Beseler Topcon D-1 User manual

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Congro?ulotions on your choice of the BESELER TOPCON D-l which                   I
we ore sure will give you mony yeors of  unfolllng servlce. The               '1\                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             I\t
BESETER TOPCON D-I  is o cclmerd which you con be proud of ond                         1i
which will  iusiify your choice.
Before touching your cqmero, moy we suggesi thot you reod rhis
Instruction mcrnual corefully, in the order thqt   ir  is wrilten,  ond
thot you fomiliorize yourself with  irs working ports (so lhot your
fingers will work the comero oulomoticolly) before you even lood
your firsl roll of film.  Your pleosure in using the BESETER TOPCON
D-l  will be even greoter if you know your comero thoroughly.   ..\          \
           -\_\
                         \

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                 I'NPORTANT
l.   Dontf louch the surfqces of lensesr mlrrorsr €Y€Piece, or shutter'
                                                                       stops.2.  Stroke the film wlnding speed-lever crll the woy-unfil  it
3.  Don't stroke the speed-lever until shuiter qclion is completed.
4. Keep the exposure meter on OFF when not in use.
5.  Cover the lens when nol in use.
6.  Don't use force Re-reod lnstruclions.
7.   lf your BESELER TOPCON D-t needs repolr' don'l do lt yourself.
    Contnct the nearest quthorlzed deoler.

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even for beginners, who wonl to use the best
PART I                                     there is.
                                    The principol virtue of the comero is theTHE BESEIER TOPCON D.I       system itself-with viewing-focusing through'
                                                    the-comero-lens. There is obsolutely no porol-
In this port you ore introduced to the comero,     lox-even when the stondord lens is exchong-
the nomes of its vorious ports, the distinctive                                         ed for o telephoto, or extended by bellows, or
feotures of the cqmero ond the BESELER      used for photomicrogrophy-ond  ouxiliory find-
TOPCON D-l system of photogrophy, which      ers ore not required or supplied. Becouse the
is built oround the fully integroted single lens      reflex mirror intercepts the very imoge thot
refex system.                                         will be focused on the film plone, the finol
                                                         picture is olwoys seen even before the shutter
                                                        releqsed.A FULLY INTEGR.ATED SINGLE         is
                                                                      BESELER TOPCONLENS REFTEX SYSTEM                    BUT, the reol volue of the
                                                                                                 focusingThe BESELER TOPCON D-l is o fully inter-     single lens reflex system is in  its                                                                     :-goted ond completely outomoted single lens      Screen                                                               (l)  The screen is precision centered to coincidereflex comero. lt is complete in oll detoilsqnd equipped with mony of the lotest od'        exoctly with the center of the film frome,
                                                                                           f ound in      ond shows on olmost life-size finder oreovqnced   f eotures, not generolly
o comero of this clqss.  lt is q very volu'        thot motches the exoct fllm oreo,                                                                 TRUE (not ploinoble second comero for professionols who     (2) The focusing screen hqs
                                                                                                                                                                                                               f resnelolreody own o Super D.  lt is on excellent        gloss) ground gloss boosted with
 single lens reflex for odvonced omoteurs, or        lens for corner-to-corner brightness, ond,

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(3) A micro-prism f ocusing spot;i:riurrounded mirror vibrotion held to o minimum.
by o fine focus ring, for speedier lineor ' However, the most ostonishing ond revolutionory
focusing ond foster ground gloss focusing. feorure of the BESELER TOPCON D-l is the
For full outomotion of the single lens reflex built-in thru-the-lens Mirror-Metering systdm.
system, the BESELER TOPCON D-l hos the fully This is o CdS exposure meter ottoched behind
outomqtic instont opening lens diophrogm the reflex mirror ond internolly coupled to both
lens diophrogm ond shutter speed. In other
This meons thot the lens is olwoys wide open words, it is only necessctry to toke o reoding
for moximum view-focusing eose but closes of the reflected light from the subiect oreo
down outomoticolly to the predetermined oper- (some os seen on the focusing screen) coming
ture for the picture-toking moment ond re- through the lens onto the mirror; odiust either
opens once more to wide operture, in on oction operture or shutter speed, or both, until thg
thot is so fqst thot it is hordly noticed ot foster motch-point indicotor in the finder shows ex-
shutter speeds. posure is correct; ond, then simply press the
And, for odded convenience, this lens oction shutter releose to get the picture.
is olwoys coupled with the instonf return mir- Since the exposure reoding is through the lens,
ror oction, which meons tt ot th. ,en.* r:rrot; it is highly occurote. Becouse only 7/o of the
in'icoordinoted oction with the shutter ond Mirror-Lite is token owoy from the ffnder, the
lens diophrogm, iumps out of the woy for view is neither obstructed nor dorkened. And,
picture-toking but snops bock instontly to view- the Mirror-Meter is mechonicolly coupled to oll
ing position, completely eliminoting mirror RE. Auto-Topcors. This meons thot full outo-
blqck-outs ond permitting ropid sequence motion is not lost ond view-focusing ot moxi-
shooting. The oction is fqst but positive with mum operture is possible.
2: III
I.)I

