The Bronica camera - history

The Zenza Bronica Industries Inc., camera company was founded in Tokyo in the mid 1950s by Zenzaburo Yoshino. It was one of the most innovative in the design and production of medium format roll film cameras, producing its first 6X6cm (2.2.5inchX2.25inch) Bronica D in 1958.

Outwardly, Bronicas resemble the Swedish Hasselblad 500 series but the Bronica incorporated a reflex viewing mirror which dropped down instead of flipping up, allowing relatively large maximum aperture wide angle lenses with deeper rear elements to be mounted on the camera.

Bronicas were fitted with cloth focal plane shutters and supplied with the excellent Nikon Nikkor 75mm f/2.8 lens. By the time the Bronica S was launched in 1961, a useful range of Nikkor and Zenzanon lenses from wide angle to telephoto and other accessories had established the Bronica as a professional photographer's workhorse.

The Bronica C launched in 1965 was a compact model without interchangeable film backs. In the same year, the improved S2 replaced the S and by the end of the decade the S2a models in black enamel or silver chrome became the company's flagship models. In the 1970s, electronic shutters began to replace mechanical systems and towards the end of that decade Zenza launched the Bronica EC with a fully electronic controlled and timed shutter from 4 seconds to 1/1000th second. Initially, because of a supply shortage from Nikon, the camera was sold fitted with a Carl Zeiss Jena f/2.8, 80mm Planar standard lens. Only a few of these examples exist.

Zenza Bronica went on to design and produce a wide range of roll film cameras for professionals and enthusiasts. One of its most popular models was the ETRS and later ETRSi giving a 6 X 4.5cm format on 120 or 220 roll film. The company also produced the GS1 and SQ models. After the company was taken over by Tamron in the 1990s, Bronica produced the interchangeable lens medium format rangefinder camera, the Bronica 645RF.