Auto-Topcor / RE Auto-Topcor 3.5cm (35mm) f/2.8

Variants & identification

1. Specifications. Maxifiche: Auto-Topcor and F Auto-Topcor 7 elements, 63°, f/2.8–22, 0.20 m, 49 mm; RE Auto-Topcor 7 elements, 63°, 0.23 m, bayonet hood, 49 mm, 230 g. The RE200/RE300 instruction book gives the RE lens the same 7 elements, 0.23 m (9 in.), 49 mm and 230 g. Weights from other sources: 250 g (Paillard), about 8¾ oz (Beseler 1966), 244 g (Kamerastore, a dealer), 235 g (stevemark on MFlenses). Six blades is Kamerastore's figure alone. No source gives the number of groups. 'Retrofocus' is stevemark's description; Paillard says the lens can be used without mirror lock-up.
2. One design throughout. Topcon Club's Japanese text says that, the N series apart, every Topcon 35mm f/2.8 (Auto, F Auto, RE Auto) has the same basic design, and that the Auto-Topcors kept their basic construction, with new coatings, barrels, diaphragms and mounts, until the RE Topcor N series of the mid-1970s. The site's English version says the design was the same 'including the RE Topcor N'; the Japanese is followed here, and the RE200 book confirms the N lens is different (6 elements, 62°, 0.6 m, 52 mm, 200 g). That lens has its own page. The close focus differs between the pre-RE (0.20 m) and RE (0.23 m) lenses in Maxifiche's tables.
3. The RE Super, RE-2 (Beseler D-1), Super D and Super DM: the RE Auto-Topcor meters at full aperture on all of them. For the F Auto-Topcor the sources disagree: Maxifiche says it must not be used on these four bodies because its coupling finger turns the opposite way; Topcon Club says that unmodified on an RE Super it meters stopped down, and concludes that the occasional chrome-barrelled F Auto (it saw a 13.5cm) was converted to RE by the factory for a fee. The semi-automatic and Autokinon lenses were made for the plunger release of the R; Hugo Ruys says they work on the later Topcons only with a shutter-button extension rod.
4. The RE200 and RE300 (1977–78): their instruction book lists the RE Auto-Topcor 35mm f/2.8 among the lenses with automatic diaphragm and full-aperture metering. The earlier versions carry the cautions in note ³; Hugo Ruys puts the RE200 and RE300 on the same version of the Topcon bayonet as the RE Super, Super D and Super DM.
5. The Topcon R: its body has no diaphragm mechanism (Topcon Club), so only the semi-automatic and Autokinon lenses work their diaphragm on it; an F Auto, H-F or RE lens mounts, but nothing in the body works its diaphragm (this follows from the mechanism; no source describes the combination). The RII, RIII and RS: the F Auto and H-F lenses are theirs; Topcon Club says many RS bodies turn up with RE Auto-Topcors. No source describes an RE lens on the RII or RIII, or the semi-automatic lens on the RII–RS. The links stay with these limits.
6. Exakta bodies: Maxifiche calls the R's bayonet the Exakta's. Topcon Club says that because Topcon put its release on the other side, a lens with an external preset arm loses that function when moved between Topcon and Exakta bodies. Hugo Ruys says the semi-automatic Topcon lenses can be used on an Exakta, and Exakta lenses on a Topcon, 'in a clumsy way only'. No source describes the fully automatic F Auto or RE lenses on an Exakta.
7. Prices: no Japanese list price for the lens is known. The only figure is Paillard's US list price of US$167.25 with hood and case (no. 80560), in an undated catalogue that lists the Super DM of 1973. Mike Eckman gives US$295 for the Beseler Topcon B outfit with this lens or the 58mm, without a source.
8. Dates: the R was announced in December 1957 (Topcon Club; Maxifiche 1957); camera-wiki dates it 1958, citing an October 1958 Modern Photography advertisement that calls it new. The RII and the F Auto-Topcor came in July 1960 by Topcon Club's Japanese text, 1959 by its English summary. Maxifiche dates the F Autos 1960–62; the RS was sold until the RE Super of 1963. The family's last year is not known: the RE200/RE300 book of 1977–78 still lists the RE Auto-Topcor 35mm, and Topcon Club says Tokyo Kogaku ended production of these cameras in 1980 and sales in 1981.