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For speedy view-focusing, ond to toke full ciolly designed with extreme lens extensions.
odvontoge of the single lens refex system, To round out the BESELER TOPCON D-l system
the BESELER TOPCON D-l hqs o fixed Pentq- of photogrophy, most of the top quolity
prism ffnder, unexcelled for speedy snop- qccessories ovqiloble for the BESELER TOPCON
shooting. lt hos o lorge rectongulor-shoped Super D con be used. In oddition, other exclusive
eyepiece, which permits viewing into oll four occessories, greotly increose the D-l's ver-
corners of the finder field. The eyepiece sotility in vorious fields of photogrophy -frome hos verticol slots on either side to which mocrophotogrophy, photomicrogrophy, repro-
vorious occessories, moy be ottoched. duction work, color slide copying, etc.
BESELERThe crowning touch to the BESELER TOPCON Finolly, pleose remember thot the
D-l is, of course, the ronge of superior TOPCOR TOPCON D-l system is o growing system
lenses-noted for fine opticol design, superior ond thot odditionol voluoble ond procticol oc-
lens chorqcteristics ond generol top perform- cessories ond lenses will be mode ovoiloble
once under difricult shooting conditions. The os the need orises.
seven most populor focol lengths ore supplied
with the fully outomotic lens diophrogm-the
RE. Auto-Topcor group. Telephoto lenses ore
olso supplied with preset diophrogm-the R.
Topcor group, greotly increosing the ronge
of shooting thot con be hondled. And, for
convenience ond moximum performonce in
close-up shooting, there olso two wonderful
Mocro-Topcor lenses. These hove been spe-

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MAIN FEATURES OF THE BESETER TOPCON D.I
Stcndard Lens:
RE. Auto-Topcor f/I.8 58mm 6 element lens. Exokto type modified boyonet mount.
Fully outomqtic instqnt opening lens diophrogm internolly coupled to built-in exposure
meter. RE. Auto-Topcor f ll.4 58mm.7 element lens is olso ovqiloble.
Shutter:
COPAL Squore focol plone shutter, with non-rototing single oxle shutter speed diol.
Eleven equol distqnt shutter speed settings 1, lf2, 114, 118, 1115, ll3O, 1160, 11125,
11250, l/500, ond l/1000 sec. plus Bulb; internolly coupled to built-in exposure meter.
Finder:
Eye-level Pentoprism finder, with lorge-size rectongulor-shoped eyepiece. Eyepiece
frome hos verticol slots for occepting eye-cup. qccessory shoe, odopter for cor-
rection lens, mognifier, ond ongle viewer.
Focuslng Screen t
,
True ground gloss over full oreo is boosted by f resnel lens for overoll brightness; hos
micro-prism focusing spot surrounded by fine focus ring. Center of finder is oligned
exoctly with center of film frome.
1l
i

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Mlrror Actlon:
Positive stopping instont return mirror oction, coupled with shutter ond lens diophrogm
qctions.

---.- \Exposure Meter3
Codmium Sulphide exposure meter is ottoched behind (ond is on integrol port of) the
refex mirror. Norrow 0.05mm (0.002//) slits cut in mirror surfoce permit 7o/o light
trqnsmission to meter, wiihout dorkening or obstructing focusing screen view. Gives
overoge reoding for whole subiect oreq seen in focusing screen. Internolly coupled
to both shutter speed ond lens diophrogm (of oll TOPCOR lenses). Motch-point
indicotor in right lower holf of focusing screen. Covers ronge of EV 2.7 to EV 16.7,
wirh ASA 100 film ond f/1.8 lens. Works on STANDARD miniqture 1.3 volt mercury
bottery.
Flosh Synchronizotion :
M-X twin fosh sockets for synchronizotion with oll flqsh bulbs ond electronic flosh
units. Clqss M ond FP bulbs synchronize ot oll speeds with flqsh cord inserted in M-
socket. Using the socket mqrked "X", electronic flosh synchronizes of oll shutter
speeds up to ond including l/125 sec. (Red colored settings on speed diol) system.
Speed-Levers
\
180 degrees single stroke, odvonces films, chorges shutter ond mirror roising mecho-
nism, os well os odvoncing exposure counter.

