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.
p.1 #7 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
If I recall, the US government bough a large amount of Topcon equipment, at least in the early-to-mid '70s, for use by various agencies.
Topcon seems to have been ahead of the curve in abandoning the consumer photography market and concentrating on optical specialties like ophthalmology...
p.1 #8 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
Oldwino wrote:
Isn't / wasn't the current Voigtlander 58/1.4 based on this lens too?
Yes, I don't know if it's a direct copy, but it's supposed to be very close.
Personally I don't like the character (of the Voigtländer) at all. It's obviously optimized for close range, with very (too) smooth bokeh and good sharpness at <1 meter. But it gets very jittery at a few meters. I want the opposite.
p.1 #9 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
EMH2025 wrote:
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.
Many thanks for your comment. The Nikkor 58mm F1.2 Noct is a legendary lens. I must confess to a slight degree of envy — it has been on my wish list for some years, but I have yet to acquire one, largely because I find the extremely high prices they continue to command difficult to justify.
You mentioned using it on the M. With the lens uncoupled, I can imagine accurate focusing would be somewhat challenging, together with the physical size of the lens encroaching on the viewfinder. Autofocus and EXIF data aside, as you note, the use of an EVF — particularly with focus peaking and magnification — makes vintage lenses eminently practical on modern digital cameras.
Greatly appreciate your comment, and I would be interested to see some images captured with the F1.2 if you have a link available.
p.1 #10 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
Durlacher wrote:
Many thanks for your comment. The Nikkor 58mm F1.2 Noct is a legendary lens. I must confess to a slight degree of envy — it has been on my wish list for some years, but I have yet to acquire one, largely because I find the extremely high prices they continue to command difficult to justify.
You mentioned using it on the M. With the lens uncoupled, I can imagine accurate focusing would be somewhat challenging, together with the physical size of the lens encroaching on the viewfinder. Autofocus and EXIF data aside, as you note, the use of an EVF — particularly with focus peaking and magnification — makes vintage lenses eminently practical on modern digital cameras.
Greatly appreciate your comment, and I would be interested to see some images captured with the F1.2 if you have a link available....Show more →
Lucky shot on a Nikon camera, on this morning I decided to take my vintage Nikkor Noct 58 mm F1.2 FTZII adapted with a Z8 out on the driveway and aim at the adjacent mountains at 5 am and while shooting a dozen or so shots wide open this meteor was perfectly positioned centered for me as I was taking 2 sec shots at F1.2. I thought it would be a nice predawn for the noct and I can not believe just how photographically lucky this to spend just a few minutes a dozen shots and a perfect centered bright meteor. The color rendition of this meteor with the vintage lens is wonderful. One of best lucky shots of my life- good Karma for the lens.
Beyond this, the lens focuses perfectly well on a Leica EVF with F to M adapter. It will not rf adapt so EVF is the only way to use it. Although not a small lens it is flatter than a Leica noct and seems to fit the camera just a little better. The adapter is fairly small, I have a URTH one for the Leica and FTZ for the Nikons I have.
If you want one of these best place is Japan, I had Bellamy Hunt, Japan Camera Hunter find me a good one. This is in my opinion far better than going on eBay, he looks, inspects and will find one. If you do a DIY for Japan, on eBay, a reliable vendor like MAP will do it, their lenses are priced higher but you get what you think you are getting, they are first rate.
A Nikon 58 1.2 is priced higher than buying a modern Voigtlander 1.2, more than a LLL 1.2 if you can still find one being out of production, but far less than Leica 1.2, 1.0. or 0.95. as a vintage lens it is expensive but it is not so rare that collectors dominate it is still a user lens so prices are high but not astronomical due to collectors. The reviews are uniformly I think are that it is one of the all time great lenses. There are stories like NASA snapping up a bunch of them because of the way they handle bright lights against dark background, like the sky and stars.
p.1 #11 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
EMH2025 wrote:
Lucky shot on a Nikon camera, on this morning I decided to take my vintage Nikkor Noct 58 mm F1.2 FTZII adapted with a Z8 out on the driveway and aim at the adjacent mountains at 5 am and while shooting a dozen or so shots wide open this meteor was perfectly positioned centered for me as I was taking 2 sec shots at F1.2. I thought it would be a nice predawn for the noct and I can not believe just how photographically lucky this to spend just a few minutes a dozen shots and a perfect centered bright meteor. The color rendition of this meteor with the vintage lens is wonderful. One of best lucky shots of my life- good Karma for the lens.
Beyond this, the lens focuses perfectly well on a Leica EVF with F to M adapter. It will not rf adapt so EVF is the only way to use it. Although not a small lens it is flatter than a Leica noct and seems to fit the camera just a little better. The adapter is fairly small, I have a URTH one for the Leica and FTZ for the Nikons I have.
If you want one of these best place is Japan, I had Bellamy Hunt, Japan Camera Hunter find me a good one. This is in my opinion far better than going on eBay, he looks, inspects and will find one. If you do a DIY for Japan, on eBay, a reliable vendor like MAP will do it, their lenses are priced higher but you get what you think you are getting, they are first rate.
