Bronica ETRS M/F

[Reschsmooth]

G'day

I just bought and received the above camera to give to my wife for her birthday - I bought it through Adorama (US).

Everything seems fine, but I wanted to ask, very very generally, does anyone on here have one such that I may ask questions as and when they arise in the future?

I printed off the manual from the Tamron site and we will both have a good read of it (which means I will read it and my wife will ask what everything does! ).

Many thanks in advance.

Patrick

[gstark]

Patrick,

We have - and love - our 20+ year old version of the ETRS. Great camera. Don't know what the differences are between the newer models and our's, but we'll be happy to try answer any questions that might arise.

[Reschsmooth]

Thanks Gary, the main question would be self-directed, and is "how do I maintain self-control and actually let my wife use it?" I will try to encourage her to bring it (with film) on Saturday night.

I am just thankful Bronica don't have as many lenses as Nikon

P

[Nnnnsic]

I am just thankful Bronica don't have as many lenses as Nikon

Are you thankful that they're more expensive?

[Reschsmooth]

I am just thankful Bronica don't have as many lenses as Nikon

Are you thankful that they're more expensive?

My initial thoughts are that they are cheaper - comparing, say, a Bronica 100mm f4 macro lens (second hand) could cost $300-400 on ebay, whereas a Nikon 105 micro VR costs $1180 via Poon.

A 75mm 2.8 can be had for $100 on ebay - granted you can get a Nikon 50 1.8 brand new for only marginally more.

I won't even start looking at Bronica shift lenses

Gary - do you have a metered prism finder, non-metered or waist level finder?

P

[phillipb]

Patrick,
Just a couple of things to look out for. Normally you can't take a photo with the dark slide in place, but if it is slightly out then you can and will result in a lot of wasted film.
The other thing is keep an eye on the double exposure lever, if you accidentally leave it in the down position, you'll go on shooting all day on the same frame.
Trust me, voice of experience here.

[gstark]

Trust me, voice of experience here.

I feel some pain here, Phillip.

Patrick, we used to have a meter prism, but I think we don't have that any more. The speed grip, though, is wonderful, if you can get one.

Regarding lenses, be sure to compare like with like. The larger negative size acts in a similar manner to the way that a FF responds when compared woth a DX sized sensor.

The 75mm lens is considered to be the standard lens for this camera, equivalent to a 50mm on a 35mm FF or DSLR. The 100 is more like a 70mm in terms of FoV, and the 150 would be the equivalent of the 35mm's 105mm.

But each lens includes a shutter, and you need to make sure that the shutter on each lens is operating correctly. The lenses are all good, and flash sync can be had at every shutter speed.

As to how to keep the temptation down ... who's paying the film and processing costs?

And a Phase back will not help the cost situation too much.

Bottom line? This is a camera to enjoy, and to help you make some really fine images. Grab some 120 B&W film (we still have some AP100 in the fridge) and learn how to process your film. That's when you'll really get hooked!

[Reschsmooth]

Trust me, voice of experience here.

I feel some pain here, Phillip.

Patrick, we used to have a meter prism, but I think we don't have that any more. The speed grip, though, is wonderful, if you can get one.

Gary, the one I got came with a non-metered prism, 75 2.8 and speed grip (non-motorised).

Regarding lenses, be sure to compare like with like. The larger negative size acts in a similar manner to the way that a FF responds when compared woth a DX sized sensor.

The 75mm lens is considered to be the standard lens for this camera, equivalent to a 50mm on a 35mm FF or DSLR. The 100 is more like a 70mm in terms of FoV, and the 150 would be the equivalent of the 35mm's 105mm.

But each lens includes a shutter, and you need to make sure that the shutter on each lens is operating correctly. The lenses are all good, and flash sync can be had at every shutter speed.

As to how to keep the temptation down ... who's paying the film and processing costs?

And a Phase back will not help the cost situation too much.

Bottom line? This is a camera to enjoy, and to help you make some really fine images. Grab some 120 B&W film (we still have some AP100 in the fridge) and learn how to process your film. That's when you'll really get hooked!

In terms of paying for film and processing, I can say that "we" will I don't mind, as we both have our film cameras to play with, and both love taking photos.

I have the feeling that a phase back may have to wait a while - 39 megapixels just doesn't cut it

P

[phillipb]

Trust me, voice of experience here.

I feel some pain here, Phillip.

You got that right Gary, although it did come in handy one time. I was shooting a Maori wedding, the smallest bloke there made Jonah Lomu look like a midget. By the end of the night, everyone wanted a picture taken, I wasn't game to say no so I flicked the double exposure lever and shot around 500 shots on one frame. They were too drunk to know.

[gstark]

Should have just left the dark slide in. "Er, the camera's not working ... "

[Reschsmooth]

Trust me, voice of experience here.

I feel some pain here, Phillip.

You got that right Gary, although it did come in handy one time. I was shooting a Maori wedding, the smallest bloke there made Jonah Lomu look like a midget. By the end of the night, everyone wanted a picture taken, I wasn't game to say no so I flicked the double exposure lever and shot around 500 shots on one frame. They were too drunk to know.

You're a brave person - it would only take one of them to find out what you were doing (as unlikely as that would be if they were all drunk) for you to be in a bit of trouble.

Gary, getting back to my question before about the metered prism, 2 questions:

1. Do you use the non-metered finder or the waist finder?
2. Do you use a separate light meter or does your skill and experience mitigate the need for one?

Cheers

P

[gstark]

Patrick,

1. Do you use the non-metered finder or the waist finder?

Non-metered prism, with a handheld meter. I usually work with the meter in incident mode; I find that to give me the best reading.

[Reschsmooth]

Thanks for that, Gary