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Exposure Counler:
         Additive exposure counter outomoticolly returns to stort-mork upon opening comero
          bock.
Film Rewlnding:
        Fold-down rewind cronk fips open for fost rewinding qction; turn-stop rewind button
        outomoticolly pops up with speed-lever qction.
Self-Timer:
         Adiustoble for 5 to l0 seconds deloyed oc?ion.
Film Indlcotor:
        Nineteen click-stop film speeds ASA 25 Io 1600 (or DIN 15 to 33.)
Film Looding:
        Hinged comero bock locks tight on sofety cotch when closed. Opens when lock is
         pulled down.

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@-                                             Digitally signed by Mike Butkus           Mike                 DN: cn=Mike Butkus, o, ou=Butkus.
                                                                                     org, email=mike@butkus.org, c=US
                                                                                Date: 2026.01.12 23:57:43 -05'00'           Butkus

                 NO TENCTATURE
(t) Film winding rpeed-lever            (T.t Shutter rpeed scole          0t Aperture ring
(') Exporure counter             G) Film :peed odiusting ring            (lJ ) Depth of fleld scole
(,jr Film rpeed indicotor                                 ( t,,.i Self-timer lever                         (tl  Distonce focusing ring

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www.butkus.us





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  @ lcnr locking levcr    @ Ropid rcwind cronk    @ Finder eyepiece
  O Shutter releore button   @ fitm plone indicotor    @ Eycpicce frome rtot
  @ Rewind knob      @ Shoulder rtrop tug    @ Focot ptone rhu?ter

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 !9' Film lrontporl rProcket   @ Cortridge pre3sure sPring  @ Rewind button
2-0) Film toke-up rpool                 Q3,' Eortery rwitch       @ Bock cover lock
@ film pretture plote            t24 Bottery comPorlmenl cover  @ M-retting fforh rockel

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PART II                                 However,well os thesincedistonceexposureto theconditionssubiecf,chonge,it is olsoos
BASIC PICTURE.TAKING             required thqt-
                                             3.  Exposure be set properly, ond
PROCEDURES                                             4.  Distonce be correctly focused ond subiect
                                                    composed.
Only the bosic procedures for toking picturcs    And, finolly, since shorply focused pictures con
wiih the BESELER TOPCON D-l ore given in     only be ottoined if the comero does not move
this port. Additionol informotion for toking     while shootingr  it is olso necessory thot-
superior pictures qre covered in Port lV qnd                                             5. The comero, with occessories' be heldfilm looding is discussed in Port  lll.                                                          properly.
The procedures covered in this port should be
proctised fully, before film is even looded in
fhe comero. You should become so fomilior
with the movements thot they ore done ou-
tomoticolly. Bosicolly, picture-toking moy be
considered simply os-
 l.  Advoncing the film one frome, cocking the
    focol plone shutter, chorging the mirror
    mechonism, etc., ond
2,  Releosing the shutter.
ll

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CORRECT EXPOSURE TOPCON ftllrror-Meter:
One of the most importont foctors governing For obtoining for more ctccurote exposure od-
the toking of superior pictures is correct ex- iustments thon possible with other comeros, the
posure, which is the correct relotionship be- BESELER TOPCON D-l hqs on exclusive built-
tween- in CdS Mirror-Meter (on exposure meter ot-
l. Shutter speed, ond toched behind the reflex mirror). lt is internql- ly coupled to both shutter speed ond lens
2. Aperture (lens opening), diophrogm. Since the Mirror-Meter is designed
os decided by- to give on overoge exposure reoding for the
3. The brightness of the subiect, full oreq covered in the focusing screen, bosed
ond dependent on- on the omount of light reflected from the subiect
4. The speed (film sensitivity ASA or DIN through the comero lens onto the reflex mirror, ' - it is superior to other exposure meters. index number) of the film loqded in the
comero. l. lt gives precise occurote exposure r:eod-
ings no motter whether interchongeobleWhen either the lens opening or shutter speed,
or both, qre incorrect for the brightness lenses, from wide-ongle to telephoto, or
of the subiect mqtter, either under-exposure speciol lenses ore qttoched to the comero, or even when the comerq is used on theor over-exposure is the result. Thus, it con
be seen thot it is very importont to be oble microscope or with the telescope, ond, of course, it works perfectly with the stondordto iudge the brightness of the subiect correct-
ly in order to obtoin properly exposed pic- 58 mm lens.
tures. 2. The exposure ioctor is outomoticolly foken
l2