• Auto-Topcor 1:2.8 f=3.5cm, semi-automatic (Topcon R): One of the two lenses offered with the Topcon R from its launch: Topcon Club names the 35mm and 100mm Auto-Topcors and the preset R Topcors as the R's first interchangeable lenses, and camera-wiki says the R could be bought with this lens instead of the 5.8cm f/1.8 at the same price. Mike Eckman gives US$295 for the Beseler Topcon B with either lens, without citing a source. Maxifiche gives 7 elements, 63°, f/2.8 to f/22, focusing to 0.20 m and a 49 mm filter, the same figures it gives for the F Auto-Topcor.
• Auto-Topcor 3.5cm f/2.8, Autokinon type: Topcon Club says the Autokinon-type lenses were made in 1959 at the American side's request, because the semi-automatic lens left the finder dark after each exposure, and that they were sold in small numbers late in the R's life, mainly abroad. It photographs the 3.5cm with the 5.8cm and 10cm. Maxifiche gives the name as AUTO TOPCOR AUTOKINON and lists the same three focal lengths. No serial range is known.
• F.Auto-Topcor 3.5cm f/2.8 (Automatic R / RII, RIII, RS): The fully automatic version brought out with the Automatic Topcon R (RII) of 1960 and kept for the RIII and RS. Topcon Club says the optics are unchanged from the 1957 lens and that the RE Auto-Topcor is essentially the same design with the aperture ring turning the other way. It ranks the F Autos near the top of all Topcors for rendering, and says they are hard to find. On whether an F Auto may be used on the RE bodies, see the table notes.
• H-F Auto-Topcor 3.5cm f/2.8 (RS, 1962–63): Topcon Club photographs one. It explains the H-F name as coming from a special order placed by Hitachi for the 5.8cm standard lens, which was then used on the RS; the interchangeable lenses sold beside it had to carry the same name. Because the serials show no break from the F Auto-Topcor, Topcon Club thinks the factory did not treat these as different lenses.
• RE Auto-Topcor 3.5cm / 35mm f/2.8, chrome: The 35mm offered from the start of RE Super sales in 1963, and the most common of the family: Topcon Club calls it very plentiful. Exposure is metered at full aperture on the RE bodies. The figures from Tokyo Kogaku's distributors: Beseler's 1966 catalogue (BT-335, 7 elements, 63°, 9 in, about 8¾ oz) and Paillard's later list (no. 80560, US$167.25 with hood and case, 49 mm, 250 g, 9 in). The outfit codes show it was sold as a standard lens too: Beseler BT 315 (Super-D with 35mm f/2.8) and BT-415 (D-1 with 35mm f/2.8). Topcon Club says that from the Super D of 1972 all Topcors except the 20mm and 25mm were made black, which suggests the chrome lens ended about then; Maxifiche, covering 1963–1976, says only that the RE Auto-Topcors were generally chrome.
• RE Auto-Topcor 35mm f/2.8, black: Maxifiche says the RE Auto-Topcors were generally chrome and more rarely black. Topcon Club names the 35mm among the black lenses of the RE Super years whose front hood bayonet was silver, and says black became the only finish from the Super D of 1972. The code list quoted on the forum records only the late capital-letter engraving for the black 35mm; whether a black lens was ever engraved RE,Auto-Topcor f=3,5cm is not recorded. One forum collector reports owning a silver RE 2.8/3.5cm and a black RE 2.8/35mm.
• RE Auto-Topcor N 35mm f/2.8 (U.S. Navy): The N here marks the U.S. Navy lens, not the RE Topcor N series of 1977. The forum list, compiled from Antonetto and Russo's Topcon Story, gives the Navy 35mm as its own version in chrome; a black one was later reported from an eBay listing. The Photographic Historical Society of New England says the U.S. Navy bought several thousand black Super Ds.

Specifications

Formula

Retrofocus

Construction

7 elements

Aperture range

f/2.8–f/22

Diaphragm blades

6

Min. focus

0.23 m

Weight

230 g

Filter

49 mm

Years manufactured

1957

Country

Japan

What reviewers say

• stevemark (MFlenses forum) (blog) — In a landscape test of nine 35mm f/2.8 lenses on a 24 MP full-frame body, the RE Topcor was probably the weakest: heavy astigmatism or coma and bad colour fringing, in a well-made barrel that focuses smoothly, with plenty of 'vintage' character.
• Topcon Club (topgabacho.jp) (blog) — Good sharpness and contrast without heavy, bold lines; cool, clear colour; the lens's strength is a delicate sharpness that holds up to the edges of the frame. via machine translation — corrections welcome

History

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Auto-Topcor / RE Auto-Topcor 3.5cm (35mm) f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

• Topcon 1:2.8 f=3.5cm RE. Auto-Topcor TOKYO KOGAKU Camera Lens — $72.95 · eBay · likely auto-topcor
• Tokyo Kogaku RE Auto-Topcor 3.5cm f2.8 Wide Angle Lens Topcon Mount Tested — £83.05 · eBay
• Topcon RE Super 35mm SLR Camera 35mm f/2.8 Auto-Topcor Tokyo Kogaku Untested — $149.88 · eBay · likely auto-topcor
• Topcon Super D, Black, 2.8/35 RE Auto-Topcor — $189.99 · eBay · likely auto-topcor
• Topcon RE Auto-Topcor 35mm f2.8 Wide-Angle Lens. Black. Caps. Topcon Super D — $295.00 · eBay
• [TOP MINT] Tokyo Kogaku RE Auto-Topcor 35mm f2.8 Wide Angle Lens from Japan — $299.99 · eBay
• [US Duty Paid] TOPCON RE SUPER 35mm Film Camera 35mm f2.8 JAPAN #L421 — $419.99 · eBay
• Tokyo Kogaku Japan RE.Auto-TOPCOR 3.5cm F/2.8 - TOPCON-RE / EXA / EXAKTA mount — €391.73 · eBay
• Topcon RE Auto Topcor 2.8 f=35mm wide angle SLR lens 2.8/35mm vintage — $499.00 · eBay · likely auto-topcor
• 東京光学★トプコン REオートトプコール 3.5cm 35mm F2.8用 フード★元箱付き — from ¥8,980 · Yahoo! Auctions Japan · auction 2026-11-13

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Listings updated 2026-11-09. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.