excellent. Although the 58mm/F1.8 is preferred for its smaller size. I know Cosina released this lens again in 2003 with the standard M42 mount.
I prefer their lenses for the M system, and I consider the first version (1957) of the 50mm/F2.0 one of the best "summicrons" of all time.
P.S., In your video, you mentioned Cosina
Many thanks for your message, and I agree with you on the 58mm F1.8. The smaller size is certainly an advantage, and the optical quality of the F1.8 lens is truly excellent. The principal advantage of the F1.4, in my view, is the more distinctive rendering character it produces at the widest aperture settings.
On the 2003 Cosina version, I cover this in the video at around the 18-minute mark. It is a very interesting lens — similar in appearance and naming to the original Tokyo Kogaku 58mm F1.4, but using a different optical formula. It is nevertheless highly regarded in its own right.
The 50mm F2 is another superb Tokyo Kogaku lens. One particularly interesting aspect of its development is that contemporary Japanese documentation specifically discusses the attention Tokyo Kogaku gave to depth rendering. In the September 1956 issue of Asahi Camera, the lens is described as having been developed with “special consideration” given to depth rendering or spatial depiction (bokeh), with the intention of producing a more natural impression of depth closer to that perceived by the human eye.
I’m quite familiar with this family of lenses, as one of the projects I am currently working on is a historical review of the Leotax G rangefinder camera, for which the later Tokyo Kogaku 50mm F1.8 was specified. That F1.8 was itself a development of the earlier F2 design.
p.1 #5 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
No idea if this related, but it was the first thing I thought. 4 years before the Topcon, Nikon released the Nikkor-S 5.8cm f1.4 - a 7 element in 5 group design. A great deal of info is on Nikon's 1001 nights page about this lens. I have been intrigued by pre-ai lens for awhile, and picked up this Nikkor-S 5.8cm f1.4. It quickly has been added to my favorite lenses. It says something to me about the attention to rendering detail that vintage lenses possess, and the talent and care manufacturers took to achieve those results.
p.1 #6 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
My fav of the 58 mm is the Nikkor 1.2 noct of the 1970s, I have one, the F mount adapts well to the M, like the Leica 1,2 it has hand ground aspherical elements, built Nikon well. It is one of those special lenses that while not RF coupled, with an EVF it works quite well. Although pricey compared to Leica glass it remains almost a bargain.