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A:8'   R.Topcor 300mm              B:41' RE.Auto-Topcor 58mm             C:82' RE.Auto-Topcor 25mm
    into occount when the lens is rocked out      reflected light coming through thot porticulor
   for ultro close-up shootings.                 lens. For exomple, with the fost RE. Auto-
3. Filter foctors, light tronsmission properties     Topcor f/ 1.4 lens ond ASA 100 film, the Mirror-
   of the lenses, overoll illuminotion of the    Meter is copoble of meosuring imoge bright-
    field of view, etc., ore oll outomoticolly      ness from 0.5 cdimz to 8000 cdfmz, or giving
   token into considerotion ond exposure cql-     exposure reodings from EV 2 to EV 16, which
    culqtions qnd worries ore olwoys eliminoted.      is outomqticolly chonged to EV 4 to EV 18
The exposure meqsuring ronge of the Mirror-     (imoge brightness 2 cdfmz to 32000 cd/m2)
Meter is entirely dependent on the speed of    when the f/2.8 lens is ottoched (ond ASA 100
the lens ottoched to the comerq becouse ex-      film used).
posure reodings ore olwoys token of  the
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con be used for obtoining one stop overExposure Reodlng: or under exposure odiustments where desired.
Switch on the exposure meter, by pushing the In qll instonces, however, once correct ex-control switch (23) up to ON. This will ploce
the exposure pointer index (o circle on the posure is obtoined with the finder indicotor,
end of o pointer) into the lower right holf both shutter speed qnd lens openings qre outo-
fteld of the ftnder. Next , point the cqmerq moticolly odiusted ond nothing else need be
ot the subiect until the required oreo fills the done.
focusing screen (ond Mirror-Meter).
Recommended Shutter Speeds :
Adiust either ihe shutter speed diol or the
operture ring or both, until the motch-point As noted previously, it is recommended thot the shutter speed be set first, os it is moreindicotor, seen in the lower right holf of
the finder field, is oligned correctly with the often dictoted by the lighting condition ond film speed. The toble on poge l7 should beindex.
used qs o generol guide :-
Normolly, it is simpler to choose o suitoble
shutter speed first ond then odiust the op- GAUTION:erture ring until the indicqtor is oligned to
show correct exposure. This is becouse the For longer bottery life, the exposure meter
operture ring is moved in the some direction control switch should be set to OFF when
qs the movement of the indicotor. not in use (the circle index mork will disop-
peor f rom the finder field when set to
The top ond bottom rims of the circulor index OFF).

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Ghonging Bottery: NOTE:
The bottery is o round mercury bottery ofUse o coin, or similior obiect, to unscrew the 1.3 volt, similior to PX-13 (Mollory), E625bottery comportment cover (.24). Let the old (Everreody), No. 625 (Generol) ond TH-MCbottery drop out of the comportment. lnsert (Toshibo). lf you cut off your meter qfterthe new bottery, being coreful thot the'i-side eoch reoding, your bottery should lost olmostis f ocing outwords or else will short- 2 yeors under normol usoge. However, itcircuit your meter. is recommended thot you exchonge it every
yeor becouse the mercury bottery does not
slow down but suddenly drops deod.
GAUTION:
The shutter speed diol of the comero cqnnot
be revolved completely, olthough il moy be
revolved in either direction. lt will not go
beyond 1000 (for l/1000 second) or B (for
www.butkus.us bulb exposures).
CAUTION:
Do not use B (bulb exposure) for exposure --J\+
rI) reodings. lt is not suifoble for toking o oo reoding.

