is a Japanese manufacturer of optical equipment for

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

and

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

History

1930s

TOPCON was established in September 1932 based the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

of the surveying instruments division of K. Hattori & Co., Ltd. (now known as Seiko Holdinge Corporation) in order to manufacture the optical instruments for the Japanese Army. Initially, the company produced surveying instruments, binoculars and cameras, as well as sniper scopes used mainly by the Army. In April 1933, TOPCON built their head offices and main factory at 180, Shimura-motohasunuma-cho,

Itabashi-ku is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. In English, it is called Itabashi City. Itabashi has sister-city relations with Burlington, Ontario, in Canada; Shijingshan District of Beijing in the People's ...

, Tokyo.

1940s

In August 1945, TOPCON temporalily closed their factories after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but soon gained the authorization from the Tokyo Governor to convert the factory for production of civil products. By the end of the year, the factory reopened to manufacture binoculars and surveying instruments. They established Yamagata Kikai Kyogo Kabushikikaisha (currently Topcon Yamagata Co., Ltd.) in 1946 in Yamagata-shi,

Yamagata Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It has a population of 1,005,926 (1 February 2025) and an area of 9,325 Square kilometre, km2 (3,600 Square mile, sq mi). Its neighbours are Akita Prefectu ...

. In December 1947, TOPCON started selling lens meters and an Ophthalmic and Medical Instruments business. In May of 1949, they listed their stock on Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges. 1957—released its first single-lens reflex camera, the Topcon R,kleinbildkamera.ch, 1963: Topcon RE Super, retrieved 25. Oktober 2020
(German). with semi-auto lens and an interchangeable finder. March 1960—Became an affiliate of Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd. (currently

Toshiba Corporation is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

). May 1963—Released the first single-lens reflex camera with through the lens metering (TTL), the TOPCON RE Super. October 1969—Established Tokyo Kogaku Seiki Kabushikikaisha (currently OPTONEXUS Co., Ltd.) in Tamura-gun, Fukushima Prefecture. April 1970—Established Topcon Europe N.V.(currently Topcon Europe B.V.) in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. September 1970—Established Topcon Instrument Corporation of America (currently Topcon Medical Systems, Inc.) January 1975—Established Topcon Sokki Co., Ltd. (currently Topcon Sales corporation), a surveying instrument sales company. December 1976—Established Topcon Medical Japan Co., Ltd., a medical instrument sales company. April 1978—Started selling an electric distance meter DM-C1 adopting a near-infrared. October 1978—Started selling a refractometer RM-100 incorporating near-infrared beam and a television system. March 1979—Established Topcon Singapore Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. April 1986—Established Topcon Optical (H.K.) Ltd. in Hong Kong. September 1986, listed on First Sections of Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges. April 1989—Changed its corporate name to TOPCON CORPORATION. April 1991—Entry into electron beam business. December 1991—Built an engineering center in corporate premises. September 1994—Established Topcon Laser Systems, Inc. (currently Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.) in California, U.S.A., acquired Advanced Grade Technology, advanced into machine control business. October 1994—Delivered a nationwide GPS continuous observation system to Geographical Survey Institute, Ministry of Construction, Japanese Government. July 2000—Acquired Javad Positioning Systems Inc. in the United States and started selling precision GPS receivers and related system products. July 2001—Established Topcon America Corporation in New Jersey, U.S.A., as a holding company. Reorganized the subsidiaries in the United States dividing them into the ophthalmic and medical instrument business and the positioning business. July 2002—Liquidated Topcon Singapore Pte. Ltd. and established Topcon South Asia Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. February 2004—Established Topcon (Beijing) Opto-Electronics Corporation in Beijing, China. July 2005—Reorganized sales subsidiaries in Europe and newly established two firms in the European market - one overseeing eye care business and the other overseeing positioning business - with Topcon Europe B.V. as the holding company. July 2005—Transferred from part of the Hoya Corporation Vision Care Company's ophthalmic instruments segment in Japan. April 2006—Implemented two-for-one stock split. August 2006—Acquired ANKA Systems, Inc., in the United States for full-fledged entry into the ophthalmic network business in the United States. October 2006—Acquired KEE Technologies Pty Ltd., in Australia for entry into field of agriculture. April 2007—In order to build a global group and quick business expansion, Topcon adopted three business structures, Positioning Business Unit, Eye Care Business Unit and Finetech Business Unit. May 2007—Business rights for mobile control (navigation systems, ITS and others) transferred to U.S. subsidiary from Javad Navigation Systems, Inc. February 2008—Conducted a takeover bid for shares of Sokkia Co., Ltd. and made it a subsidiary to enhance competitiveness of the positioning business in the global market. July 2008—Established in Turin (Italy) TIERRA SPA, a joint venture with Divitech spa entering in the Telematic and Remote Diagnostic market segments. June 2009—Acquired shares of Italian wireless communications manufacturer DESTURA s.r.l. to strengthen operations in mobile communications, machine controls, and agricultural IT market segments. October 2009—Established Topcon 3D Inspection Laboratories, Inc., a 3D inspection technology development/design company, in Canada. Entry into the 3D measurement and high-end print board fields. March 2010—Acquired InlandGEO Holding S.L., the largest dealer in Spain, to enhance sales channels for precision agricultural systems in the European, Middle-Eastern, and African markets. July 2010—Expanded Chinese subsidiary and established Topcon (Beijing) Opto-Electronics Development Corporation as a manufacturing base in the emerging Chinese market. July 2010—Reorganized sales subsidiary in Singapore, established Topcon Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd. as a holding company. Established new Positioning and Eye Care sales companies. August 2010—Established Topcon Medical Laser Systems, Inc. by acquiring retina and glaucoma business of OptiMedica (U.S.A) and entered therapeutic laser market. January 2011—Established Topcon Positioning Middle East and Africa FZE to expand Positioning Business in Middle Eastern and African market. November 2014—Acquired Wachendorff Elektronik GmbH and Wachendorff Electronics Inc. September 2015—Toshiba sells its shares of Topcon. April 2018—Established Topcon Healthcare Solutions, Inc. a medical software company based in Oakland, New Jersey. Their primary focus is the eye-care industry. July 2021—Topcon Corporation acquired VISIA Imaging S.r.l, an ophthalmic device manufacturer headquartered in suburban Florence, Italy.