A Nikon 58 1.2 is priced higher than buying a modern Voigtlander 1.2, more than a LLL 1.2 if you can still find one being out of production, but far less than Leica 1.2, 1.0. or 0.95. as a vintage lens it is expensive but it is not so rare that collectors dominate it is still a user lens so prices are high but not astronomical due to collectors. The reviews are uniformly I think are that it is one of the all time great lenses. There are stories like NASA snapping up a bunch of them because of the way they handle bright lights against dark background, like the sky and stars.
Nice shot! But it also shows the very weak performance of the Noct-Nikkor. I had one on loan for a couple of weeks and I was not impressed. Like we clearly see in your image, only the very center is even close to sharp when focusing at infinity. I also think your copy looks worse than "mine", and that is very possible since the aspherical surface(s?) was ground manually. Lots of room for error and copy variation.
IMO the Voigtländer 58/1.4 is waaaaay better for a fraction of the price (even if I don't like it, but that's not about quality). Hype can do bad things.
p.1 #12 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
The RE Auto Topcor 58mm f1.4 is one of those lenses that I liked enough to buy a Topcon body to use it with. The Voigtlander variant, seen below in its Ai-s form, is similar, but not identical, suffering from/or enjoying, depending on one's taste, from a small degree of 'modernitis'.
The Voigtlander is ever so slightly sharper and has very slightly smoother bokeh balls, while the Topcor is slightly more 'characterful'. This holds pretty much throughout the aperture range, but it is slight.
p.1 #14 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
Oldwino wrote:
Isn't / wasn't the current Voigtlander 58/1.4 based on this lens too?
There is an interesting distinction here that is quite often overlooked. The later Voigtländer 58mm F1.4 Nokton is related to the limited-production Cosina Topcor 58mm F1.4 released in 2003, rather than being a direct continuation or reproduction of the original 1963 Tokyo Kogaku lens.
I cover the Cosina lens at around the 18-minute mark in the video. In my research I have referred to it as a tribute lens, rather than a reproduction. Although very similar in appearance and clearly intended to evoke the original RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4, the Cosina uses a different optical formula and differs in its physical dimensions and weight.
The subsequent Voigtländer Nokton developed from that Cosina design, and I understand the optical formula to be essentially the same as the 2003 tribute lens.
I have yet to make a direct comparison between the original Tokyo Kogaku lens, the Cosina Topcor and the later Nokton, although all three remain of considerable interest. The Cosina versions still command fairly high prices, which makes purchasing one purely for comparison purposes difficult to justify — that being said, I continue to keep an eye out for the overlooked bargain!
p.1 #15 · Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 58mm F1.4 – Among the Best Lenses of Its Era?
EMH2025 wrote:
Lucky shot on a Nikon camera, on this morning I decided to take my vintage Nikkor Noct 58 mm F1.2 FTZII adapted with a Z8 out on the driveway and aim at the adjacent mountains at 5 am and while shooting a dozen or so shots wide open this meteor was perfectly positioned centered for me as I was taking 2 sec shots at F1.2. I thought it would be a nice predawn for the noct and I can not believe just how photographically lucky this to spend just a few minutes a dozen shots and a perfect centered bright meteor. The color rendition of this meteor with the vintage lens is wonderful. One of best lucky shots of my life- good Karma for the lens.
Beyond this, the lens focuses perfectly well on a Leica EVF with F to M adapter. It will not rf adapt so EVF is the only way to use it. Although not a small lens it is flatter than a Leica noct and seems to fit the camera just a little better. The adapter is fairly small, I have a URTH one for the Leica and FTZ for the Nikons I have.
If you want one of these best place is Japan, I had Bellamy Hunt, Japan Camera Hunter find me a good one. This is in my opinion far better than going on eBay, he looks, inspects and will find one. If you do a DIY for Japan, on eBay, a reliable vendor like MAP will do it, their lenses are priced higher but you get what you think you are getting, they are first rate.
A Nikon 58 1.2 is priced higher than buying a modern Voigtlander 1.2, more than a LLL 1.2 if you can still find one being out of production, but far less than Leica 1.2, 1.0. or 0.95. as a vintage lens it is expensive but it is not so rare that collectors dominate it is still a user lens so prices are high but not astronomical due to collectors. The reviews are uniformly I think are that it is one of the all time great lenses. There are stories like NASA snapping up a bunch of them because of the way they handle bright lights against dark background, like the sky and stars.
Many thanks for sharing the photograph — a spectacular image, and remarkably fortuitous timing with the meteor so perfectly positioned.
The rendering and colour rendition are particularly appealing, and I can certainly understand why you hold the lens in such high regard.
It is also a spectacular location — a world removed from my living in the heart of the city, and quite different again from the Australian outback. The combination of the desert landscape, night sky and warm illumination gives the image a very distinctive mood and appeal. The Nikkor captured this perfectly.