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SINGLE LENS VIEW-FOCUSING l. Focusing is olwoys done ot the widest
operture qnd the lens diophrogm closesTwo other importont f octors for obtoining down qutomoticolly (not monuolly),good pictures ore :-
2. The finder shows 93 percent of the ftnol l. Accurote focusing of the imoge on the negotive frome, with on equolly spoced ftlm plone, ond
morgin oreo oround the full frome, ond,
2. Correct composition of the subiect motter
within the limits of the negotive oreo. 3. The centers of the finder ond ftlm negotive
frome coincide exoctly.
In the BESELER TOPCON D-1, both these
importont f octors ore token core of by o Pentoprlsm Flnder:single system,-viewing ond focusing through
the comero lens, which meons thot- The finder system utilizes o Pentogonol prism
l. Focusing odlustments mode with the comero
lens con be checked directly in the finder,
ond,
2. An exoct negotive size frome is ploced
olong the extension of the opticol poth,
completely eliminoting ony porollox prob-
lem.
Furthermore, lhe system os incorporoted in ihe
BESELER TOPCON D-l is doubly oitroctive
becouse-

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f,nder, which is precision-mode of the ftnest The lorge-size rectongulor eyepiece is vqlno'
opticol gloss. ble f or checking oll f our corners of the
finder qreo, even when the user weors eye- Withthe Pentoprism flnder- glosses.
l. A right side up loterolly correct imoge,
moving in the some direction os the octuql Correction lenses moy olso be used if the user's eyesight is defective. subiect, is olwoys seen, ond is especiolly
ottrqctive for fost, condid type snop-shoot-
ing. Attochment of Correction Lens:
2. Both eyes con be used for shooting, with For diopter correction, six occessory lenses
one eye on the finder ond the oiher on for giving to *3 correciion ore ovoil- -3 the generol scene. This is porticulory useful oble. There is olso on odopter which qttoches
when following o moving obiect. to the eyepiece frome. The odopter should
be slipped into the eyepiece frome slots (17)3. Eye-level viewing olso meqns correctly ond the correction lens should then be lqterol ond erect imoges in verticol formot.
4. Brilliont ond life-size enlorged imoge ore
obtoined.
Lorge-Slze Flnder Eyepiece:
The BESELER TOPCON D-l hos one of the
lorgest finder eyepieces (16), ond qn eye-cup
olso moy be ottsched to the eyepiece frome. 6&ol9

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screwed into the odopter. Consult your BRITE, o fresnel type plote lens.
opticion for the proper correction.
2. Flne Focus Rlng: A norrow ring sur-
Focuslng Adiusrments: rounds the split-imoge rongeflnder, which
All focusing odiustments for obtoining o shorp is not ossisted by the fresnel lens but
imoge on the flm plone must be mode direct- gives o fner focusing ground gloss circle.
ly on the comero lens itself, simply by re-
widevolving the distonce focusing ring (9) in Ground glosr focuslng ir done ot
either direction until the imoge is properly operture by observing the shorpness of the
focused. The distonce moy be found by reod- imoge os seen on the ground gloss. lf shorp-
ing the distonce figure opposite the distonce ness is in doubt, re-focus in either direction
shorpness ondindex, which olso doubles os the operture from the initiol point of utmost
index. All focusing odiustments ore checked compore results.
on the focusing screen.
3. Mlcro-Prlgm Focuslng Spor: The
Focuslng Screen: focusing spot in the center is mode up of
The focusing screen hos o full-oreo ground
gloss field plus o micro-prism focusing spot,
surrounded by o flne focus ring.
l. Full-Areo Ground Glosr: The ground
gloss extends over the full oreo of the
finder screen, except for o centrol round
portion, ond is boostcd for odditionol
brightness ond brillionce by the TOKO- In Focus Not in Focuc

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'   numerous microscopic prisms which breok
   up the imoge when it is not in focus so
     thot the imoge is s:en indistinct ond blur-
    red. When the distonce focusing ring is
    revolved qnd the subiect is occurotely
    focused, the imoge in the focusing spot
     will be seen distinctly ond shorply.
    Subiects with lineor feotures will be
     porticulorly effective  f or    f ocusing be-
    couse the stroight lines will look rogged
   ond broken up when out of focus but
     will be seen stroight when in focus.
   When in doubt, revolve the  distonce
    focusing ring either woys from whot is
    considered optimum focusing qnd check
    the effect.

Comblned focuslng is recommended in most
coses. The oreo covered by the micro-
prism flnder spot is smoll, ond the ground
gloss simultoneously enobles one to focus on
the entire picture oreo.

2l

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