Cameras

Tokyo Kogaku produced

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

s, beginning with a 6×4.5 cm

medium format Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in photography and the related cameras and equipment that use film. Nowadays, the term applies to film and digital cameras that record images on media larger than the used in 35&n ...

model, Lord in 1937. A 127 film camera followed the next year. The Primoflex I

twin-lens reflex camera A twin-lens reflex camera (TLR) is a type of camera with two objective Photographic lens, lenses of the same focal length. One of the lenses is the photographic objective or "taking lens" (the lens that takes the picture), while the other is use ...

came out in 1951. The Topcon 35A was unveiled in 1953. In 1960 the company produced a 6x9

press camera A press camera is a medium or large format view camera that was predominantly used by press photographers in the early to mid-20th century. It was largely replaced for press photography by 35mm film cameras in the 1960s, and subsequently, by ...

on order from the

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department The , known locally as simply the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), is the prefectural police of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Founded in 1874, the TMPD is the largest police force in Japan by number of officers, with a staff of more than 4 ...

. It initially used a Mamiya lens; civilian models became available with Topcon lenses. With the 35 mm

Topcon RE Super The Topcon RE Super, or Beseler Topcon Super D in USA, was launched by Tokyo Kogaku KK in 1963 and manufactured until 1971, at which point it was upgraded to the ''Super D'' and again to ''Super DM'' the following year. General sale continued for ...

of 1963, the company pioneered full-aperture, through-the-lens metering. Round about 1973 the production of the SLR ''IC-1 AUTO'' started; „IC“ means „Integrated Circuit“, used for aperture control.retrieved 25 Oktober 2020
(German). The company continued to innovate until leaving that line of business in 1981. The Charles Beseler Company imported the camera line into the US, with the RE-Super being rebranded as the Super-D. In about 1965, the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

tested cameras from several Japanese and German manufacturers (including the

Nikon F The Nikon F camera, introduced in April 1959, was Nikon Corporation, Nikon's first Single-lens reflex camera, SLR camera. It was one of the most advanced cameras of its day. Although many of the concepts had already been introduced elsewhere, it ...

). The Topcon Super D was the winner of this competition, and was used exclusively by the Navy until 1977.

In Australia

TOPCON has operated since 2003 started operations from their

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

office, with an office in Technology Park Adelaide at Mawson Lakes,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

and representatives in Sydney.

Topcon Positioning Systems

Topcon Positioning Systems Inc., provides positioning technology for surveyors, civil engineers, construction contractors, equipment owners and operators. Topcon Corporation acquired Advanced Grade Technology in 1995 and became known as Topcon Laser Systems. In August 2000, Topcon acquired JPS Inc., of San Jose, California, a provider of precision GPS and GPS/GLONASS products. With the introduction of a series of positioning products, Topcon Laser Systems grew, and consolidated the survey instruments, GPS products and construction positioning products divisions in July 2001. Topcon Positioning Systems was formed.

Topcon Healthcare

In September 1970, Topcon established Topcon Instrument Corporation of America which is currently Topcon Medical Systems, Inc., a developer and supplier of diagnostic equipment for the ophthalmic community. In April 2018, Topcon established a medical software division, Topcon Healthcare Solutions, Inc., a developer of eyecare software and provider of related healthcare services. Topcon ophthalmic (eye) machines are widely used in many health centers in Western Europe, and are often interconnected to their surrounding IT systems through the

RS232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such as a compu ...

protocol.

Gallery

Refers

{{Authority control Electronics companies of Japan Optics manufacturing companies of Japan Photography equipment manufacturers of Japan Medical technology companies of Japan Lens manufacturers Navigation system companies Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo Electronics companies established in 1932 1932 establishments in Japan Japanese brands